German Art Collectors Face a Painful Past: Do I Own Nazi Loot?

After World War II, few Germans with sizable art holdings made a point of digging into their collections for signs of Nazi looting.

And because private collections were off limits for those trying to track down stolen art, works of unexamined provenance have hung for decades in family homes and office corridors, the stories of how they were acquired often vague, inconsistent or simply not discussed.

But as one generation of Germans has died and given its art to the next, a number of people with prominent collections and unsettled consciences have stepped forward to investigate what they own.