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‘Lost’ Gustav Klimt painting to be auctioned

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An Austrian auction house in Vienna is preparing to auction off a long-lost painting by Gustav Klimt, called “Portrait of Fraulein Lieser,” which he began in 1917, just a year before his death. There’s considerable mystery surrounding the artwork, including the identity of the woman depicted and its whereabouts during the Nazi era.

Art historians suggest the painting might portray Margarethe Constance Lieser, daughter of a wealthy Jewish industrialist, Adolf Lieser. However, the auction house proposes it could also be one of the daughters of Justus Lieser and his wife Henriette, who tragically died in Auschwitz during the Holocaust. The exact history of the painting after 1925 remains unclear, but it resurfaced in the 1960s and has since changed hands through inheritances.

The auction is being conducted in accordance with the Washington Principles, an international agreement to return Nazi-looted art to its rightful descendants. However, there are calls for an independent investigation into the case by Erika Jakubovits, the executive director of the Presidency of the Austrian Jewish Community. She emphasizes the importance of thorough and transparent research in art restitution cases.

Klimt’s artworks have previously fetched significant sums at auctions, with “Lady with a Fan” setting a European record when it sold for £85.3m in 2023 at Sotheby’s.

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Polish Family Who Sheltered Jews Nominated for Beatification

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In Poland, a beatification Mass ceremony was held to honor a Catholic family killed by Nazis for hiding Jews during World War II. Over 30,000 pilgrims and Poland’s president attended the outdoor service, led by an envoy of Pope Francis. This marked the first time an entire family has been beatified, a significant step toward sainthood.

The Ulma family, consisting of Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma and their six children, hid eight Jews in their farmhouse in Markowa, southeastern Poland, driven by their Christian values during late 1942. Among those sheltered were Saul Goldman and his sons, Baruch, Mechel, Joachim, and Mojzesz, as well as Golda Grunfeld, Lea Didner, and her daughter Reszla, as documented by Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance.

Contrary to Nazi-occupied western Europe, aiding Jews in occupied Poland carried a penalty of immediate execution. In 1944, it is believed that a Polish police officer betrayed the Ulma family, leading to their capture. German gendarmes killed the Jews hidden in the attic and then executed the Ulma family, including Wiktoria, who was seven months pregnant, in front of their young children, the eldest of whom was eight, and the youngest, just 18 months old. Subsequently, members of the Polish underground resistance executed the police officer responsible for the family’s betrayal.

The outdoor Mass on Sunday was presided over by Pope Francis’ envoy, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro. During the ceremony in Markowa, the Pope referred to the Ulma family as a “ray of light” amid the darkness of war and called for applause in St. Peter’s Square. President Andrzej Duda expressed gratitude to Pope Francis for the extraordinary beatification of the entire family, highlighting the importance of acknowledging the historical truth about that era.

In 1995, Israel’s Yad Vashem recognized Jozef and Wiktoria as “Righteous Among the Nations,” and the beatification process began in 2003. Beatification is a significant step in the Catholic Church toward canonization or sainthood, signifying that those beatified are deemed “blessed” and deserving of public veneration.

Poland was home to Europe’s largest Jewish community in 1939, and more Poles (over 7,000) have been honored by Israel for aiding Jews during the war than any other nationality. However, it’s important to note that some Poles also participated in the persecution and murder of Jews under the brutal Nazi occupation. Approximately six million Polish citizens lost their lives during the war, with half of them being Jews.

Prominent members of the Polish government, including Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, attended the Mass. The government has faced accusations of attempting to reshape historical narratives by emphasizing Polish suffering at the hands of the Nazis and the aid provided to Jewish neighbors while suppressing research into cases of Poles who committed crimes against the country’s Jewish population.

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Bavarian Deputy Leader Aiwanger Faces Scrutiny Over Historical Anti-Semitic Flyer

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Bavarian Deputy Premier Hubert Aiwanger is facing scrutiny over his involvement with an anti-Semitic pamphlet from his school days. Aiwanger, a populist conservative leader, denies writing the pamphlet that mocked the Holocaust, but he has acknowledged possessing it 35 years ago. Bavarian Premier Markus Söder has asked Aiwanger to respond to 25 questions regarding the controversy. This issue comes ahead of crucial elections in Bavaria on October 8.

Söder emphasized the importance of transparency and condemned anti-Semitism, asserting that it has no place in the Bavarian government. The state parliament has requested an urgent statement on the matter. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also called for clarification, underscoring the need to address anti-Semitism vigilantly.

The pamphlet in question contained references to a fictional competition for “the biggest traitor to the Fatherland,” with a disturbing prize of a “free flight through the chimney in Auschwitz,” referencing the Auschwitz extermination camp where countless Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. Aiwanger later admitted to having copies of the pamphlet in his schoolbag during his teenage years, but he couldn’t recall whether he distributed the material himself. He denounced the content as “disgusting and inhumane.”

The situation has generated debates over whether actions from a person’s youth should impact their political career decades later. However, the pamphlet’s offensive content has been widely condemned. In Germany, making light of concentration camps is unacceptable and can have legal consequences due to Holocaust denial being a criminal offense.

Aiwanger’s response to the situation has been criticized for lacking transparency and genuine remorse. Despite his history of fiery and populist rhetoric, he has remained reticent on this matter. Pressure is mounting on Aiwanger, especially from Söder, who aims to maintain the coalition with Aiwanger’s party but is frustrated by the timing of the controversy ahead of crucial elections.

The Free Voters party, led by Aiwanger, is expected to secure 11-14% of the vote, but if support wanes, it could spell trouble for Söder’s conservative Christian Social Union. This situation is particularly significant given upcoming elections in other German states and nationally, as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been gaining traction.

The handling of the story by the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung has also come under scrutiny, with criticism directed at its headline suggesting Aiwanger wrote the pamphlet, even though his denial was placed behind a paywall for subscribers to access.

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Russia Ukraine War: In Kharkiv, a Holocaust survivor was killed by Russian shelling

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During a Russian attack on the eastern city of Kharkiv, a Ukrainian man who survived the Nazi Holocaust during WWII was killed. Boris Romantschenko, 96, died on Friday as a result of Russian shelling of his apartment block, according to relatives.

For more than three weeks, Russian forces have been shelling Kharkiv, which is only 30 miles (50 kilometres) from the Russian border. According to Ukrainian officials, at least 500 civilians have been killed there. One of the victims has been identified as a nine-year-old boy, according to police. Mr Romantschenko’s death has left the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation “deeply disturbed.”

After being informed by his family, the organisation, of which Mr Romantschenko was vice-president, announced the news, saying he had “worked intensely on the memory of Nazi crimes.” “We are saddened by the death of a close friend. We send our heartfelt condolences to his son and granddaughter, who broke the sad news to us “The statement of the foundation has been added. Mr. Romantschenko’s death comes more than three weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin attempted to justify his invasion by telling the Russian people that his goal was to “de-Nazify Ukraine.” These claims have been condemned by Western leaders, who have pointed out that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is Jewish.

Mr. Romantschenko was born on January 20, 1926, in the north-eastern city of Bondari. Following the invasion of the Soviet Union, he was apprehended by Nazi troops and deported to Germany in 1942, where he was forced to work as a slave, according to the foundation. Following a failed escape attempt in 1943, he was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where 56,545 people were murdered before the allies liberated the camp in 1945.

He was also stationed in the Mittelbau-Dora subcamp, as well as the notorious Bergen Belsen and Peenemünde camps.

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