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Museums should return art created under coercion — whether in slavery or Auschwitz

JL;DR SUMMARY The ongoing fight to reclaim artworks created under coercion highlights eerie parallels between the struggles of the descendants of an enslaved Black artist, David Drake, and a Jewish Holocaust survivor, Dina Babbitt. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

AuschwitzHolocaustSlaveryArt RestitutionCultural OwnershipMengeleMuseum EthicsDavid DrakeDina BabbittCoerced Art

Places mentioned

New York City, New York, United States
"They are currently on display at New York Citys Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the de Young museum in San Francisco."
Chicago, Illinois, United States
"They are currently on display at New York Citys Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the de Young museum in San Francisco."
San Francisco, California, United States
"They are currently on display at New York Citys Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the de Young museum in San Francisco."
South Carolina, United States
"Drake was compelled to create when he was a slave in South Carolina."
Auschwitz, Lesser Poland, Poland
"Dina was deported to Auschwitz along with other Czech Jews."
Lesser Poland, Poland
"Many years later, seven of Dinas Holocaust-era portraits were acquired from an unidentified source by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, a Polish government institution located at the site of the former Nazi death camp."
Hollywood, California, United States
"Dina immigrated to the United States and worked at animation studios in Hollywood, where she drew some of Americas most beloved cartoon characters."
Czechia
"As a teenager, Dina was deported to Auschwitz along with other Czech Jews."

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Cairo Item ID 85702
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Retrieved 2026-06-19 18:00:27 UTC
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