Helsingin Sanomat 13 March 2007 Works of art which were
confiscated by the Nazis during the Second World War are being
searched for in Finnish art museums. Around 400 foreign pieces
of art have been found in the Finnish museums, with no knowledge
of their owners over the period 1933 to 1945. The researchers
believe that some of them could have been looted by the Nazis.
The estimated number of works of art which the Nazis are said to
have confiscated before and during World War II, primarily from
Jews, was around 600,000. About one-sixth of these works are
still missing. Some of them could have ended up in Finnish
museums through art dealers and donors. The groundwork for the
search was laid down as part of an art and culture project at
the University of Jyväskylä. The project is now continuing in
the form of a thesis involving personal research by Tiina
Koivulahti and Maarit Hakkarainen. According to Senior Assistant
of Art History Hanna Pirinen, who was in charge of the research
project in the University’s D