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2 more Egon Schiele works returned as Manhattan DA’s office turns its attention to works seized by Nazis

(JTA) — For decades, the heirs of Viennese Jewish cabaret performer Fritz Grünbaum have sought the restitution of his extensive art collection, which was pilfered by the Nazis.

This year, they have seen a spate of success. The return of two portraits by Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele was announced on Wednesday, two weeks after Grünbaum’s heirs repossessed seven other Schiele works from a number of prominent museums and collections in New York City.

The heirs credit this accomplishment to Matthew Bogdanos, who founded and leads the antiquities trafficking unit in the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. In addition to working on Holocaust-era art restitution, Bogdanos, an assistant district attorney, has repatriated more than 1,000 antiquities since he founded the unit in 2017.

“It takes courage to take on important American institutions,” Ray Dowd, the attorney for Grünbaum’s heirs, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “And a prosecutor who’s willing to do that is exceedingly rare.”

The two paintings whose return was announced this week — “Girl With Black Hair” and “Portrait of a Man” — were housed at Oberlin College and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, respectively. In September, the group of seven Schiele paintings and drawings were returned in an emotional ceremony at Bragg’s office. Another two pieces were returned to the family in 2018 via a civil ruling in the New York Court of Appeals and were put up for a charity auction through Christie’s in 2022.

“I am pleased these two pieces are being returned to the family of Fritz Grünbaum following a criminal investigation by my Office,” Bragg said in a statement this week. “The evidence makes clear the two drawings were stolen by the Nazis and subsequently transported into Manhattan, before landing in these museums. We are proud to have now returned nine Egon Schiele drawings to Mr. Grünbaum’s relatives and continue to reflect on his indelible legacy.”

Grünbaum and his wife Elisabeth were killed in the Holocaust, and the restitution of his art collection, which contained a total of 81 Schiele works, has been a decades-long process. Once the provenance of the works has been established — which is itself a challenge — lawyers must compel the institutions that hold the pieces to return them.

The co-executors of Grünbaum’s estate, Timothy Reif and David Frankel, are the second generation of heirs involved in the restitution of Grünbaum’s art collection. Reif’s mother, Rita Reif, who died in June, was a New York Times columnist on antiques and auctions, and she later took on the mission of reacquiring the artworks that were looted from Grünbaum. Her husband Paul Reif, who died in 1978, was a composer from Vienna who was Grünbaum’s cousin and co-wrote operettas with him.

At first, the restitution effort focused on civil litigation, but the recent string of success has come after a turn to criminal proceedings. Twenty-five years ago, the heirs had also found some success in criminal court, when the D.A.’s office issued a subpoena preventing the transfer of two Schiele works from the Museum of Modern Art to a museum in Austria. The office began a criminal investigation into the pieces’ provenance and they were both seized, but neither went back immediately to the Grünbaum heirs. One of the two was eventually returned in 2019.

Working on behalf of the family since 2005, Dowd said that the shift from civil to criminal cases has moved the restitution process along much quicker. But the judge’s order from the 2018 civil case also helped move the criminal investigation along.

Following the 2018 ruling, the D.A.’s office began investigating, “and then they dug deeper than we ever did,” Dowd said. “There’s only so much civil lawyers can do. So it’s not like I handed them a case tied up in a bow.”

At the head of that investigation was Bogdanos, a homicide prosecutor and retired Marine colonel whose office has recovered more than 4,500 items stolen from more than 30 countries, valued at over $410 million, according to the D.A. What started as a unit of one employee has since grown to a team of 18.

When it comes to the Schiele works, too, he has reached beyond Manhattan. While the seven pieces returned to Grünbaum’s heirs last month were all on display or held in New York City-based museums or galleries, the two drawings returned Wednesday came from institutions outside of the five boroughs. But the Manhattan district attorney’s office can still claim jurisdiction.

“If it passes through New York, we have jurisdiction no matter where it is now,” Bogdanos told CBS News in March. “If the wire transfer was made in New York, we have jurisdiction, no matter where it is now; if it was offered for sale, if it was shown at an auction. So, sure, my jurisdiction is limited to New York City. But to update a phrase, all roads lead to New York.”

Dowd attributed Bogdanos’ record to his military background, interest in history and the classics, and his nonfiction book, “Thieves of Baghdad” — an account of his own experience recovering thousands of artifacts stolen from the Iraqi National Museum after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

“It’s not just some lightweight chasing down pretty pictures because he likes to look at artworks,” Dowd added. “There’s a real unique and deep dedication that goes into this.”


The post 2 more Egon Schiele works returned as Manhattan DA’s office turns its attention to works seized by Nazis appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.

Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.

“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”

GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’

Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.

“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.

“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.

“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.

After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”

RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL

Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”

Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.

“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”

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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.

“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.

On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.

“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.

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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

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