The annual Kristallnacht Commemoration will be a lecture on "Nazi Looted Art and the Ongoing Fight for Justice." 

The Nazi leaders were not only the most systematic mass murderers in history, but also the greatest thieves. Eighty years after the end of World War II, we are still dealing with the ongoing work of restitution. An estimated 100,000 artworks stolen by the Nazis or relinquished under duress have yet to be returned to the rightful owners, including masterpieces like Raphael’s Portrait of a Young Man, which the Nazis stole in Cracow. 

In this lecture, Prof. Petropoulos, John V. Croul Professor of European History at Claremont McKenna College, will share his forty-plus years of experience studying Nazi art looting and helping victims and heirs recover their property. This work has included interviewing Nazi art plunderers, examining looted art in a Swiss bank vault, and testifying as an expert witness in court. His scholarship has had practical application, and he will offer reflections on both Nazi plunder and postwar restitution. 

This event is free and open to the public, but please be sure to RSVP. There will be a kosher reception following the lecture.