The government and local NGOs are unaware of any Holocaust-related immovable property claims in Argentina.  According to a 2017 European Shoah Legacy Institute report, Argentina does not appear to be “a party to any treaties or agreements with other countries that address restitution and/or compensation for immovable property confiscated or wrongfully taken during the Holocaust.”  The country’s Secretariat for Worship specified that it does not have any records of restitution claims that Holocaust survivors pursued through the Government of Argentina; it noted that such cases would have to be handled through international agreements given the lack of relevant domestic legislation.  NGOs in Argentina are pivotal when it comes to assisting victims attempting to navigate such claims.

Fundación Tzedaká reported that although the Polish government in 2018 permitted claims on immovable property from overseas residents, to its knowledge no Argentine resident has made a claim.  The NGO suggested that most Jewish Argentines are of Polish descent, and the lack of claims by Argentine Jews could be related to the complicated restitution process in Poland.  Fundación Tzedaká has assisted clients in applying for monetary restitution from other governments, such as Germany, Romania, and Serbia.

Most government and civil society sources voiced doubts that there was any Holocaust-related movable property in Argentina.  All agreed that some of the Nazis who came to Argentina after WWII used false names in an attempt to immigrate as refugees; therefore, they rarely arrived with large amounts of belongings.  Both Fundación Tzedaká and a law firm that had been involved in assisting Holocaust survivors with restitution claims stated that they have not processed claims for any movable property.

The existence of smuggled Nazi-looted and confiscated art in Argentina is possible, however, given that other items from the period have surfaced in recent years.  For example, the Argentine Federal Police confiscated what was thought to be the largest cache of Nazi memorabilia outside of Europe in a raid on a local antiques store in June 2017.  These objects are believed to have been either smuggled into Argentina by Nazi escapees or forged.  Through DAIA, the Jewish community became a party in the case against the antiques shop owner, asserting that their sale allegedly violated either the antidiscrimination law (if they were forgeries) or the patrimony law concerning import controls of cultural artifacts (if found to be genuine).  These pieces were donated to Argentina’s Holocaust museum.  This case suggests other items might have been smuggled out of Europe in the aftermath of the war, but to this day none have surfaced that involve Nazi-confiscated or looted art.  None of the items confiscated in June 2017 were reported to be property stolen from survivors.

Argentine museums do not do provenance research on their collections, and there have been difficulties researching the activities of Argentina’s art market during the Holocaust.  The Argentine Commission of Inquiry into the Activities of Nazism in Argentina, created in 1997, concluded that no looted art was or is held by the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.  The Commission admitted that it had not checked any other state-run museum and that it faced difficulties researching the activities of Argentina’s art market during the Holocaust, particularly those of the Witcomb, Wildenstein, and Muller art galleries.

As with other movable property, sources neither in civil society nor in the government had any reports of restitution claims regarding Judaica or Jewish cultural property in Argentina.  Argentina received 5,053 books and 150 museum and synagogue pieces from Jewish Cultural Reconstruction after WWII.  So far as is known, no provenance research has been conducted on these holdings or on other Judaica that may have reached Argentina during or after the war.

In 1992, the government announced that it would open the archives related to Nazi arrivals in Argentina, extradition requests for Nazi war criminals, and laws that prevented Jewish immigration during the same period.  In 2017, the government initiated the digitalization of the archives for convenient access and further study.  It has shared copies of these digitized archives with DAIA and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and researchers can access the documents through these organizations.

The government created the Truth Commission for Nazi Activities in Argentina in 1997 to investigate Nazi immigration to Argentina and possible government acquiescence at the time.  A study published by the commission found 180 cases of confirmed Nazi war criminals who entered Argentina.  The government did not repeal a 1948 law barring Jewish immigration to Argentina until 2005.

Argentina’s active civil society organizations take a multifaceted approach to Holocaust remembrance.  Concerning Holocaust primary source education, Argentina’s Museum of the Holocaust is at the forefront of compiling oral testimony from survivors.  Through the institution’s “Apprentice Project,” these survivors entrust their stories to new generations that in turn are expected to further disseminate them to their younger peers to keep the memory of the Shoah alive.  NGOs also remember the Holocaust in ceremonies they sponsor, sometimes with the Israeli embassy or connected to events commemorating the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA).

