Nazi-looted painting found in home of Dutch SS leader’s family, art detective reveals

Dutch police cannot take action against Seyffardt’s family for the theft because the statute of limitations has passed, but Seyffardt’s family has agreed to return the painting.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner

A painting stolen by Nazis during World War II from a Jewish art dealer in the Netherlands was discovered in the home of the family of a senior Nazi collaborator, Dutch art detective Arthur Brand shared on Tuesday.

“Portrait of a Young Girl” by Toon Kelder was looted by the Nazis from prominent Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker.

It was found hanging in the house of the granddaughter of notorious Dutch Nazi collaborator Hendrik Seyffardt, who commanded the Dutch Waffen-SS unit of volunteers.

A member of Seyffardt’s family, who discovered he was a descendant of a Nazi collaborator and the truth about the painting’s stolen origins, contacted Brand through an intermediary and told him about the artwork, Brand told AFP.

“It is true that I discovered my family possesses the looted painting and does not want to return it,” the family member, who chose to remain anonymous, told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

“I was stunned speechless. That is why I am now bringing it into the public eye. I feel deep shame about the family past and am furious about the years of silence. The painting must return to the Jewish rightful heirs.”

Brand traced the painting to an auction in 1940 of artwork that Nazis looted from Goudstikker’s collection.

The painting still has a label on its back confirming it was from Goudstikker’s personal collection but also the number 92 carved into its frame.

After digging into archive records, Brand discovered that in the 1940 auction, an item under the number 92 was titled “Portrait of a Young Girl” by Toon Kelder.

The painting was sold to Seyffardt at the auction, according to Brand.

A lawyer for Goudstikker’s heirs confirmed that the painting was stolen from the Jewish art collector and had been included in the 1940 auction.

Dutch police cannot take action against Seyffardt’s family for the theft because the statute of limitations has passed, but Seyffardt’s family has agreed to return the painting over to Brand’s team, the latter shared in a post on X.

The family denied knowing that the painting was stolen.

A famous art dealer in Amsterdam, Goudstikker fled the Netherlands with his family in May 1940 after the Nazis invaded the country.

He died in an accident while escaping and left behind approximately 1,400 works of art, most of which were looted by Nazi Party leader Hermann Göring, according to the Contemporary Jewish Museum in California.

After the war, part of his art collection was found by the Allies in Germany and given to the Netherlands. In February 2006, Goudstikker’s descendants regained ownership of 200 artworks from the Dutch government, the museum added.

Seyffardt was assassinated by resistance fighters in his home in The Hague in February 1943. A Nazi state funeral was held for him in The Hague, which featured a wreath sent by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.