Summery: In 2015, the French government launched a program to reunited art stolen by Nazi's to their rightful owners. Henrietta Schubert's grandparents had sold a 16th Flemish painting to secure their passage from Nazi Germany to America. "You never expect something like this," Schubert, 67, a Vienna resident born in the same Austrian town as Adolf Hitler, said. "The Nazis are dead, and this can help our wounds heal." Before this program, the French government relied on people to come forward to claim art, but this program is allowing priceless family history to be joined to those they rightfully belong.
Synthesis: The start of WWII brought amount unimaginable devastation and suffering. Those who survived still had to deal with their traumatic experiences and pass those experiences to their families. We often heave the blame upon Germany for causing the majority of this pain, but fail to realize that it happened on American soil as well. During WWII Japanese- Americans were also forced out of their homes, had their property stolen, and were forced to live in work camps. France is doing an amazing thing- truly acknowledge the pain of the past and making an effort to bring everyone forward. I think that America should follow in these footsteps- to all those who it has been oppressed and mistreated. Having one's life stolen from them is something that no one should have to experience, and is something that can never be 'undone.' But these pieces of art may give people back a sense of their identity, and connect them to those lost.
http://townhall.com/news/world/2016/11/28/healing-wounds-looted-art-reunited-with-nazi-victims-heirs-n2251884
Leah, this program seems awesome and I love that the prized possessions of those who suffered in WWII is rightfully being returned to the families!!
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