De lange weg naar huis

During his time in office Hitler and more structurally Nazi Germany wreaked havoc across the entire European art world. They bought, destroyed, pillaged and consequently displaced so many works of art, the period 1933-1945 is still considered to be one of the darkest pages in the history of the art world. Belgium and the Netherlands both fell victim to the Nazi art looting regime. The acquisition of publicly owned as well as private property was envisioned in the Nazi looting policies which consisted among others of being active on the art market, instating specialized looting organizations emptying out empty houses of fled or deported Jews or other state enemies.

While the measures adopted by Belgium and the Netherlands shared (and in a way still share) a common core, over time they have each developed their own systems that differ from the other. This article delves into the Belgian and Dutch approach of Nazi-looted art in three periods. The (pre-) wartime period, the post-war initiatives and the resurgence of the ’90 up until today. Through the analysis and subsequent comparison of the approaches taken in both states, the article reaches the conclusion that whereas the Netherlands have grown to be a evaluator state that regularly rethinks and changes their policies, Belgium has taken up the role of a reaction state, needing outside catalyzers to adopt new initiatives.