Legality and Morality with Jacob Kohnstamm
A glance at the Dutch art restitution policy
Dear subscriber,
For the first time, I interviewed a guest from outside Florence - although he does have a historical (familiar) link with the European University Institute…
I had the honour to speak with Jacob Kohnstamm, the former State Secretary for the Interior of the Netherlands, about his role in the Dutch art restitution policy, relating to Nazi looted art. You can listen to the episode through Mixcloud (and yes, I’ve been asked to put them on Spotify and that will happen soon - I promise!).
This episode is, in some way, an extension of the very first episode of Radio Vinternational, in which I interviewed historian Aurora Hamm about the historic, legal and moral dimensions of the restitution of looted art. If you haven’t done so, I do recommend you to check it out, or have a glance at Aurora’s paper on the Colonial art restitution policy of Germany and France.
Dutch Art Restitution
The Dutch Art Restitution committee was founded in 2001, and has been advising on restitution applications related to Nazi looted art - so on requests from people who claim that a work of art was forcibly seized by the nazi’s from their predecessors - or sold involuntarily. The committee advises the minister on these cases, who eventually makes a decision to restitute or not.
Jacob Kohnstamm became involved in this procedure, when he was asked to chair the ‘Committee for the Evaluation of the Restitution Policy for Cultural Heritage Objects from the Second World War’ (also known as ‘evaluation committee’). In the episode, he elaborates on how such a committee functions, the dynamics of having a ‘devil’s advocate’ amongst their committee and why the outbreak of the corona pandemic was a ‘blessing in disguise’ for the committee members.
In December 2020, the committee published the report ‘Striving for Justice’ - in which the key recommendations were that the restitution policy of the Netherlands should be more empathetic (although he regrets this particular word, in hindsight…) and that the Dutch government should proactively conduct more systematic research into the provenance of artworks. The report was fully accepted by the Minister, who then asked mr. Kohnstamm to serve as the chairman of the Restitution Committee.
Legal and Moral arguments
About the exceptional character of art restitution, Jacob Kohnstamm still is crystal clear:
“It is not a civil legal case (...) there is a moral basis underneath restitution policy”.
If one element of our conversation will stay with me, it is his deeply felt conviction that the emotional significance of art restitution is one of the most powerful ways the state can provide some reparation and comfort to the descendants of World War II victims.
Meet the guest
Jacob Kohnstamm is a Dutch politician and jurist who was State Secretary for the Interior of the Netherlands from 1994 to 1998. He has also served as member of parliament, as senator and as chair of the Dutch Data Protection Authority.
Early in his career, he switched from being a lawyer to being a civil servant because the limitation of the former was that he could only help one person at a time - whereas politics allowed him to change the system. A central theme in his career is the constant assessment of the relationship between the state and the individual citizen, and about the trust that people can have in each other, and in the laws and organisations that influence their lives.
Recommendation of the week
Jacob Kohnstamm recommends a story about the iconic artwork of Gustav Klimt, that gives a good impression of the impact and gravity of the historical looting of art. Good news, you can choose whether you prefer a book or a movie to learn all about this Austrian example of art restitution….
Lady in Gold, written by Anne-Marie O'Connor
Women in Gold - directed by Simon Curtis
We end the episode with a classic music piece: Obade from Marius Flothuis, a Dutch composer, musicologist and music critic. It is played by flautist Eleonore Pameijer, who is the founder of the Leo Smit Foundation. The foundation gives composers, who were silenced during the War because of their Jewish descent, their rightful place in music history.
Thanks for subscribing to Vinternational, and please let me know if you have any feedback or if you know someone that I should interview!
Vincent