Two Last-Minute Nazi-Loot Suits Test California’s Restitution Law
On 29 September 2026, The Art Newspaper reported that two Nazi-loot claims filed in California on 14 September — two days before a 2024 state filing window closed — are now the only cases ever to use that statute. One asks the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena to give up Lucas Cranach the Elder’s life-size diptych Adam and Eve (c. 1530). The other asks the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland to return watercolours that Dina Gottliebova Babbitt was forced to paint in the camp in 1944. Quick facts What: Two lawsuits over Nazi-era losses, filed under a now-expired 2024 California statute Where: Los Angeles Superior Court and U.S. District Court, Los Angeles When: Filed 14 September 2026; analysed by The Art Newspaper on 29 September 2026 Who: Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles and Daniel Gryczman v. Norton Simon Museum; heirs of Dina Gottliebova Babbitt v. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Section: Heists, Law & Restitution What happened According to The Art...