In 2006, Argentina became the only Latin American country to be a full member of IHRA.  In keeping with that membership, the government hosts a yearly Shoah memorial event on January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is organized on a rotating basis by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology; the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights; and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship.  The latter ministry hosted the 2018 event at the Shoah Memorial Plaza in Buenos Aires at which President Mauricio Macri became the first sitting president to attend as a speaker, along with the DAIA president and a Holocaust survivor.  Other provincial capitals hosted the event in prior years, illustrating a commitment to encourage all levels of government to participate in Holocaust remembrance.

Argentina also established a Permanent Advisory Council in 2002 that functions as the local chapter of the IHRA.  The presidency of this council rotates among the aforementioned three government ministries and includes the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism, as well as many civil society organizations.  Chief among these NGOs are DAIA, AMIA, B’nai B’rith Argentina, the Anne Frank Center (Centro Ana Frank), the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Plural Jai, the Holocaust Museum Foundation, the Center for Holocaust Studies, the Argentine Judeo-Christian Confraternity, and many more.  The Council convenes monthly to exchange information and discuss initiatives such as remembrance events, workshops, seminars, production of documentary material, and academic curricula.

In the immediate aftermath of the war, an indeterminate number of Holocaust survivors received a measure of compensation for lost rental income, or they received flat rate compensation at a small percentage of the estimated value.  Despite forming the second commission in 2001, public authorities were unable to trace documents relating to many confiscated properties.  The 2001 commission awarded lump sum payments for claims on properties that had adequate documentation of having been plundered.  In total, the government disbursed €1.2 million (approximately $1.3 million) in compensation for 170 immovable property claims.

Belgium endorsed the 1998 Washington Principles on Nazi-Looted Art.  The Belgian government has identified 331 items of unclear origin, including those on display in local museums.  Of these, seven are known to be of Jewish origin and 298 are suspected to be of Jewish origin.  Many items require further investigation and research to determine provenance.  Through the Federal Science Policy, the government created a steering group, with representatives of the different federal and regional governments.

On January 25, 2014, local media reported that Belgian museums had taken ownership of 639 paintings since the end of World War II and that fewer than 10 percent were returned to the original owner.  Media further reported that a federal register of 4,500 items had not been made public.  In July 2014, the federal government began sharing responsibility for restitution with the regional and linguistic community governments, in response to increased calls for greater transparency and government coordination.  A database of looted art will be made public through a link to the website of the Federal Public Service Economy of Belgium.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Office of Economic Recovery (ORE) was responsible for tracing, recovering, restituting, and liquidating movable goods from 1944 until its dissolution in 1968.  In 1948, the Central Jewish Consistoire purchased 565 Hebrew books of unknown but possible Jewish origin from the ORE.  The 2001 Commission was involved in researching the origin of all immovable property in Belgium.

ORE’s division of the National Archives stored post-World War II files relevant to recovering and registering looted art.  These files were transferred to the State Archives upon the dissolution of ORE in 1968, were digitalized in 2012, and are now available online.  The Office of War Damage keeps a record of all claims related to war damages, including plundering.  Records are searchable by both the property’s physical address and the physical address of the property’s owner.  The 1997 and 2001 Commissions’ findings regarding the archival documents are publicly available.  Copies of many records are available at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which has had good cooperation with Belgian archives.

The Flemish, French, and German linguistic communities are responsible for education policy, including the development of educational programs on remembrance, tolerance, and citizenship.  Education on the Holocaust is a mandatory part of school curricula.  In 2014 and 2015, thousands of Belgian youths rode a train from Brussels to Auschwitz-Birkenau to attend the international commemoration of the liberation of Europe.  A similar initiative is planned for 2020.

Belgium joined the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2005 and observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27.  Belgium’s Center for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society participates in the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure.  The Foundation of Contemporary Memory collects 20th century testimonials from the Jewish community in Belgium.

A monument at the Dossin Barracks in Mechelen solemnly marks the assembly point in Belgium where Jews and Roma were deported to concentration camps during World War II.  The monument is one of 40 monuments in Belgium dedicated to the remembrance of victims of the Holocaust.  The Jewish Museum of Belgium, which was the site of a terrorist attack on May 24, 2014, has a room dedicated to the victims and survivors of the Shoah.