The Federal Police raided the home of Friedrich Kadgien's family in Mar del Plata, a Nazi official who sought refuge in Argentina after World War II. The investigation focused on the painting "Portrait of a Lady" by Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi, stolen from a Jewish collector in the Netherlands.
However, the operation ended without results: the painting was not found at the property in the Parque Luro neighborhood.
The case and the operation
The procedure was carried out after a warning sent by Interpol and Customs to federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez. The suspicion indicated that the artwork, part of the heritage looted by the Nazis, was hanging in that residence.
La vivienda allanada en Mar del Plata.
After the search, only a carbine and a .32 caliber revolver were seized. Patricia Kadgien, the official's daughter, and her husband presented themselves as the owners of the property, although they were not charged. Their lawyer confirmed that they would make themselves available to the courts.
Prosecutor Martínez clarified that in order to move forward with the investigation, an international request from the Netherlands was required, where the database of artworks stolen by the Third Reich is kept.
The story behind the painting
The painting belonged to Jewish merchant Jacques Goudstikker, whose collection of more than 1,000 pieces was liquidated at derisory prices by Nazi officials such as Hermann Göring. "Portrait of a Lady" would later have passed into the hands of Kadgien, who was close to Göring, and who died in Buenos Aires in 1978 after amassing assets obtained through extortion.
El cuadro fue descubierto en unas fotos del living de una de las hijas del jerarca nazi.
The case returned to the agenda when Dutch journalists located a photo of the house for sale in Mar del Plata. In the image published by the real estate agency, the artwork appeared hanging in the living room. The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands compared those images and considered that they matched the stolen painting.
Patricia Kadgien refused to answer questions from the foreign press and blocked investigators who tried to contact her.
Meanwhile, Marei von Saher, Goudstikker's daughter-in-law and heir, celebrated the lead obtained in Argentina. At 81 years old, she continues to lead the international claim for the return of art looted during Nazism.
