The mystery of the Nazi painting ended in Mar del Plata with an unexpected twist

For decades, the whereabouts of Portrait of a Lady by Italian painter Giuseppe Ghislandi remained a mystery. The artwork, stolen by the Nazis in the Netherlands during World War II, ended up hanging in a house in Mar del Plata until a photo in a real estate ad revealed its location.

The discovery led to a legal case involving descendants of Friederich Kadgien, a high-ranking official of the Third Reich. This Wednesday, the family's attorney delivered the painting to the headquarters of the Public Prosecutor's Office, according to chief prosecutor Daniel Adler.

The legal case and the charges of concealment

With the recovery of the painting, the criminal proceedings targeted Patricia Kadgien  and her husband, who were accused of "concealment of theft in the context of genocide". Both remained under house arrest.

This Thursday, at 11:30, the hearing to formalize the case was scheduled. There, the judge would hear the prosecutor's presentation on the alleged facts, the legal classification, and the evidence gathered.

The debate revolved around the statute of limitations for the crime. Although an ordinary theft could no longer be prosecuted after so many years, the looting of art by the Nazis was considered a crime against humanity according to the 1945 London Charter, and therefore not subject to a statute of limitations.

Attorney Jorge Taiah  clarified that this classification applied only to the original perpetrators, not to those who later kept or concealed the pieces. However, he explained that the concealment was "renewed day by day" as long as the artwork remained hidden, so it never expired. The maximum penalty established by the Penal Code for this crime was three years.

What would happen to the painting and the appearance of another artwork

The painting belonged to Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish-Dutch art dealer, and was listed in international registries of missing pieces. After being secured by Argentine justice, it will remain in safekeeping until its restitution to the heirs, who would be responsible for deciding its fate.

The gallerist's relatives had already announced legal actions to recover the artwork. According to Taiah, it was enough to prove that it belonged to their ancestors and that it had been stolen.

Meanwhile, Dutch investigators identified another painting linked to the Kadgien family. It was a work by painter Abraham Mignon, reported as missing in the Netherlands' cultural heritage database.

Experts called in during the raids also detected other paintings possibly dated to 1800. One of the Kadgien sisters had posted images on social media where Mignon's piece appeared in the background.

Rotterdam newspaper correspondent Peter Schouten stated that he tried to contact the women under investigation without receiving a response. "Eighty years after the Second World War, the Netherlands seeks to keep the memory alive and return every cultural asset to its rightful owners," he noted.

The figure of Friederich Kadgien

According to Dutch media, Friederich Kadgien had been a member of the SS and a collaborator of Hermann Göring in the Four Year Plans, which aimed to finance the German war machine. In Amsterdam, he reportedly extorted Jewish diamond merchants as part of that strategy.

Recognized as "the wizard of finance" of Nazism, he managed millions in funds for the Third Reich. After the war, he fled to Switzerland and was interrogated by American agents, who described him as "a snake of the lowest order" and suspected that he kept valuable assets. He was never arrested.

In the 1950s, he moved to Brazil and then to Argentina, where he founded a company, started a family, and lived without being held accountable for his past. He died in 1978 and is believed to be buried in the German cemetery in Buenos Aires.