The Bavarian authorities have allegedly kept secret the dubious provenance of more than 200 works
A German regional lawmaker has said he is “not surprised” by allegations that the state of Bavaria may have concealed Nazi-looted art from the rightful heirs of the works, accusing the German government of a longstanding pattern of withholding compensation for historical injustices.
In an interview with RT on Friday, Martin Dolzer, an independent MP in the Hamburg parliament, addressed a report by the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper last month claiming that the Bavarian State Painting Collections contained at least 200 artworks of dubious origin.
The works of art – including paintings by Paul Klee and Pablo Picasso – were classified as “red” — meaning they were plundered by the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s from Jewish owners and other victims of persecution, the report said, adding that this information had been withheld from the public, preventing potential restitution.
“Unfortunately, I’m not very surprised by that. And I think it’s a fact. The German government and the federal state governments always denied they have the common practice if it comes to money. Whenever it comes to compensation payments, the German authorities refused to make these payments,” Dolzer said.
In light of this, he drew parallels between Bavaria’s alleged cover-up and Germany’s refusal to pay the full amount of war reparations claimed by Greece for numerous atrocities and the plundering of its resources during World War II.
While the MP acknowledged that it could be difficult to find the heirs of the original owners of the artworks, he suggested that the Suddeutsche Zeitung report makes many things clear. “So I think it’s a kind of attempt at greenwashing by the Bavarian government,” he added.
While the Bavarian authorities have rejected the allegations, insisting that the leaked list was a “pure working tool” that depicted a “work-in-progress status” that was subject to frequent changes, Dolzer dismissed this defense as “excuses.”
German Culture Minister Claudia Roth responded to the reports by warning that if the accusations were true, Bavaria’s actions would amount to “a scandal,” suggesting that the revelations could signal “a lack of transparency” and “possibly deliberate concealment.”
Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi regime systematically looted art across Germany and occupied Europe, seizing hundreds of thousands of works from museums, galleries, and private collections. Jewish art owners were the primary victims, as the Nazis either forced them to sell their prized items or outright confiscated them. The works then often ended up in the hands of high-ranking Nazi officials.
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