BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (AP) - The Hungarian government says it has asked a U.S. court to dismiss a lawsuit by the heirs of a prominent Jewish collector who are seeking the return of art worth over $100 million seized during the Holocaust.
The Ministry of National Development said Tuesday that the 2010 suit by the heirs of Baron Mor Lipot Herzog in Washington should be dismissed, in part because compensation for the 44 artworks was covered by a 1973 claims agreement between Hungary and the United States.
David de Csepel, Herzog’s great grandson, and two other heirs sued Hungary and several state-owned museums seeking the return of works that included paintings by El Greco and Francisco de Zurbaran.
Parts of Herzog’s collection were seized by the Nazis, others by Hungary’s communist regime.
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