Over half of the countries that acted as signatories of a declaration advocating for the Washington Principles, which are a set of standards that aims to facilitate the return of Nazi-looted artworks, have made "little or no progress" in the restitution of these stolen properties across the 25 years since the first drafting of the declaration.
This statistic was shared by the World Jewish Restitution Organization, or WJRO, in a report publicized last Tuesday, March 5.
Progress in Realizing the Principles Within the 2009 Terezin Declaration
The restitution framework itself was established amid the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust Era Assets.
All in all, it consisted of 11 non-binding principles that were meant to be malleable to each signing country's specific systems of law, concerning Nazi-stolen art and how to properly approach issues regarding these artworks.
Additionally, the principles also push the signing countries to research and identify suspected cultural property and promptly return pieces that are confirmed to have unlawfully transferred hands during World War II.
In the report, the WJRO tallied up the progress of all 47 signatories of the 2009 Terezin Declaration, a document that incorporated the aforementioned principles.
Sharing the tally results, the organization wrote: "Seven countries have made major progress; three countries have made substantial progress; thirteen countries have made some progress; [and] twenty-four countries have made little or no progress."
These ratings were based on whether the country has done historical research regarding the restitution of art stolen amid WWII; has investigated the provenance of all of its collections; has established a processing system for claims regarding looted art suspects; and has made a sizeable amount of actual restitutions.
Of this overall progress, JRO President Gideon Taylor was quoted in the report saying: "This report underscores the critical need for advancement in art and cultural property restitution."
"Restitution from public bodies or private individuals is not just about returning what was taken," he continued. "It's about reconnecting families and communities with their heritage. Over the past 25 years, there has been significant progress, but much work lies ahead."
The exemplary implementors of the Washington Principles among the signatories comprise Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US.
On the other hand, countries that belonged to the majority - those who made little progress since the Washington Principles' drafting 25 years ago - include Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Russia, Spain, and Turkey, among others.
Other Findings Regarding the Restitutions as Reported by WJRO
Although the set of principles informing the restitution of stolen art was primarily made to cover private collections, the report said that there is less work being done to restitute artwork held by individual collectors.
When it comes to collecting institutions, the report found that most of the museums across the globe continue to "ignore" research-related efforts. It continued by saying that in most countries, investigating the provenance of collections is not part of the standard institutional procedure.
That said, compared to this, WJRO explained that there are still many more improvements to be made regarding provenance investigations, transparency, and the facilitation of restitution claims in terms of dealing with private art collectors.
In contrast, claims processes have been integrated into the systems of most of the countries that signed into the declaration, however, only a measly 5 out of the total 47 nations have gone and established a restitution commission to more efficiently handle the claims.
The report also found that there has been an improvement in the public's awareness regarding the subject, including the fact that most of the displaced artworks previously belonging to Jewish communities are yet to be restituted by the private hands that currently hold them.
Chairperson at the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, Ambassador Colette Avital, was quoted by the report saying: " For us Holocaust survivors [these] works of art are part of our cultural heritage, part of our lives, part of our past."
"They are the silent witnesses of the lives and loves of individuals, families, and communities who were murdered cruelly and whose memories we cherish," she exclaimed.
