The dark legacy of the Third Reich has resurfaced in a Dutch household, where a painting stolen from Jewish art collector Jacques Goudstikker was found hanging for decades.
The work, 'Portrait of a Young Girl' by Toon Kelder, was identified by art detective Arthur Brand after a descendant of Dutch Waffen-SS general Hendrik Seyffardt came forward, expressing disgust that his family had kept the looted property.
Seyffardt, a commander of a Waffen-SS unit on the eastern front during World War II, was assassinated in 1943, but his family retained the stolen artwork long after the war ended.
While the family members have claimed they were unaware of the painting's illicit origins, the grandmother admitted to knowing it was 'Jewish looted art' and instructed the family to keep it a secret.
Brand’s investigation confirmed the painting’s provenance, linking it to the 1940 auction of Goudstikker’s collection, which was plundered by Nazi leader Hermann Goering after Goudstikker fled the country. Despite the family’s attempts to distance themselves from the general's history by changing their name, they held onto the stolen asset for generations.
The painting has now been handed over to Brand’s team, marking the end of a shameful period of concealment for the descendants of a man who served the Nazi cause.
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