Focus on stolen art as Holocaust conference opens in Prague

The question of how to restore art stolen by Nazis during World War II took centre stage as experts and world leaders met in Prague Saturday for a conference on the Holocaust.

The conference, set to run through Tuesday, was attended by hundreds of Holocaust experts and representatives of 49 nations' governments.

Other items on the agenda include discussions on the proper way to teach the Holocaust, both in schools and universities, and the creation of a European Holocaust Institute in Theresienstadt, the site of one of the Nazis' most well-known concentration camps.

Stefan Fuele, the Czech minister for European affairs, called the meeting one of the most important events of the Czech Republic's time at the helm of the European Union.

Focusing on the question of restoration of stolen art, he said the goal was to craft a Theresienstadt Agreement, to build on a similar agreement in Washington in 1998.

Experts agreed that the question of restoring the property more than 60 years after the end of the war would be a challenge.

"We can't even seriously estimate how many cases are involved," said Georg Heuberger, a representative of the Jewish Claims Conference.

Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel said "the simplest thing would have been to return all the houses, money and property to the victims directly after the Second World War."