Three historic paintings displayed inside Hearst Castle for decades are being returned to the family of two Holocaust victims because the paintings are part of a coerced sale of Jewish assets by the Nazis.
California State Parks officials began an investigation two years ago into the ownership history of the paintings. State Parks officials and the California attorney general's office determined the paintings belong to the heirs of Jacob and Rosa Oppenheimer.
The paintings were deeded to the state by the Hearst Corporation in 1972 as part of the transfer of Hearst Castle to State Parks.
William Randolph Hearst, who didn't know the ownership history, acquired the paintings from I & S Goldschmidt Galleries in Berlin in 1935.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
