Roslyn Bachelot: France to restore the "stolen painting", a painting by Gustave Klimt after more than 80 years
France intends to return a painting by Gustav Klimt, which was stolen by the Nazis from its original owners for more than 80 years after it was stolen from a Jewish family in Austria in 1938.
"The decision to reinstate an important public group job reflects our commitment to the responsibility of justice and compensation for the looted families," said French Culture Minister Roselyn Bachelet at a press conference from Paris.
The French Minister of Culture added that the authorities of her country did not know that the painting was stolen by the Nazis, and only recently learned this after investigations led by the French government into the matter.
And she continued: "It is only in recent years that the true origin of the painting has been established. It is the only painting by Gustave Klimt that France owns."
She indicated that the painting witnessed lives that a criminal will constantly sought to eliminate.
The 1905 colorful oil painting by the Austrian symbolist has the title “Rose Branches Under the Trees” and has been hanging in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris for decades.
The oil painting belongs to the family of Nora Stiasny, a victim of the "Holocaust" who was looted of the painting during a forced sale in August 1938.
It is worth noting that thousands of works of art that were looted by the Nazis across Europe ended up in French museums, after Allied forces defeated Nazi Germany in 1945.
Despite the return of many of them, the French authorities have stepped up their efforts in recent years to find the owners of dozens of antiquities and artifacts that have not been claimed by anyone.
