The Greatest Art Theft in History: How Bipartisan Legislation Attempts to Redress Nazi-Looted Art

In 2016, President Obama signed into law the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act (HEAR Act) which expanded the opportunities for survivors of Nazi persecution, and their heirs, to recover art that was looted by the Nazis. The HEAR Act allows such individuals to bring a claim within six years of locating the art, creating a uniform statute of limitations. The bipartisan legislation was passed, in part, as a response to the bureaucratic and legal obstacles that many Holocaust survivors’ heirs faced in their efforts to repossess family heirlooms. Prior to the adoption of the HEAR Act, many cases over Nazi-looted art were dismissed because of a procedural technicality, the lapsed state statute of limitations for such a property claim. Following the HEAR Act’s enactment, more Nazi-looted art cases can be evaluated on their merits, and courts are better able to determine the rightful ownership of Holocaust-era works. As the HEAR Act is set to expire in 2027, this Note argues for Congress to not only renew the Act but also examine the statute’s shortcomings and work to clarify its ambiguous standards to continue promoting policies of justice for victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs.