Looted Warsaw Ghetto Painting Returned to Poland
A Nazi-looted painting depicting Jewish life in the Warsaw Ghetto was returned to Poland.
“Jewish Woman Selling Oranges,” a 19th-century oil-on-canvas work, was one of several by Polish artist Aleksandr Giermyski depicting Jewish life in the ghetto.
The painting, which was believed to have been stolen from the National Museum in Warsaw in 1944 near the end of the Nazi occupation, was discovered in a small auction last November in Buxtehude, Germany. It was withdrawn from sale after Polish authorities intervened. The authorities then negotiated with its owner, a German citizen, for the painting’s sale to Poland.
In the painting, a woman in a red shawl is carrying two baskets filled with oranges against a foggy Warsaw skyline.
Giermyski, a Polish national hero, appears on the side of some two zloty coins.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
