This factsheet is for anyone who thinks that they have a legitimate claim to a work in the NK collection. It explains how you can submit a claim to the Dutch government and gives the deadline for claims.

The NK collection and the Ekkart Committee
The 1990s saw an upsurge, both in the Netherlands and internationally, in the attention paid to the injustice suffered by victims of persecution during and after the Second World War. More than fifty years after the end of the war, issues such as the theft of goods and financial assets, and the restitution of rights, were re-examined. This re-examination included the works of art that had been confiscated or purchased by members of the German occupying forces, were brought back to the Netherlands after the war and came into the custody of the Dutch State. They became known as the NK collection. This collection comprises 4,217 works, including 1,750 paintings. It owes its name to the Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit or SNK, an organisation set up in the post-war period to recover works of art – mainly from Germany – and to restore them to their owners, who in some cases were Jewish.

On 1 April 1999, a committee was set up under the chairmanship of Dr Rudi Ekkart (the Ekkart Committee) to study the origin of cultural objects in the NK collection. The Ekkart Committee’s interim recommendations in 2001 prompted the government to liberalise its restitution policy. However, the government maintained its general position on the post-war restitution of rights, namely that the restitution process would not be repeated and that cases that had been dealt with would not be reopened. The Committee made recommendations concerning art dealers in 2003.

The Restitutions Committee
Applications for the return of works of art deserve the most careful consideration. It is for this reason that the State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science (the State Secretary) set up a committee to advise on requests for the post-war restitution of cultural objects (the Restitutions Committee). This Committee was created as a direct response to the recommendations of the Ekkart Committee.

The Restitutions Committee advises the State Secretary on individual applications for the restitution of cultural objects in the custody of the State of the Netherlands. At the request of the State Secretary, the Committee may also advise in disputes between private parties on the return of objects that are not in the State’s possession. The private parties in question must, however, make a joint request to this end to the State Secretary.

Procedure governing the work of the Restitutions Committee
The procedure governing the work of the Restitutions Committee is as follows:
a)      applications for the return of a work of art from the NK collection
b)      or requests by private parties for advice in disputes concerning a work of art;
which, as a result of the Second World War, were involuntarily lost by the then owner (who belonged to a persecuted group) should be directed to the State Secretary. The State Secretary then forwards the request to the Restitutions Committee for advice. Claims to objects on which a decision has already been made may in principle only be submitted if substantial new information has come to light.

Some claims may have to be decided quickly because of the age of the applicant or other persons involved. The Committee will, upon request, consider giving priority to such claims.

Advice on restitution applications has to be properly researched. Once this research is complete, the Committee presents its recommendations to the State Secretary, who then makes a decision. If the State Secretary decides in favour of restitution, the work of art is returned to the applicant.

Applications for restitution may be sent by letter to the:

Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
Attn State Secretary for Culture
Postbus 16375
2500 BJ Den Haag
The Netherlands

Letters should include the following details:

• the work or works of art to which the application relates (the NK number);
• the name of the person on whose behalf the application is being made; 
• an account of the reasons for believing that the item or items concerned were lost by the applicant or his/her family.
  

In addition, as much information as possible should be sent that could be of use in identifying the work of art and establishing that it was the property of the applicant or his/her family.

The Ekkart Committee’s final recommendations – time limit for the submission of claims by individuals
The Ekkart Committee presented its final recommendations in December 2004, supplementing the recommendations it presented to the Dutch government in 2001 and 2003 on the restitution of works from the NK collection. The Committee was disbanded in December 2004.

The Committee’s final recommendations, like its previous recommendations, were adopted by the Dutch government. The Ekkart Committee advised giving claimants another two years (after the publication of the recommendations in the Government Gazette on 4 April 2005) in which to submit claims under its liberalised restitution policy. This means that claims may be submitted to the Dutch government until 4 April 2007. The Restitution Committee will issue recommendations until 4 April 2008.

More information
Interested parties may at any time obtain more information from  www.originsunknown.org. This website includes a searchable database and other information. This opportunity will remain open until the time limit for submitting restitution applications to the Restitutions Committee has passed.
NB Claims from other states will not be submitted to the Restitutions Committee. The Dutch government will enter into bilateral consultations with the government of the country in question.

For more information (available in Dutch and English) go to:  www.minocw.nl

General information on the liberalised restitution policy concerning works of art; the text of the order instituting the Restitution Committee:  www.restitutiecommissie.nl

Information concerning the submission of claims; the text of all the recommendations presented to the government. Reports of investigations are available on request from the Committee:  www.herkomstgezocht.nl or  www.originsunknown.org.

Information about the art collection in the custody of the Dutch State and about the Ekkart Committee. This website also has a database in which the works in the NK collection can be viewed.

If you have any questions, you may of course address them to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Helsinki. 

If you have any questions, please contact
Mrs. Ellen Hoogendijk
Tel. (09) 228 920
Fax (09) 2289 2228
 nlgovhel@kolumbus.fi

The Hague, March 2006