Deadline missed to report on stolen works

NEW YORK (AP) -- Many American art museums missed a deadline to report whether their collections contain works that might have been stolen during the Holocaust, according to a survey released Tuesday.
Despite their agreement seven years ago, 118 out of 332 museums, or 35 percent, have not reported on their progress, according to the Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which posted the results on its Web site.
Among museums that did meet the July 10 deadline, 33 percent provided incomplete information, the organization said.
The New York-based Claims Conference was established after World War II to help Holocaust survivors and their relatives reclaim property. It asked the museums to research items that were created before 1946 and acquired by the museum after 1932, that underwent a change of ownership between 1932 and 1946, and that were or might reasonably be thought to have been in continental Europe between those dates.
The museums that responded collectively listed 140,000 works that fell within that period.
"As the generation of Holocaust survivors slips away, it is urgent that the task of provenance research of items of artwork in U.S. museums rapidly be completed," the Claims Conference said.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.