Two legal actions have been filed in California seeking the return of artworks allegedly seized by Nazis during the Second World War and now held in prominent museums. The cases mark the first major use of recent state and federal laws designed to strengthen claims related to cultural property taken from Jewish families during the Holocaust.

The first lawsuit, lodged in Los Angeles Superior Court, was initiated by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles along with its board chair, Daniel Gryczman. It demands the return of *Adam and Eve*, a pair of life-size panel paintings dating back to 1530 by the German Renaissance artist Lucas Cranach the Elder. The paintings are held by the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. The plaintiffs assert that the artworks were wrongfully seized by the Nazis from Jewish owners during the Holocaust and seek their restitution.

On the same day, a separate federal lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles by the daughters of Dina Gottliebova Babbitt, a Holocaust survivor and California-based animator who was imprisoned at the Auschwitz concentration camp. This suit seeks the transfer of several watercolor portraits that Babbitt was forced to create for Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor notorious for his experiments on camp prisoners. The paintings depict fellow inmates and hold significant personal and historical importance to Babbitt’s family.

Representatives for both the Norton Simon Museum and the other institution involved have argued that they hold legitimate legal title to the pieces. Museum officials have stated their intention to continue publicly exhibiting the artworks, maintaining that the acquisitions were lawful.

These legal actions come in the wake of new legislation aimed at addressing lingering disputes over art and cultural objects seized during the Holocaust, reflecting a broader effort across the United States to provide clearer paths for heirs of Jewish victims to recover lost property. As the cases proceed, they are likely to draw attention to the ongoing challenges of resolving Holocaust-era restitution claims involving major cultural institutions.