Jewish Life Digital Edition February 2014 | Page 11

GURLITT MAY RETURN LOOTED ART
The 81-year-old German pensioner accused of hoarding
more than 1 400 pieces of art thought to have been looted
by the Nazis is reportedly willing to return items to the heirs
of their original owners. Cornelius Gurlitt originally said he
intended to keep the paintings discovered at his Munich
apartment, after details of the collection were uncovered
last November. The works were valued at around £1 billion
and included 121 framed pieces and 1 258 unframed works.
Among them were paintings by masters such as Picasso,
Renoir and Matisse.
The German authorities’ handling of the case has been
condemned by experts because of its initial refusal to publish a full list of recovered works. Lawyers acting for Gurlitt
said he now wanted “fair and just solutions” to restitution
claims. However, relatives and heirs of Jewish families who
had work stolen by the Nazis have attacked Gurlitt, saying
his constant attempts to obstruct restitution were as serious
as the original looting. Gurlitt’s father was an art dealer in
the 1930s and was hired by the Nazis to collect artwork considered “degenerate” by the Third Reich.

PHOTOGRAPHS: WWW.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

EMPLOYEE SUSPENDED FROM
POLISH DEATH CAMP MUSEUM

A graphic designer employed by the Majdenek Death
Camp museum has been suspended for using its printers
to produce anti-Semitic propaganda – including posters
reading: ‘Jews go home’. Staff at Majdanek, near Lublin in
Poland – where 80 000 people were murdered by Nazis
during World War II – called in the police after discovering the cache of offensive material produced on-site. A
man named as Krzysztof K, who worked at the museum
for 20 years, is accused of being part of a group which
distributed offensive Nazi material around the town.
“We’re shocked by these revelations,” museum spokeswoman Agnieszka Kowalczyk-Nowak said. “We’ve
launched an internal investigation at the museum.
Management has decided to suspend him from duty
while the case is being clarified.” The racist posters,
with messages like ‘Zionists Leave Lublin’ were posted
up at bus stops around the region. Police claim that
the man, Krzysztof K, had been the one who designed
and printed them. Four others who helped to plan the
racist campaign and put up the posters have also been
arrested, and charged with anti-Semitism, police said.
They were arrested in the city of Lublin where they have
been charged with incitement to hatred, after three of
them were caught red-handed, putting up posters at bus
stops. Police said the group, which also included a local
businessman and several unemployed individuals, had
been putting up anti-Semitic posters around town since
2010. They face up to seven-and-a-half years in prison.

SWEDISH EDITOR DEFENDS

SHARON/HITLER COMPARISON
Isaac Bachman, Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, slammed
Per Jönsson, the controversial
associate editor at the Swedish
Institute of International Affairs
(UI), for comparing the military
policies of the late Ariel Sharon
to the Nazi regime. Bachman
said Jönsson “continues to ‘ride
over Israel’s back’ on his way to
fame. I guess he has not forgotten, but just ignored the fact
that the Nazis were engaged in
Ariel
a genocide, with no provocaSharon
tion on behalf of their totally
innocent victims; while Israel – from its very first day of independence – is defending itself from cruel and unceasing terrorism, and
organised hatred towards Jews and Israelis alike.”
Anna Jardfelt, director of UI, stated, “The policy of the [UI] is
that researchers and experts connected to the institute make
comments on the basis of their own expertise. As an institute,
UI does not promote any specific opinion or view. Our mission
is to inform and enrich the public debate on foreign affairs and
international relations.” She continued, “As director, I have great
respect for Jönsson’s expertise. Personally, I would, however,
not have used the expression which has been highlighted in the
original article.”
Jönsson told the tabloid Expressen last month that Sharon’s
“military methods against Palestinians and Jordanians can almost
be likened to those of Hitler and Stalin”, and “Ben-Gurion gave
him carte blanche to do whatever he wanted”.
He said Sharon “as commander of Unit 101, formed at the initiative of [then-prime minister] David Ben-Gurion, he acted, in
several instances, in a similar way in Palestinian and Jordanian
villages as the Nazis did, eg, when they destroyed the Jewish
Ghetto in Warsaw after the uprising there. The civilian losses in
Sharon’s hunt for enemies were big – old people, women and
children in the dozens. This is well known and has been pointed
out by many Israeli writers and historians.”
Lisa Abramowicz, secretary general of Swedish Israel-Information Center, said, “Allegations of Nazism when describing events
should be used extremely carefully. I notice that there is a pattern
among certain ‘experts’ or journalists to use it against only one
country – Israel. Either to denigrate the country and its leaders or
to diminish what Nazism really meant. Whatever the reason, I find
it extremely disturbing, and suspect a bias towards the Jewish
state. Especially considering what has happened in the world and
what is happening right now in the Middle East, especially Syria.” JL

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