Poland plans to ask Russia to return paintings looted during World War II

Poland will formally ask Russia to return seven paintings now in a leading Moscow museum that were looted during World War II by the Soviet Red Army, the Polish culture minister says.

Piotr Glinski also says that about 20 previous requests to Moscow for the return of thousands of other items stolen during WWII have fallen on deaf ears. The previously requested items included archives of the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, paintings by Old Masters such as Durer, Holbein or Cranach and manuscripts by Polish authors.

“Until this day [Russia’s] government has not reviewed any of the claims,” Glinski tells a press conference. He adds that Russia is the only among several countries approached so far to have failed to even respond to Poland on the subject.