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Nuremberg trial man's niece reunited with looted art

April 7, 2011 11:23
Safe: Vogelstein’s Portrait of a young woman with a drawing instrument

By

Jessica Elgot,

Jessica Elgot

1 min read

The first two paintings in more than 160 works of art stolen by the Nazis from a single family, have been returned to the British family of Rudi Epstein, an interpreter at the Nuremberg trials.

Vienna-born Sue Freeman, 75, of Highgate, has had two paintings, both portraits of young women, returned to her family. One is by Dresden painter Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein, and the other by Johann Baptist Lampi.

Ms Freeman said: "It was just by chance that my sister mentioned our claim to David Lewis at the Commission for Looted Art. He put us in touch with his co-chair, Anne Webber, who helped track them down. We always knew about the paintings. They belonged to my uncle Rudi's three great-aunts."

The Rosauer sisters, who were in their late 70s, when they died, owned a huge collection of art. The eldest, Malvine, died in Vienna in 1940, but Bertha and Jenny died in Treblinka in 1942 and their great-nephew, Rudi Epstein, was the only surviving family member.

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