Cultural Restitution
August 16, 2021
POLAND
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POLAND
Updated April 2026
Below is a schedule of successful restitutions made by Poland, together with other restitution news
March 2026
Poland has returned 91 Jewish religious and ceremonial objects to Greece that were stolen from Greek Jewish communities by the Nazis
September 2022
Poland is demanding the return of seven paintings now in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow looted during WWII by Soviet forces
August 2021
A new law setting a 30-year limit on any claims to property and approved by Poland's President will curb all restitution claims, including those made by Holocaust survivors
More News
The USA is being urged not to renew a five-year cultural property agreement with the Arab Republic of Egypt, on the grounds Egypt has prioritised ‘prestige megaprojects’ and ‘political spectacle’ over site protection and collections management
“Modern morality,” wrote Oscar Wilde, “consists in accepting the standard of one’s age.” But how can museums define the moral standard of this age when constrained by historic rules of stewardship and the absence of a modern ethical framework?
This week’s announcement that Cambridge University has transferred legal ownership of its collection of 116 Benin artefacts to Nigeria could be hugely significant