Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum sued in U.S. over Holocaust-era watercolors

The daughters of Dina Gottliebova Babbitt have filed a lawsuit in a U.S. federal court against the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, seeking the return of seven watercolor portraits created by their mother in 1944.

During her imprisonment at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, Babbitt was forced by SS physician Josef Mengele to paint portraits of Roma prisoners. These paintings were intended to document physical characteristics and skin tones for Mengele’s racial research and pseudoscientific experiments. The family argues that the works were created under duress as a means of survival and that Babbitt never voluntarily relinquished ownership of the pieces.

The plaintiffs, Michele Babbitt Kane and Karin Wendy Babbitt, are seeking a judicial declaration of ownership, the return of the original artworks, and unspecified damages. The lawsuit follows recent legislative changes in California and the U.S. Congress aimed at strengthening the ability to reclaim art that was forcibly taken.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum has previously provided Babbitt with reproductions rather than the originals. A museum spokesperson stated that while they respect the rights of creators, any loss to the memorial’s collection would constitute ‘irreplaceable damage’ as the works serve as vital historical documentation of the crimes committed at the site.