Blog #3: Nazi-Looted and the U.S. Supreme Court - Claudia Page


Blog #3 - Nazi-Looted and the U.S. Supreme Court

David Friedmann (1857-1942) was a wealthy man involved in the German sugar industry. His wealth allowed him to become interested in art collecting. By 1939, Nazi bureaucrats had their eyes on his collection. During this time, Nazi officials were commonly gathering information about Jewish families and their possessions because they planned to loot their homes. According to the article, Friedmann was “confined” by Nazi officials and his collection was confiscated. It is unclear exactly where he was taken here. About 70 years later, Friedmann’s great-nephew David Toren saw a piece his great-uncle owned on TV.  Toren is also an attorney and filed a claim to have this piece returned back to the family. Toren argued against Germany for compensation for the artworks and other assets stolen from his ancestors.

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act established the criteria for whether or not a lawsuit against a foreign state can happen. Simply put, foreign governments cannot be sued in the U.S. However, there are some exceptions. The article quotes that one of these exceptions is when “rights in property taken in violation of international law are in issue.” There was a previous case before Toren’s (referred to as Federal Republic of Germany v. Alan Phillip) involving stolen property in which the party argued that Germany should not have immunity because the forced sales of art should be considered an act of genocide, as it was part of the Nazi’s plan to deliberately kill Jewish people. The court ended up siding with Germany, saying that there was not enough evidence to support that the stolen property was a violation of international law. When Toren made his claim, the court believed it was identical to the Phillip case that lost and sided with Germany again. However, the article points out a difference between Toren and Phillip. In both cases, it was argued that both of the people whose property was stolen were not nationals of Germany. Toren’s case differed because following the stealing of the artwork, Toren’s ancestors were taken to a concentration camp and killed, therefore more directly linking the stolen property to being a genocidal act. It is unclear in the article whether or not Friedmann died in the death camp, but his daughter did.

Legally, restitution of Nazi-looted art becomes extremely complicated when it comes to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is fair to say more influence happens outside of the courtroom, in which the public strives to educate each other about stolen art and work towards a solution. One step in the right direction is that there was a bill passed in New York that requires Nazi-looted art to be labeled as so. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston even took initiative and returned a stolen artwork to the victim’s descendants. When it comes to critical issues like these, even ones that happen solely within the United States are incredibly complex when it comes to legality. As soon as other countries are involved, it unfortunately becomes even more complicated.


Max Liebermann, Two Riders on the Beach (the piece Toren fought for), 1901.



Works Cited

Vafai, Nikki. “The Torens’ Case to Recover Nazi-Looted Family Art Collection & the Current Restitution Landscape.” Center for Art Law, 17 Feb. 2023, itsartlaw.org/2023/02/17/the-torens-case-to-recover-nazi-looted-family-art-collection-the-current-restitution-landscape/#post-57293-footnote-18. 

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