Argentine authorities detain relatives of Hitler’s advisor over missing Nazi-looted painting
Buenos Aires: Argentine authorities have detained the daughter and son-in-law of Friedrich Kadgien, a financial adviser to Adolf Hitler, following the disappearance of a 17th-century painting believed to have been looted by the Nazis, prosecutors confirmed on September 2.
NDTV Profit reported that the artwork is thought to be ‘Portrait of a Lady’ by Italian baroque painter Giuseppe Ghislandi (1655–1743). It was seen earlier this year in photographs of a property listed for sale in Mar del Plata, once owned by Kadgien. The discovery was first reported by Dutch newspaper AD. Soon after the story appeared, the painting vanished.
Kadgien, who fled to Argentina after World War II, died in 1978. His daughter and her husband were placed under house arrest for three days and are expected to face charges linked to the painting’s disappearance.
The family maintains the artwork belongs to them. Their lawyer, Carlos Murias, told local daily La Capital that they are cooperating with investigators. Argentine newspaper La Nación reported that the couple insisted the painting was inherited lawfully. Despite these claims, prosecutors told The Times of Israel that the painting has not been surrendered.
Interpol and Argentina’s federal police are assisting in the search. Investigators carried out four property raids last week, recovering two 19th-century paintings from the home of another Kadgien daughter. Authorities said the works are undergoing analysis to determine whether they too were taken during the Nazi era.
Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish art dealer from the Netherlands, was thought to have the missing Ghislandi painting in his collection. During the Nazi invasion Goudstikker fled the country in 1940 and died while escaping. His collection of more than 1,000 pieces was seized and many were taken by top Nazi officials, including Hermann Goering, founder of the Gestapo.
The Dutch government recovered about 300 of Goudstikker’s works after the war and later restituted them to his heirs. In 2011, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles returned another piece linked to his collection.
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Congress demands PM Modi to come clean on 'disclosures' on him made in Epstein files
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Sunday demanded answers from Narendra Modi following “disclosures” in the Epstein files in the US that some “monsters” had access to him, and said the prime minister should come clean on the issue.
Congress general secretary in charge of organisation, K C Venugopal, said in a post on X, "The reports of the new batch of Epstein Files are a huge wake-up call about the kind of monsters who have access to PM Modi, and how susceptible he is to foreign manipulation.
"The Congress demands that the prime minister personally come clean on these disturbing disclosures that raise serious questions.”
“Has he met Jeffrey Epstein? Or did he send someone to meet him? What did his conversations with Epstein involve,” the Congress leader asked.
The Epstein files are thousands of pages of documents related to two criminal investigations into sex trafficking by financier Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, including travel logs, recordings, and emails, which have been a topic of conversation since Epstein died in custody in 2019.
Venugopal claimed equally concerning was a report that while India’s foreign policy was changing dramatically, Prime Minister Modi was “dancing and singing” to the tunes of “tainted” individuals like Epstein to “benefit foreign powers”.
“People of India deserve an answer,” Venugopal said.
Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said, "The prime minister himself must clarify.”
Congress leader Pawan Khera also asked whether Modi was in touch with a "disgraceful" American such as Epstein right around the 2019 elections.
On Saturday, the BJP accused the Congress of spreading misinformation against Prime Minister Modi by "twisting" a generic email fragment of investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein into a political smear, asserting that there is "zero evidence" of any direct or indirect interaction between the two.
The Ministry of External Affairs strongly rejected a reference to Modi in the investigative files related to Epstein, describing it as "little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal" that deserves to be dismissed with the "utmost contempt".
