"Correction of historical injustice": a rare painting worth 20 million euros will be returned to its Jewish owners | Israel today

The Amsterdam City Council has decided to return a rare painting by the painter Vasily Kandinsky to its Jewish owners, after his family was forced to sell the painting during the Nazi occupation.

The painting was purchased at auction in 1940 for 160 Dutch guilders.

It was sold by Robert Levenstein, whose father, Emanuel, owned a sewing factory and art collector who purchased it in 1923. The Levenstein family said they were in financial distress during the Nazi occupation, and sold the painting forcibly, but the court ruled in late 2020 that the painting was purchased on By the city "in good faith."

Despite this, the Amsterdam City Council decided to end the legal campaign that lasted nine years, and return the painting to the heirs of the Lebenstein family.

The mayor of Amsterdam, Pamka Helmasma, and the head of the culture department in the city, Toria Maliani, wrote to the property restitution committee: "In view of the long period of time that has passed and the importance of redress, we will return the painting without new intervention by the Restitution Committee."

Simon van der Slois, of the family law firm, said: "We are very pleased with this decision. It is a correction of a historical injustice."

Now the family has to decide whether the painting, valued at about 20 million euros, will remain on display in the museum or be sold.