France Says Nazis Stole Art From Jews

In the latest revelation about France’s role in the Holocaust, a government agency said Tuesday that Nazis may have stolen from Jews up to 1,955 works now in French museums, including some art by Monet, Renoir and Courbet.

The report from France’s Audit Office refers to works now in French museums that were recovered after World War II but whose owners have not been determined.

Francoise Cachin, director of the national museum authority, said Tuesday that most of the works in question had not been stolen but were bought by Germans during the occupation, then sent back to France by the Allies after the war. Cachin did not say, however, whether the works had been sold voluntarily.

Documents recently made public show that the collaborationist Vichy government and occupying German forces systematically confiscated the belongings of deported Jews.