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The Holocaust Claims Processing Office (HCPO) opened in September 1997 as a division of the New York State Banking Department, focused so far on examining the background of dormant Swiss bank accounts and uncollected European insurance policies. The office adds to its responsibilities of researching banking and insurance claims the search for lost and looted art, announced Governor George E. Pataki on May 6, 1998. Due to the fact that many artworks were maintained in safe deposit boxes or listed on insurance policies, this expanded search for lost and stolen valuables dovetails with the office's banking and insurance investigations already under way since last year. Since 1997 the office has received more than 3,000 inquiries and nearly 1,400 people have completed forms, giving details of dormant bank accounts and uncollected insurance policies which may belong to Holocaust survivors and/or their heirs. Acting Superintendent of Banks Elizabeth McCaul expects to cooperate very closely with The Art Loss Register, the Holocaust Art Restitution Project (HARP) and the World Jewish Congress' Commission for Art Recovery.
The services of the Holocaust Claims Processing Office can be used free of charge. The toll-free phone number is 1-800-695-3318. Correspondence may be addressed to its main office at 2 Rector Street, 2nd Floor, New York, N.Y. 10006 or via e-mail at http://www.claims.state.ny.us.
A new commission has been established by the World Jewish Congress: the Commission for Art Recovery. It is founded and funded by Ronald Lauder, former U.S. Ambassador to Austria and chairman of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The commission will work on the recovering of Jewish art plundered by the Nazis. The staff of the commission consists of well-known experts in the field. The director, Constance Lowenthal, was the executive director of 1FAR (New York); the researcher, Hector Feliciano, is author of the book "Le Musee Disparu" (The Lost Museum). A report on the work of the commission will be published in the next issue of "Spoils of War".
Please note that the Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation ("Rijksinstituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie") moved to a new address. The Institute may now be reached at Herengracht 380, NL-1016 CJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands, phone. + 31 20 523 38 00 / fax + 31 20 523 38 88 / e-mail riod@xs4all.nl.
The Netherlands Institute for Art History ("Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documen-tatie") has new phone and fax numbers: phone + 31 70 333 9777 / fax + 31 70 333 97 89.
On the internet, under http://museum-security.org. a website and mailing list can be found which is devoted to cultural property. Information is offered, among others, about security products, reporting stolen property and restitutions of objects missing since World War II.
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