Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art
The Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, formally the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art and sometimes referred to as the Washington Declaration is a statement concerning the restitution of art confiscated by the Nazi regime in Germany before and during World War II. It was released in connection with the Washington Conference on Holocaust Era Assets, held in Washington, D.C., United States, on 3 December 1998. The Conference. The conference was hosted by the United States Department of State and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It assembled participants from a 1995  New York symposium, The Spoils of War—World War II and Its Aftermath: The Loss, Reappearance, and Recovery of Cultural Property, along with others, and built on the Nazi Gold conference which had been held in London in December 1997. The conference was held from November 30 to December 3, 1998 and was attended by representatives of 44 countries and 13 nongovernmental organizations, art museums and auction houses. The 1998 conference's aim was to discuss Jewish losses in particular, including artworks, books, and archives, as well as insurance claims and other types of assets. 44 governments, including Germany, sent  delegates, as did thirteen international non-governmental organizations. The conference organizer was the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs, Stuart E. Eizenstat, who had previously been United States Ambassador to the European Union, and its chairman was Judge Abner Mikva. U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright gave the opening address. The Principles. The statement includes eleven numbered principles, prefixed: The principles are: The Principles were outlined by Eizenstat, along with "Declarations of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research." He also gave a statement at the conference, titled "In Support  of Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art", saying: