Thread by @NBCNews

The Nazis seized an estimated 20% of art in Europe, and with scores of items still not returned to the families that owned them, Germany is struggling to keep up with the demands of its past. #NBCNewsThreads (1/8) nbcnews.to/3qBI3sF

Experts fear a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling could prove a bitter blow not only to those art heirs, but also to hundreds of Jewish families seeking restitution from Germany as it struggles to atone for its past. (2/8) nbcnews.com/news/world/med…

Historical consensus is clear that Jewish persecution took place in Nazi Germany, but heirs of Jewish art dealers are struggling to prove that their treasures were forcibly sold, leading to collections being sold for a fraction of what heirs say their value is. (3/8)

The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation attributes the sale price of a Medieval art collection for roughly one third the amount claimed by heirs to tough negotiations in a market reeling from Europe’s financial crash, rather than Nazi persecution. (4/8)

US lawmakers called the claim that pre-1939 conditions for Jews in Germany were not persecutory “deeply concerning."

But America's highest court unanimously ruled it has no jurisdiction to take action in the case. (5/8)

“Hearing your grandparents being accused of simply being dissatisfied with whether they made enough profit in 1935 in Nazi Germany is pretty brutal," says Nicholas O'Donnell, the heirs' lawyer. (6/8) nbcnews.com/news/world/med…

Germany has been praised for addressing its history, but recent years have seen a resurgence in far-right support and anti-Semitism.

And Jewish families and experts have cast doubt on the country’s appetite to help heirs retrieve stolen property. (7/8) nbcnews.com/news/world/med…

“Behind every item... is a unique, personal family story," the grandson of a Jewish music store owner says. "That may include the loss of a business or a life."

For families like his, the fight to reclaim what they still can goes on. (8/8) nbcnews.com/news/world/med…