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30 DePaul J. Art Tech. & Intell. Prop. L 1 (2020)

handle is hein.journals/dael30 and id is 1 raw text is: THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE HEAR ACT: EMPOWERING AMERICAN COURTS TO RETURN HOLOCAUST-ERA ARTWORK AND HONOR HISTORY Jennifer Anglim Kreder* Virginia Leigh Schell- I. INTRODUCTION As the Senators pointed out, art lost in the Holocaust is not just important for its aesthetic and cultural value. Restitution is so much more, much more than that, than reclaiming a material good, and this is what I learned by playing Maria Altmann. Restoring physical parts of lost heritage to Holocaust victims and their families is a moral imperative.... Art restitution is about preserving the fundamental human condition. It gives Jewish people and other victims of the Nazi terror the opportunity to reclaim their history, their culture, their memories, and most importantly, their families.... Art is a reflection of memories and is shared across familial and cultural lines. When the Jewish people were dispossessed of their art, they lost their heritage. Memories were taken along with the art. And to have no memories is like having no family. And that is why art restitution is so imperative. Testimony from Dame Helen Mirren to the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 7, 2016.1 * Jennifer Anglim Kreder is a Professor of Law at the NKU-Chase College of Law. She has been involved in Holocaust-era and art litigation since 1999 and formerly worked at Milbank Tweed in New York City. For more information, see JenniferKreder.com. ** Virginia Leigh Schell, J.D., NKU-Chase College of Law. 1 The Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act Reuniting Victims with Their Lost Heritage: Hearing on S. 2763, The Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, Subcomm. on the Constitution and Subcomm. on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts, 114th Cong. 1 (2016) (testimony by Dame Helen Mirren).