This is a story about unadulterated greed

From a legal point of view, Maria Altmann's claim had validity though I don't believe that Austria should have made it any easier for her to get the paintings. It is still very suspicious that she only sought after the paintings after she had found out that she still had a claim to these paintings. During the course of the war, a lot of things had changed. It is unfortunate, but life goes on. Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer did have a legitimate claim to the paintings, after all, he was Adele's husband. Maria's only claim was that she was the closest living relative to him. Gee, I'd love to know what national treasures I am entitled to, just because my 3 x great-grand uncle's cousins' half-sister owned them! I agree that the law is the law but this is one of those cases where it was really rather grey, and you have to ask, who benefits from this restitution?

Maria Altmann's anger and entitlement is very off-putting, especially when you contrast it with the sale of these paintings. Her family gained almost half a BILLION dollars from this sale. You could argue, that is how she got her real justice in the form of monetary gain. And yes, I do care what she does with the money. Calling me a communist does nothing for your argument. The way she got those paintings back was really a cheap trick, a legal loophole. She vengefully offered nothing to the Austrian government, without whom, would not have protected the paintings, or keep them in the public eye as a national symbol of Austrian culture and inspiration. I am not defending the Austrian government, they could have handled this much better. But they are not the Nazi regime. They're past that. At least they did not try to sell the paintings to some Russian Gas Baron in order to line the pockets of the government.

Someone got their justice, but very few people benefited from that. I actually do not have much sympathy for rich families that lost some of their possessions during the war, yet remained wealthy throughout the war, and still have the nerve to claim their art. I am not talking about the Altmann family in this case, but there are many such families that have done so. It is a slap in the face to people who had little to begin with, and still lost everything. You never see people talk about how Germany lost Konigsberg in the war from the Russians, now called Kaliningrad. People were uprooted from their ancestral homes and forced to live elsewhere. There is still anguish about that, yet somehow people have moved on.

And there are a lot of instances where law goes to hell because of war, and anything that happened before the war cannot really be accounted for afterwards. In the case of Maria Altmann, she got lucky because Austria was not bombed to pieces or split up into 2 different countries. I still believe she showed a complete lack of appreciation for Austria, the country that allowed her family to prosper for generations, and to give rise to artists such as Klimt without whom she would not be where she was. Yes, the Anschluss was unfortunate, but not all of Austria was with the Anschluss and the Anschluss did not affect all of Austria. It is unfortunate that Maria had to go through what she did, and I doubt she would ever call herself an Austrian again after the war, but she could have done way more right things in the way of Austria, Jews, and recovering from the Holocaust.

Materials stolen by the Nazis do not belong to any nation's government whose hands they happen to land in. Period. Maria Altmann could have lit the portrait on fire or sold it for $5 of meth and she would still have been 100% in the right, and Austria would still have been 100% in the wrong.

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Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the antidote to shame.

They weren't aristocrats, they were merchant class. They did well for themselves, were socially popular and got a family friend to paint a picture of their relative... twice. He happened to be Klimpt. I think he's *beep* but thats just me, i like old masters.

They were her family's property.... regardless of whether you think that the people should see them in public gallery it makes no difference. I have no right to come into your home, take your photos off your phone and put them up in gallery, because i think the public will find them interesting.

These were property stolen by an evil regime, property that was paid for, and would only have existed had the relative commissioned a portrait from a family friend

She wanted her paintings back, but she clearly did not want them as much if she was willing to part with them so soon. You are missing the point my friend, is that why put up such a big fuss over something she would give up rather quickly, though the large sum made it very easy for her. I am sure if the Nazis were to buy the paintings from her family, or if her family got the paintings back right after and the Austrian government wanted to buy it from them, I am sure they wouldn't have given it a second thought. Yes, we can talk about the law, justice, idealism, dignity all day but when it comes down to money, that's where we see true character come out. You can call me a troll, or not understanding Maria's point of view, but try looking it from another perspective for once. Not everyone who disagrees with you is a troll or trying to rile you up. I am just surprised how easily swooned most people are by this story when it is not as shiny as it appears to be.

How dare anyone want what was stolen back.

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Wow .. talk about completely missing the point of her actions - it wasn't about the money, it was about restitution, the righting of a wrong. She even offered to leave the painting where it was in exchange for a letter of apology and acknowledgement, but even this was too much for them.