Swiss to keep painting taken from Jews during WWII

"GENEVA — Swiss law bars a museum from surrendering a 19th-century painting that it was given after it had been stolen from a Jewish family in Paris by the pro-Nazi Vichy French regime during World War II, authorities said Thursday.

More than 40 years after the war, a subsequent owner of "The Valley of the Stour" by British painter John Constable gave it to the city of La Chaux-de Fonds in her will, on condition that the work remain in the local museum, said Remy Gogniat, a city spokesman.

When a relative of the original owner claimed the painting in 2006, the city near Switzerland's western border with France sought two expert legal opinions in the case.

"The first one explains that under Swiss law there is no obligation of restitution," Gogniat said Thursday. The second one concludes that the city is bound by the will of Madeleine Junod, who bestowed the painting along with a series of others to the city in 1986, he said.

Under the will, her collection has to be housed in a specific room of the city's Fine Arts Museum and not to be split up."

The Associated Press: Swiss to keep painting taken from Jews during WWII

 

It would appear that the injustice continues long after WWII ended. I couldn't begin to contemplate all of the legal issues involved here over time and international borders, including governments that no longer exist. Undoubtedly a lot of money has changed hands over time and many have profited. However, at the bottom line something was stolen from someone who apparently was the lawful owner, its identity and location is known and all the rightful heirs receive is "too bad"?