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German Museum Repurchases Camille Pissarro Painting Looted by Nazis

Gallery assistants pose with an artwork entitled Gelee Blanche, Jeune Paysanne Faisant Du Feu by Danish-French artist Camille Pissarro at Sotheby's Galleries in central London on January 29. Photo: AFP
Gallery assistants pose with an artwork entitled Gelee Blanche, Jeune Paysanne Faisant Du Feu by Danish-French artist Camille Pissarro at Sotheby's Galleries in central London on January 29. Photo: AFP
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German Museum Repurchases Camille Pissarro Painting Looted by Nazis

Gallery assistants pose with an artwork entitled Gelee Blanche, Jeune Paysanne Faisant Du Feu by Danish-French artist Camille Pissarro at Sotheby's Galleries in central London on January 29. Photo: AFP
Gallery assistants pose with an artwork entitled Gelee Blanche, Jeune Paysanne Faisant Du Feu by Danish-French artist Camille Pissarro at Sotheby's Galleries in central London on January 29. Photo: AFP

Berlin's Alte Nationalgalerie museum on Monday handed back and repurchased a painting by French Impressionist Camille Pissarro looted by the Nazis during the World War II from the collection of a Jewish lawyer, according to AFP.

Representatives of the lawyer Armand Dorville family signed an agreement for the museum to return and buy back "Une Place a la Roche-Guyon" ("A Square in La Roche Guyon"), part of the Berlin institution's permanent collection.

"I am very grateful to Armand Dorville's heirs for making it possible for us to purchase the work for the Alte Nationalgalerie and for coming to Berlin especially for this purpose," said Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK).

He did not reveal how much the museum had paid for the painting but said the family wanted it to remain on public display. Painted in 1867, "A Square in La Roche Guyon" was acquired by Armand Dorville in Paris in 1928. After moving to the south of France, Dorville died in 1941 and his collection was distributed to museums and private collectors.

The family was unable to flee occupied France and most members were killed by the Nazis, who occupied the country from 1940-1944. Several close relatives of Dorville's brother Charles perished at Auschwitz. The Alte Nationalgalerie acquired "A Square in La Roche Guyon" from a London gallery in 1961.

The Nazis stole thousands of artworks from Jewish families during World War II and their restitution has been a slow process, involving legal battles and complex searches.

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Rwanda and WHO Declare End of Marburg Outbreak after No New Cases Reported

In this Oct. 8, 2014 photo, a medical worker from the Infection Prevention and Control unit wearing full protective equipment carries a meal to an isolation tent housing a man being quarantined after coming into contact in Uganda with a carrier of the Marburg Virus, at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP)
In this Oct. 8, 2014 photo, a medical worker from the Infection Prevention and Control unit wearing full protective equipment carries a meal to an isolation tent housing a man being quarantined after coming into contact in Uganda with a carrier of the Marburg Virus, at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP)
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Rwanda and WHO Declare End of Marburg Outbreak after No New Cases Reported

In this Oct. 8, 2014 photo, a medical worker from the Infection Prevention and Control unit wearing full protective equipment carries a meal to an isolation tent housing a man being quarantined after coming into contact in Uganda with a carrier of the Marburg Virus, at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP)
In this Oct. 8, 2014 photo, a medical worker from the Infection Prevention and Control unit wearing full protective equipment carries a meal to an isolation tent housing a man being quarantined after coming into contact in Uganda with a carrier of the Marburg Virus, at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP)

The World Health Organization and the Rwandan government on Friday declared the outbreak in Rwanda of the Ebola-like Marburg fever over after no new cases were registered in recent weeks.

The country first declared the outbreak on Sept. 27 and reported a total of 15 deaths and 66 cases, with the majority of those affected healthcare workers who handled the first patients.

Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people who fall ill with the disease. Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, death through extreme blood loss.

There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg, though Rwanda received hundreds of doses of a vaccine under trial in October.

An outbreak is considered over after 42 days — two 21-day incubation cycles of the virus — elapsed without registering new cases and all existing cases test negative.

Rwanda discharged the last Marburg patient on Nov. 8 and had reported no new confirmed cases since Oct. 30.

However, WHO officials and Rwanda's Health Minister Dr. Sabin Nzanzimana on Friday said risks remain and that people should stay vigilant.

“We believe it’s not completely over because we still face risks, especially from bats. We are continuing to build new strategies, form new health teams, and deploy advanced technologies to track their movements, understand their behavior, and monitor who is interacting with them,” the minister announced during a press conference in the capital, Kigali.

Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is believed to originate in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets.

“I thank the government of Rwanda, its leadership and Rwandans in general for the strong response to achieve this success but the battle continues,” said the WHO representative in Rwanda, Dr. Brain Chirombo.

Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have in the past been recorded in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana.

The virus was first identified in 1967 after it caused simultaneous outbreaks of disease in laboratories in the German city of Marburg and in Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia. Seven people died after being exposed to the virus while conducting research on monkeys.