AN INTERNATIONAL Jewish human rights organisation has called for a new investigation into whether parts of the Hunt Museum collection in Limerick may have been looted by the Nazis.
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which has headquarters in Los Angeles, first raised questions about the provenance of some of the museum's collection in a letter to President Mary McAleese in 2004.
An expert group subsequently set up by the Royal Irish Academy to examine the issue reported that most of the items under suspicion were unlikely to have a "problematic past". A second report by Lynn Nicholas, a world authority on Nazi looted art, concluded there was no proof that the late John and Gertrude Hunt were Nazis, or that they were involved in any kind of espionage or trafficking in looted art.
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre was subsequently criticised by President McAleese for making unproven allegations about the museum, a criticism the centre rejected. A new report written by archaeologist Erin Gibbons and backed by the Wiesenthal centre, published yesterday, takes issue with media reports that said the earlier reports "cleared" the Hunts of dealing in wartime loot.
In The Hunt Controversy, a Shadow Report, Ms Gibbons says the concerns of the Wiesenthal centre appear legitimate and measured. In her 165-page report, Ms Gibbons re-examines the military files and points to what she says are shortcomings in the two reports.
She also criticises findings, suggests alternative interpretations, and argues that only further research or investigation can prove or disprove claims.
Her report, she says, sets the record straight. Ms Gibbons said a full independent investigation was necessary to establish the provenance of the 2,000 objects on display in the Limerick museum.
