--- description: The world must do more to identify and research works of art looted or otherwise acquired from Jews during the Holocaust, a new report says title: Countries Aren't Returning Holocaust Art image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Most Countries Are Not Doing Enough to Recover Wartime Jewish Art by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 11, 2014 6:35 AM CUT by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 11, 2014 6:35 AM CUT Italy is among the countries doing the least to identify and research works of art looted or otherwise acquired from Jews during the Holocaust, according to a [report](http://art.claimscon.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Worldwide-Overview.pdf "undefined") published on Wednesday. It is joined on the list by Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Argentina and Brazil, among others. The report, compiled by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and the World Jewish Restitution Organization, measures the progress of 47 countries that signed the Terezin Declaration in 2009 and the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art in 1998\. Both agreements involve a commitment to making greater efforts to repatriate art confiscated or bought from Jews during World War II. However, the report has found that only 34% of the 43 countries for which reliable information is available have made “major or substantial progress” toward implementing the principles outlined in the declaration. Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic are ranked highest in terms of commitment to restitution efforts. But Greg Schneider, executive vice president of the Claims Conference, [told](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/arts/design/lax-efforts-on-wartime-looted-art-criticized-in-new-report.html?%5Fr=2 "undefined") the New York _Times_ that even those nations could do more. He said there was still a need for “countries to recognize that this is the right thing to do.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3322803/jewish-stolen-looted-art-holocaust-wwii/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3322803/jewish-stolen-looted-art-holocaust-wwii/"},"headline":"Most Countries Are Not Doing Enough to Recover Wartime Jewish Art","datePublished":"2014-09-11T06:35:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:07:24.776Z","description":"Only a handful of nations are trying to help","url":"https://time.com/3322803/jewish-stolen-looted-art-holocaust-wwii/","keywords":["Ukraine","Germany","Holocaust","Italy","World War II"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3322803/jewish-stolen-looted-art-holocaust-wwii/","name":"Most Countries Are Not Doing Enough to Recover Wartime Jewish Art"}}]}] ```