A Nazi heiress’s home was this week raided by police hunting for a painting that was stolen by her SS officer father – but officers arrived to find the work had hastily been replaced by a tapestry depicting horses.
Investigators in Argentina raced to the home of Friedrich Kadgien’s daughter Patricia in the seaside city of Mar del Plata near Buenos Aires on Monday.
They hoped to find an 18th century artwork by painter Fra Galgario called Portrait of a Lady.
But on arriving, investigators realized the painting had vanished – with a large piece of needlework that appeared to have recently been installed hanging in its place instead.
Portrait of a Lady was spotted in an online real estate advert hanging on the wall of Kadgien’s daughter’s home after the property was listed for sale.
Kadgien, who was described as a ‘snake of the lowest sort’ by American interrogators, had funded the Third Reich’s war effort through the theft of art and diamonds from Jewish dealers in the Netherlands.
A senior aide to monstrous Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering during the Second World War, he fled to Switzerland in 1945 and then moved to Brazil and Argentina, where he became a successful businessman before his death in 1978.
He was one of hundreds of Nazis who found refuge in South America – in particular in Argentina – after the war.
Among the most notorious were war criminals Adolf Eichmann – the chief architect of the Holocaust – and Auschwitz death camp doctor Josef Mengele.
Argentine police raided a Nazi heiress’s home to try and seize a masterpiece painting stolen from a Jewish art collector by her SS officer father – only to find it had hastily been replaced by a tapestry
Federal law enforcement in Argentina raided the home of a Nazi heiress which was believed to house a stolen painting, according to local media
The painting Kadgien stole was seen by a Dutch journalist investigating the disappearance of the artwork.
During the Second World War, the painting was owned by Dutch art dealer Jacques Goudstikker.
He died in 1940 aged just 42 after falling into the hold of a ship and breaking his neck while fleeing the Nazis for England, where he was buried.
The recent discovery of Portrait of a Lady on the wall fuelled years-long speculation that the looted artwork had been in the house belonging to the Nazi’s daughter and resulted in Goudstikker’s descendants demanding it be returned.
As soon as Argentine police stepped into Kadgien’s house with a warrant in hand, they were met with disappointment.
‘The painting is not in the house,’ prosecutor Carlos Martínez told La Nacion after Monday’s search of the chalet.
Investigators strongly believe the tapestry had been hastily used to replace something else on the wall.
‘It’s clear that where we found a tapestry… not long ago, there was something else,’ an unnamed law enforcement officer told the outlet.
Investigators also noticed a hook and marks on the wall, suggesting that a framed painting had been removed recently.
Officers did seize cell phones and two unregistered firearms as well as drawings, engravings and documents from the 1940s that could advance the investigation.
Patricia Kadgien and her partner watched as investigators searched the home for hours.
Patricia’s lawyer was present as well, and no charges have been filed at this time.
Despite the painting having been stolen in the 1940s, Patricia and her partner could face charges of concealing contraband, according to the paper.
There would be no time limits on possible charges due to the connection to the worst genocide in human history.
The Netherlands’ Cultural Heritage Agency expressed disappointment at the failure of Argentine authorities to locate the painting so far.
‘After all, the purpose of our work is to bring looted heritage from the Second World War to light and, where possible, return it to the rightful owners,’ it said in a statement Wednesday.
Portrait of a Lady is among at least 800 pieces owned by Goudstikker that were seized or bought under duress by the Nazis.
Investigators recovered more than 200 of the pieces in the early 2000s, but many – like Portrait of a Lady – remained missing and are included on the international and Dutch lists of lost art looted by the Nazis.
Before his own unsuccessful escape from Europe, Goudstikker helped fellow Jews flee the Nazis.
Friedrich Kadgien was described as a ‘snake of the lowest sort’ by American interrogators
Kadgien once served as a financial advisor to top Nazi Herman Goering (pictured)
Portrait of a Lady, a portrait of Contessa Colleoni created by Fra Galgario in the 18th century, was pictured hanging over a sofa in a real estate listing posted by Robles Casas & Campos
It once belonged to Dutch Jewish collector Jacques Goudstikker, a successful art dealer in Amsterdam who helped his fellow Jews flee the Nazis before he died at sea while trying to escape to Britain aboard a cargo ship
Stormtrooper commander and Reichstag president Goering standing next to Adolf Hitler
Investigators seized much from the home, but not the prized artwork they went in looking for
Details of Goudstikker’s art collection were kept in a little black book which he took with him on his fateful journey to Britain in May 1940, as the Netherlands fell under Nazi occupation.
The booklet was eventually discovered by his wife, Desi, and their only son, Edo, who made it safely to the United States.
Marei von Saher, 81, Goudstikker’s only surviving heir, says she now plans to file a claim and launch a legal action to have the painting returned to her family.
‘My search for the artworks owned by my father-in-law Jacques Goudstikker started at the end of the 90s, and I won’t give up,’ von Saher told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad.
‘My family aims to bring back every single artwork robbed from Jacques’s collection and restore his legacy,’ she said.
Archive sources shed more light on Kadgien.
Portrait of a Lady is listed in Dutch archives as having passed to a man bearing his surname.
And the German Federal Archives record only one Nazi party member with that surname: Friedrich Gustav Kadgien.
He had membership number 1,354,543. In his role for Goering, he oversaw foreign currency, precious metals and the sale of confiscated property.
A declassified report from the US Central Intelligence Agency details his post-war escape to Argentina.
Members of the Kadgien family and their business dealings show up repeatedly in Argentine judicial and property registries beginning in the 1950s.
Kadgien was never charged with crimes related to the Nazi regime during his decades in Argentina.
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