They Sold Painting to Escape Nazis. Now, Heirs Get It Back

Jewish couple parted with Joachim Patinir artwork under duress
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 12, 2018 4:59 PM CST
They Sold Painting to Escape Nazis. Now, Heirs Get It Back
Henrietta Schubert , right, and Christopher Bromberg, left, grandchildren of Henry and Hertha Bromberg, look at the oil work entitled 'Triptych of the Crucifixion' attributed to Flemish painter Joachim Patinir during a ceremony of restitution at Culture ministry in Paris.   (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

A 16th-century oil painting that fell into Nazi hands during World War II was returned by France's government to a Jewish couple's heirs Monday. The Flemish painting Triptych of the Crucifixion is attributed to Joachim Patinir and it had sat unclaimed in a French museum for seven decades, per the AP. French Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen presented it to the grandchildren of Hertha and Henry Bromberg during a ceremony at Paris' culture ministry. The Jewish couple sold works under duress to secure their passage from Nazi Germany to the United States. "The feeling of thanks and gratitude is more valuable than the painting itself," said a grandson, Christopher Bromberg. (Another painting looted by the Nazis turned up in Pennsylvania.)

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