LOS ANGELES — According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the filing relies on these recent legislative changes to challenge previous court determinations regarding the ownership of the works. The lawsuits do not specify the monetary value of the artworks involved in the dispute.

Marei von Saher, the sole heir of Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, signed over her rights to the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. She said this effort represents a meaningful step toward justice for Holocaust survivors and victims of Nazi-era atrocities. The paintings Adam and Eve are two life-size oil-on-panel works created by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1530.

The Pasadena Museum of Modern Art purchased the Adam and Eve paintings in the 1960s and was later renamed the Norton Simon Museum. Spokespersons for the museum stated that the institution legally holds titles to the works and intends to continue displaying them. The Norton Simon Museum stated that the Cranach paintings have been on view at the museum for nearly 50 years and will continue to be accessible to the public.

Rabbi Noah Farkas is the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles. The organization plans to use most of the net proceeds from the recovered art to assist approximately 2,500 Holocaust survivors in the Los Angeles area. Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi regime seized more than 600,000 works of art across Europe from Jewish families, collectors, and museums.

In a separate legal action, the daughters of Dina Gottliebova Babbitt filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles against the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland for the return of watercolors. Michele Babbitt Kane and Karin Wendy Babbitt are the daughters of Dina Gottliebova Babbitt. Michele Babbitt Kane resides in Ben Lomond, California, while Karin Wendy Babbitt resides in Las Vegas.

Dina Gottliebova Babbitt was forced to paint watercolors of fellow prisoners for Josef Mengele while held at Auschwitz. Josef Mengele demanded seven watercolors from Dina Gottliebova Babbitt, each depicting a Roma prisoner who was later murdered. Spokespersons for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum stated that the institutions legally hold titles to the works and intend to continue displaying them.

Dina Gottliebova Babbitt worked as an animation assistant for Hollywood studios including MGM and Warner Bros. For nearly 20 years after liberation. She contributed to cartoon characters such as Wile E. Coyote, Tweety, Daffy Duck, and Speedy Gonzales.

Claude Cassirer and David Cassirer have sought the return of the painting "Rue Saint-Honoré in the Afternoon. Effect of Rain" by Camille Pissarro from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection in Madrid for two decades. Lilly Cassirer Neubauer relinquished the painting to a Nazi art broker to escape Germany.

Why It Matters

The lawsuits were filed following the passage of new laws by California and the U.S. Congress that strengthen claims to artwork forcibly taken from Jewish families during World War II. These legal changes provide a renewed pathway for heirs to seek restitution for works seized during the Nazi era, a period in which more than 600,000 works of art were taken across Europe.

Timeline

The Soviet Union put the Adam and Eve paintings up for sale in an illicit auction in Berlin in 1931. Jacques Goudstikker purchased the Adam and Eve paintings at the 1931 Berlin auction. A federal court determined in 2018 that the Norton Simon Museum had proper title to the Cranach paintings. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case regarding the Cranach paintings in May 2019.

California Assembly Bill 2867 was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2024. Bill Text - AB-2867 Recovery of artwork and personal property lost due to persecution was approved by Governor September 16, 2024, and filed with Secretary of State September 16, 2024.

What's New

Additional details identify Michele Babbitt Kane and Karin Wendy Babbitt as the daughters of Dina Gottliebova Babbitt, with Michele Babbitt Kane residing in Ben Lomond, California.

Further context reveals that Josef Mengele demanded seven watercolors from Dina Gottliebova Babbitt, each depicting a Roma prisoner who was later murdered. Jesse Gabriel introduced Assembly Bill 2867 in response to a federal court ruling allowing the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid to keep a Camille Pissarro painting taken from the Cassirer family.

Jesse Gabriel co-chairs the California Legislative Jewish Caucus.