in a museum filled with treasures a
masterpiece stands out a prized work by
the French impressionist Camille
Pissarro a rainy afternoon in Paris
years ago it hung in a family living
room until the Nazis sent an envoy and
removed it was my painting there’s no
question about it Claude casera was born
in 1921 into a prominent Jewish family
in Germany the painting once belonged to
his grandmother my mother had died in my
grandmother was like a substitute mother
to me and she lived in an apartment was
well in the corner from where we were
living in above the couch was this
painting in this Pissarro painting and
that is part of my life that’s how I was
brought up the caceres lived a life of
privilege until the Nazis came to power
and persecution of Jews in Germany
intensified fearing for their safety
clods grandmother and her husband Otto
nguoi Bauer petitioned the German
government for an exit visa in response
the Nazis sent an appraiser to evaluate
their property he came to my
grandmother’s apartment in Munich and he
said my grandparents could leave Germany
but they would not allow to take the
Pissarro painting with him they made it
very very clear then this was not a
matter of choice that if my grandparents
wouldn’t agree to this transaction he
would end up in da hah one of the worst
concentration camps near Munich when
World War two ended the grotesque
realities of Nazi war crimes were
exposed
and proof of systematic plunder and
cultural artifacts was revealed hundreds
of thousands of paintings sculptures and
jewels had been taken from churches
museums and private homes across the
continent Claude kassir and his
grandmother both escaped but their
family heirloom remain missing until
more than 60 years later Claude saw
photo of the painting hanging in a
museum in Spain I could hardly believe
it I could hardly believe it there was
such a coincidence in such America the
painting had changed hands at least five
times in three countries over a 50-year
period before it was purchased by one of
the world’s wealthiest art collectors
Baron Hynek fun thiessen born a misa in
1993 the Baron sold his collection in a
joint arrangement with the kingdom of
Spain and a foundation museum that now
bears his name for Guan kassir seeing
the painting that day was a glimpse into
a boyhood long past
where the painting was my grandmother’s
love how she spoiled me how she fed me
how she went on excursions with me how
she helped educate me all this is
interrelated consumer filed suit against
the Thistle borna mesa museum and its
host country the kingdom of Spain
representatives of the Spanish
government and officials of the
thyssen-bornemisza declined interview
requests for this story in a written
statement the museum asserts that it’s
the legitimate owner of the work and
that mr. casseras request has no legal
foundation under Spanish law further the
museum contends that the Kucera family
was duly compensated for their loss by
the german government in 1958 claude
accepts that his family received 13
thousand dollars but even that he had to
split with another claimant for some
crazy reason which I never understood we
had to give part of the money to the guy
who stole the painting why I don’t
understand today the paintings value is
estimated at twenty million dollars but
Claude insists there’s much more to this
case than money I would be a fool to say
that money is of no
concerned but why should they have some
in this for five or 10 or 15 20 40 50 or
60 million when it doesn’t belong to
them and it’s a simpler thing any legal
experts expect kassir will face
considerable challenges in court
generally the more an object changes
hands the more difficult the case will
be you cannot keep stolen goods the
defendant museum puts the plaintiff to
the food prove to me that you own the
object prove to me and the stone case
has been tied up on jurisdictional
issues at these prove that you have the
right to call me from Spain into court
in the United States that that’s just
and fair and equitable you know what I
would say to them if there’s any
question of in their mind League
illegally there should be no question of
their mind morally the point at which
law ends a morality begins is often very
hard to find the museum has to make a
legal moral and ethical judgment about
what it should do I never give up and
we’re never going to give up above the
pits are cases like the ownership of
this impressionist masterpiece are
forcing the legal community to
reevaluate the intersection of property
law and morality a single artwork has
traveled through the years from a living
room and Nazi Germany over oceans and
back it’s a journey that represents both
the best and worst of our humanity as
society wrestles with the
math of war
you
masterpiece stands out a prized work by
the French impressionist Camille
Pissarro a rainy afternoon in Paris
years ago it hung in a family living
room until the Nazis sent an envoy and
removed it was my painting there’s no
question about it Claude casera was born
in 1921 into a prominent Jewish family
in Germany the painting once belonged to
his grandmother my mother had died in my
grandmother was like a substitute mother
to me and she lived in an apartment was
well in the corner from where we were
living in above the couch was this
painting in this Pissarro painting and
that is part of my life that’s how I was
brought up the caceres lived a life of
privilege until the Nazis came to power
and persecution of Jews in Germany
intensified fearing for their safety
clods grandmother and her husband Otto
nguoi Bauer petitioned the German
government for an exit visa in response
the Nazis sent an appraiser to evaluate
their property he came to my
grandmother’s apartment in Munich and he
said my grandparents could leave Germany
but they would not allow to take the
Pissarro painting with him they made it
very very clear then this was not a
matter of choice that if my grandparents
wouldn’t agree to this transaction he
would end up in da hah one of the worst
concentration camps near Munich when
World War two ended the grotesque
realities of Nazi war crimes were
exposed
and proof of systematic plunder and
cultural artifacts was revealed hundreds
of thousands of paintings sculptures and
jewels had been taken from churches
museums and private homes across the
continent Claude kassir and his
grandmother both escaped but their
family heirloom remain missing until
more than 60 years later Claude saw
photo of the painting hanging in a
museum in Spain I could hardly believe
it I could hardly believe it there was
such a coincidence in such America the
painting had changed hands at least five
times in three countries over a 50-year
period before it was purchased by one of
the world’s wealthiest art collectors
Baron Hynek fun thiessen born a misa in
1993 the Baron sold his collection in a
joint arrangement with the kingdom of
Spain and a foundation museum that now
bears his name for Guan kassir seeing
the painting that day was a glimpse into
a boyhood long past
where the painting was my grandmother’s
love how she spoiled me how she fed me
how she went on excursions with me how
she helped educate me all this is
interrelated consumer filed suit against
the Thistle borna mesa museum and its
host country the kingdom of Spain
representatives of the Spanish
government and officials of the
thyssen-bornemisza declined interview
requests for this story in a written
statement the museum asserts that it’s
the legitimate owner of the work and
that mr. casseras request has no legal
foundation under Spanish law further the
museum contends that the Kucera family
was duly compensated for their loss by
the german government in 1958 claude
accepts that his family received 13
thousand dollars but even that he had to
split with another claimant for some
crazy reason which I never understood we
had to give part of the money to the guy
who stole the painting why I don’t
understand today the paintings value is
estimated at twenty million dollars but
Claude insists there’s much more to this
case than money I would be a fool to say
that money is of no
concerned but why should they have some
in this for five or 10 or 15 20 40 50 or
60 million when it doesn’t belong to
them and it’s a simpler thing any legal
experts expect kassir will face
considerable challenges in court
generally the more an object changes
hands the more difficult the case will
be you cannot keep stolen goods the
defendant museum puts the plaintiff to
the food prove to me that you own the
object prove to me and the stone case
has been tied up on jurisdictional
issues at these prove that you have the
right to call me from Spain into court
in the United States that that’s just
and fair and equitable you know what I
would say to them if there’s any
question of in their mind League
illegally there should be no question of
their mind morally the point at which
law ends a morality begins is often very
hard to find the museum has to make a
legal moral and ethical judgment about
what it should do I never give up and
we’re never going to give up above the
pits are cases like the ownership of
this impressionist masterpiece are
forcing the legal community to
reevaluate the intersection of property
law and morality a single artwork has
traveled through the years from a living
room and Nazi Germany over oceans and
back it’s a journey that represents both
the best and worst of our humanity as
society wrestles with the
math of war
you
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