Israel Museum Returns Art Looted by Nazis

The Israel Museum in Jerusalem came to an agreement with the heirs of a Polish countess on the repurchase of two rare gold-glass medallions that found their way into its collection after being looted from Warsaw by the Nazis in 1941.

The medallions feature Jewish symbols, and were embedded in the walls of the Rome catacombs as tomb markers, according to a statement today from the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, which helped the heirs negotiate the restitution. One has been repurchased from the heirs by the Israel Museum, while the second was bought by a patron for long-term loan to the museum.

"We are very happy with the outcome," Adam Zamoyski, one of the heirs, said in the statement. "We fully recognize the importance of the two glasses to the Jewish people and respect the wishes of the Israel Museum to keep them in Jerusalem."

The medallions belonged to Countess Isabella Dzialynska, who collected thousands of works of art in the second half of the 19th century, including paintings, antiquities, medieval and Renaissance enamels, jewelry, and silver. The family transported the most valuable items from her castle at Goluchow, which was close to the German border, to Warsaw in 1939.

The Nazis found the treasures and seized them in 1941. On Hitler's orders, they were taken to Castle Fischhorn in Zell am See, Austria, in 1944. The local population and dealers looted the collection again after World War II.