Though almost sixty years have passed since the end of World War II, the problem of restitution of lost cultural goods still remains open. Its resolution was prevented by the Cold War and division of Europe into two political blocs. Conditions did not exist at that time for elimination of all the consequences of the war, or even for completion of restitution claims by the respective countries. As a rule, attempts to reclaim looted works of art, libraries and archive materials were unsuccessful.

The transformations in the late eighties and early nineties brought a breakthrough in this area. Previously confidential materials were made public, which made it possible to obtain new data about objects considered lost and to trace many of them, allowing advancement of restitution claims. Most European states established centers for the registration of war-time losses. New principles of cooperation were established for determining the provenance of museum objects which may have been obtained in violation of the rights of their owners.

War losses

Involvement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in art restitution

Returned works of art