Marking 25 Years of the Washington Principles – Restitution of Nazi-Looted Art

This Feuerbach painting was part of an art collection owned by Sigmund and Erna Fein of Leipzig until November 9, 1938 (Kristallnacht). When the family fled Brussels on December 20, most of their property, including the Feuerbach painting, was confiscated by the Gestapo. Eventually, the painting was sold to a private art dealer. The Fein heirs' claims for restitution were unsuccessful until 1974, when the painting was donated to the Nationalgalerie in Berlin and then returned to its heirs. The claimants- Ms. Frances Fredrick and her family- donated the painting to the LBI.

Please join LBI and Yeshiva University Museum for an event commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-confiscated Art. Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, the main architect of the agreement for the US government, will deliver a key note address on where we stand today with how Nazi-stolen property could be returned to their rightful owners.

He will be joined for a panel discussion by Karen Heilig (Claims Conference Assistant Executive Vice President and General Counsel), Dr. Felix Klein (Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism), and moderator Gabriel Goldstein (Director and Chief Curator of the Yeshiva University Museum).

Please note: This event is both online and in person at the Center for Jewish History. Reception begins at 2:30PM ET, followed by the event at 3PM. If you are joining virtually, please join us at 3PM.

Participants

Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat is Senior Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP’s international practice, focusing on resolving international business disputes with the US and foreign governments around the world.

During decades of  public service in six US administrations from Johnson to Biden, Ambassador Eizenstat has held a number of key senior positions, including chief White House domestic policy adviser to President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981); U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury and Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State on Holocaust Issues in the Clinton Administration (1993-2001). He has served as Special Adviser on Holocaust Issues to Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and currently with Tony Blinken. President Biden appointed him as Chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which he helped create with President Carter. He is also Special Negotiator for the Jewish Claims with the German government on behalf of Holocaust survivors. Much of the renewed interest in Holocaust justice is the result of his leadership.

Karen Heilig serves as the Claims Conference Assistant Executive Vice President and General Counsel. As a child of Holocaust survivors, she decided to leave corporate law to pursue the historic mission of the Claims Conference. Since 1999 she has participated in negotiations between the Claims Conference and the German government, the Austrian government, and negotiations on unpaid Holocaust era insurance policies. She broke ground as the first female representative for the Claims Conference in negotiations.

Dr. Felix Klein has served as Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism since May 2018. From 1994 to 1996, he trained for the German higher foreign service at the Federal Foreign Office training centre in Bonn. In 2001, he received a doctorate from the University of St Gallen, Switzerland, with a dissertation on a topic in the area of family law. He began his diplomatic career as desk officer for South America and served abroad in Jaunde, Cameroon and Milan, Italy. From 2007 to 2018, he held various posts at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, lastly as Special Representative for Relations with Jewish Organizations and Issues relating to Anti-Semitism.

Outside of work, Dr Klein is passionate about classical music. He is currently a member of the Berlin Diplomatic String Quartet, which focuses on performing works by Jewish composers.

Gabriel Goldstein is the Director and Chief Curator of the Yeshiva University Museum and began in that role in January 2022. Having served as the Museum’s Associate Director for Exhibitions and Programs (2003-2011) and as Curator and Assistant Curator (1989-2003), Goldstein has a solid record of professional contributions.

Gabriel was the Curatorial Consultant – Exhibition Project Director for the Claims Conference (2020-2022) with an exhibit on the 70th anniversary of Holocaust reparations presented at the Bundestag in Berlin in Fall 2022 and the Guest Curator for a US National Archives exhibition Discovery and Recovery: Preserving Iraqi Jewish Heritage, opening at the National Archives in Washington, DC and traveling to museums across the USA (2013-2019). 

Since 2023, he serves on the American Alliance of Museums’ Advisory Committee on the Nazi-Era Provenance Web Portal. 

A Toronto native, Goldstein earned a bachelor’s degree in history and fine art history, with a minor in Judaism, from University College, University of Toronto; a master’s degree in the history of art from the University of Toronto; and an M.Phil. in decorative arts, design history and material culture from the Bard Graduate Center.