The French Senate has approved a bill that would return works of art stolen from Jewish families during World War II and now in the collections of local museums to their heirs. The document, previously approved by the lower house of parliament, refers to 15 works.

In particular, about the paintings of Gustav Klimt "Roses in the shade of trees" (1905), Maurice Utrillo "Lane in Sannoy" (1936-1937), Marc Chagall "Father" (1911-1912), as well as 12 watercolors by French artists XIX century. These art objects were previously purchased by French museums on completely legal grounds. For example, a painting by Gustav Klimt was purchased for the Musée d'Orsay in 1980 in one of the art galleries in Zurich.

At the time of purchase, there was no doubt about the origin of the painting. However, they appeared much later, when they established the original owner of the canvas - a Hungarian of Jewish nationality Eleonora Stiasny, who died in the early 40s of the last century in a Nazi concentration camp. It took a long time for her heirs to be able to collect the necessary documents. It was extremely difficult to do this - after all, many archives were destroyed by the Nazis.

In France, a special commission deals with compensation for works of art stolen during the Second World War. It certifies the authenticity of the documents.

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