Jewish heirs of Holocaust victims have recently filed lawsuits in California to reclaim Nazi-looted paintings from museums in Los Angeles and the Auschwitz Memorial in Poland. These legal actions follow the recent passage of new laws in California and at the federal level, aimed at supporting claims by U.S. residents and their descendants to recover art that was forcibly taken from Jewish families during World War II. One lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and its board chair, Daniel Gryczman, against the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. The case seeks the return of “Adam and Eve,” two life-sized oil-on-panel paintings created by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1530. Another lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Los Angeles, was initiated by the daughters of Dinah Gottliebova Babbitt, a Holocaust survivor and animator who was held in Auschwitz. This case demands the return of watercolor drawings of fellow prisoners that Babbitt was forced to create for Josef Mengele, a notorious Nazi physician known as the “Angel of Death.” Spokespersons for both the Norton Simon Museum and the Auschwitz Memorial stated that they legally hold the titles to the works and intend to continue displaying them to the public. The lawsuits have not specified the monetary value of the paintings. The issue of Nazi-looted art is both emotionally charged and legally complex, often pitting Jewish families against museums that argue they are preserving an important part of history. Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi regime seized over 600,000 works of art across Europe from Jewish families, collectors, and museums, many of which are now displayed in prominent institutions worldwide. Rabbi Noah Farkas, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, stated that the federation plans to use most of the proceeds from the recovered art to support approximately 2,500 Holocaust survivors in the Los Angeles area. Marei von Saher, the sole heir of Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, has transferred her rights to the Jewish Federation. The paintings in question were seized from Goudstikker's collection by Hermann Göring, Adolf Hitler’s second-in-command, and later sold to the Norton Simon Museum. California Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel introduced Assembly Bill 2867, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2024. This law ensures that state law applies to lawsuits brought by California residents or their heirs to recover art seized during the Holocaust or other acts of persecution. The law was introduced in response to a federal court ruling allowing the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid to retain a Camille Pissarro painting taken by the Nazis from the Cassirer family in 1939. That case is expected to be heard in federal court in California next month. The Norton Simon Museum has stated that a federal court in 2018 unanimously ruled that the museum had proper title to the Cranach paintings, which originally belonged to the Stroganoff family. The museum claims the paintings were acquired from a Stroganoff family descendant after a complicated process and have been on display for nearly 50 years. Pawel Sawicki, a spokesperson for the Auschwitz Memorial, stated that the watercolors painted by Babbitt must remain at the Memorial to document Mengele's crimes. He argued that the paintings should not be characterized as “Nazi-looted art” because Babbitt did not own them, having been forced to create them as a prisoner. He emphasized that losing such documentation would be an irreparable harm to the memory of the victims of Auschwitz. President Donald Trump signed into law and updated the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2025, which permanently removed the expiration date for claims, allowing Holocaust survivors and their heirs to pursue the recovery of stolen works indefinitely. Joel Greenberg, founder of Art Ashes, said the new law ensures that technical defenses will no longer hinder court proceedings and that every case will be heard on its merits. He stated that the legislation ensures Jewish families have their day in court and a fair process to determine ownership of the stolen art.