NAZI Art Agreement To Be Reviewed At Conference
Over the next few days, delegates from 50 countries are meeting to discuss the commitments of governments around the world to track down and return items stolen by the NAZIs. On the agenda will be the extents to which specific nations have enacted a 1998 agreement called the Washington principles (non-binding). This year, the conference is considering a new declaration on stolen art. An estimated 650,000 pieces of art were estimated to have been stolen under Adolf Hitler's 12-year reign. More than six decades later, 70,000 pieces remain missing and sought by their owners.
While the Washington principles are considered to be a great foundation, the current problem is that they have yet to be implemented. At the upcoming conference, the delegation will announce rankings of countries based on how fully they have implemented the Washington principles. Among those that have failed to deliver are Russia, Hungary, France, Italy and Spain. Austria and Netherlands are said to be most compliant with the principles.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JonA Jun 25th 2009 10:31PM
Art is art, and even though it was stolen during a period that might be one of the darkest times on earth for everyone, Looking at it in 2009 might be different.