Looted picture returned
Published on: 19-Dec-2007
A portrait of a man's mother has been returned to him in England 65 years after it was looted by the Nazis.Rudolf Beran, 94, from Birmingham, witnessed the family home and possessions taken by the Germans, as well as seeing his father deported to a concentration camp where he died.
He moved to England in 1937 where he went on to own a lighting store.
The painting was done in 1921 by the German artist Hugo von Habermann and, following an enthusiast setting up a website about the painter, Mr Beran's son donated a signed sketch of his grandmother Irena.
An official at a castle in Potsdam, Berlin, saw the original painting and contacted the website.
After two years and having paid almost £1,000 to have it sent back, Mr Beran is now back in possession of the picture.
"Once again, at the age of 94, I will have the pleasure of gazing at my mother's image over my own mantelpiece," he told the Daily Telegraph.
The painting has been valued at no more than £2,000 but, Mr Beran said, the sentimental value was "priceless".
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