A painting looted by the Nazis during World War II has resurfaced in the possession of the descendants of one of the Netherlands’ most infamous SS collaborators after a family member exposed the secret. The artwork, Portrait of a Young Girl, by Dutch painter Toon Kelder, was part of the renowned collection owned by Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker before it was seized by Adolf Hitler’s second-in-command, Hermann Göring, after Goudstikker fled Europe in 1940. Art detective Arthur Brand said the painting had apparently hung for decades inside the family home of Hendrik Seyffardt, a top Dutch Waffen-SS commander assassinated by resistance fighters in 1943. Brand said a relative contacted him after discovering both his family connection to Seyffardt and the painting’s history. The relative told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf: “I feel ashamed. The painting should be returned to the heirs of Goudstikker.” According to Brand, Seyffardt’s granddaughter allegedly acknowledged the work was “Jewish looted art” and warned: “It is unsellable. Don’t tell anyone.” Brand later traced the painting through a 1940 Nazi-era auction catalog after finding a Goudstikker label and the number “92” carved into the frame. Police cannot force the return of the painting to the Goudstikker family, as the theft has passed the statute of limitations.
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