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Germany returns 16th-century sculpture to heirs of Jewish owner
BERLIN (JTA) — A federal German cultural organization has returned a 16th-century sculpture to the heirs of its pre-war Jewish owner who faced Nazi persecution.
The Berlin-based Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, or SPK (for Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz), announced today that the “Maria Lactans” statuette depicting Mary nursing an infant Jesus would be given back to the family of German Jewish banker and entrepreneur Jakob Goldschmidt, who fled Nazi Germany soon after Hitler came to power.
Even in exile, Goldschmidt was persecuted by the Nazis, who confiscated his citizenship and the property he had left behind, the foundation noted.
“There is no doubt that Jakob Goldschmidt was a victim of individual persecution at the very beginning of the Nazi era,” SPK President Hermann Parzinger said in announcing the restitution on Tuesday.
According to the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, an agreement on Holocaust era assets negotiated between Germany and the United States in 1998, works of art must be returned to their rightful owners or heirs upon proof that they were confiscated by the Nazis or sold under duress.
Speaking for the heirs, Berlin-based attorney Sabine Rudolph said they were grateful that the foundation had recognized the “special circumstances of this complex case and acknowledged it in the appropriate manner.” In a 2020 article about the case, Rudolph had argued that “no other Jewish banker was subjected to such malicious anti-Semitic hostility as Jakob Goldschmidt.”
Jakob Goldschmidt (1882-1955) was a prominent businessman in the interwar period in Germany and was targeted by the Nazis early on in their rise. He fled to Switzerland in April 1933, soon after Hitler came to power, and emigrated to New York in 1936. Four years later, the German government stripped him of his citizenship in absentia and then confiscated his remaining assets in Germany.
Goldschmidt had amassed an extensive art collection after World War I. After emigrating, he was able to export some objects via the Netherlands, but much of the collection remained in Berlin as security for loans and was sold at various auctions. The “Maria Lactans” statuette — attributed only to Circle of the Master of the Biberach Holy Clan — had been in Goldschmidt’s Berlin home, along with numerous other Renaissance works. When the house was sold in July 1933, three months after his departure, the artworks were taken to his office.
On June 23, 1936, around 300 works from the collection, including the “Maria Lactans” statuette, were sold off anonymously at the Hugo Helbing auction house. Art dealer Johannes Hinrichsen bought the statuette for 8,000 Reichsmarks and sold it to the Berlin State Museums that same year. The Berlin museum complex loaned it to the Ulm Museum in 1993.
According to the Prussian foundation, which oversees more than 20 museums and other cultural institutions in the Berlin area, the 1936 auction qualifies as a persecution-related property loss under the Washington Principles.
Deidre Berger, chair of the board of the Berlin-based Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project, called the restitution “an encouraging development. It is based on growing recognition by public institutions of the injustice of forced sales or sales under duress by Jewish families forced into financial ruin by Nazi antisemitic policies.”
The JDCRP was founded in 2019 by the Claims Conference and the New York-based Commission for Art Recovery to research and document the history of Nazi-era looted art and create a central database.
“In the 1950s, German courts continued to use antisemitic arguments to deny attempts by the Goldschmidt family to retrieve at least part of their collection, by claiming that the Jewish banker contributed to German financial problems,” Berger added. Focusing on such cases brings “overdue public attention to the long-neglected chapter of the vast amounts of cultural plunder by the Nazis and their allies.”
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US Strikes More Than 90 Iranian Military Targets on Kharg Island, CENTCOM Says
A satellite image shows an oil terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, February 25, 2026. Photo: 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
United States forces executed a large-scale precision strike on Kharg Island in Iran on Friday night, the US Central Command said on Saturday.
“US forces successfully struck more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, while preserving the oil infrastructure,” CENTCOM said.
The strike destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites, the US military said in a post on X.
President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to strike the oil infrastructure of Iran’s Kharg Island hub, unless Tehran stopped attacking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
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North Korea Fires Ten Ballistic Missiles Toward the Sea of Japan
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and wife Ri Sol Ju inspect an honour guard before leaving Pyongyang for a visit to China, this January 7, 2019 photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang January 8, 2019. Photo: KCNA via REUTERS.
i24 News – North Korea fired roughly ten ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday, the South Korean military reported, marking a new act of defiance amid Seoul and Washington’s annual joint military exercises.
The launches, originating from the Sunan area near Pyongyang, were detected around 1:20 p.m. local time, according to a statement from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The missiles were directed toward the East Sea—the Korean name for the Sea of Japan—though details on their range or trajectory were not immediately available. Earlier, the South Korean Ministry of Defense had already confirmed the launch of at least one unidentified projectile in the same area.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense also verified the incident, noting that a suspected ballistic missile had been launched from North Korea.
The launches come amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Since Monday, the United States and South Korea have been conducting their annual joint exercises, which will continue through March 19 and involve approximately 18,000 South Korean troops alongside an unspecified number of U.S. forces.
Pyongyang has sharply criticized the drills, calling them a rehearsal for invasion. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned this week that the exercises could trigger “terrible and unimaginable consequences.”
The missile tests also coincide with fading prospects for inter-Korean dialogue. Kim Jong-un recently dismissed outreach efforts from South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, labeling Seoul “the most hostile enemy.”
The show of force occurred just hours after South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, during a visit to the United States, mentioned a potential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un—a meeting Washington still considers possible.
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Dutch Authorities Investigate Explosion at Jewish School Claimed by Extremist Group
Police outside a Jewish school following an explosion that caused minor damages, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 14, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – An explosion struck a Jewish school on Zeelandstraat in Amsterdam-Buitenveldert during the night between Friday and Saturday, Dutch authorities confirmed. Emergency responders, including police and firefighters, acted swiftly, and officials reported that the building suffered only limited damage. No injuries have been reported.
Mayor Femke Halsema described the incident as a deliberate attack against the Jewish community in the city, emphasizing that the authorities are treating the case “very seriously.” Security camera footage showing the individual who detonated the device is under investigation.
In an unverified online video, previously little-known group identifying itself as Ashab Al Yamim later claimed responsibility for the blast. The group released online footage appearing to show the small explosion followed by a fire outside the school. Its logo was also seen in videos related to an attack on a synagogue in Rotterdam earlier this week.
Dutch investigators are coordinating with the judiciary to determine the full circumstances of the attack and whether additional suspects were involved. Authorities noted that the organization had not been previously known to security services.
The explosion comes amid rising security concerns for Jewish institutions across Europe, following heightened tensions in the Middle East. The group behind the claim has also alleged responsibility for previous incidents targeting Jewish sites in Europe, including attacks in Liège, Belgium, and Rotterdam, though these claims remain unverified.
Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centers across the continent have stepped up security measures in recent weeks amid fears of potential threats to Jewish communities.