France launches project to return Nazi-looted artworks to Jewish families

“This is our duty to the victims of plundering,” Culture Minister Franck Riester said. “It’s about memory and justice.”

By JOSEFIN DOLSTEN/JTA
A woman walks past artworks at the exhibition "Gurlitt: Status Report. An Art Dealer in Nazi Germany" during a media preview at Martin-Gropius Bau in Berlin, Germany, September 13, 2018 (photo credit: REUTERS/FABRIZIO BENSCH)
A woman walks past artworks at the exhibition "Gurlitt: Status Report. An Art Dealer in Nazi Germany" during a media preview at Martin-Gropius Bau in Berlin, Germany, September 13, 2018
(photo credit: REUTERS/FABRIZIO BENSCH)

(JTA) — France created a task force to return cultural artifacts taken from Jews during World War II to their owners and descendants.

The Culture Ministry said Wednesday that the project will look into such objects held by French museums, AFP reported. French institutions hold some 2,000 items brought from Germany whose owners have yet to be identified, according to the French news agency.

“This is our duty to the victims of plundering,” Culture Minister Franck Riester said. “It’s about memory and justice.”