The heirs of a Jewish art collector are suing a Jewish-owned Manhattan art gallery for the return of a collection of rare prayer books looted by the Nazis. The eight books, valued at $15 million, belonged to Alphonse Kann, who fled his home near Paris before the Nazi occupation of France. The suit filed Tuesday charges that the Wildenstein Gallery has refused to return the collection, known as the “Book of Hours.” A statement by the Wildenstein family called the suit “groundless,” adding that the collection had been lawfully in its possession when it was looted by the Nazis.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.