After refusing for decades to examine claims of artwork looted from Jewish owners during the Holocaust, Croatia’s government is moving toward instituting changes to restitute stolen works.

The artworks were confiscated by the Ustase regime during World War II, a puppet government installed in Croatia that was allied with Nazi Germany.

The sea change in the Croatian government’s attitude was exemplified by a study the government released in coordination with the World Jewish Restitution Organization listing thefts and some of the stolen art collections. Many of these collections are in the hands of Croatian museums, the New York Times reported.

The “Restitution of Movable Property in Croatia” report showed that the government wanted to “provide Holocaust survivors and their heirs with a fair measure of justice,” Croatian Minister of Culture Nina Obuljen Korzinek said.

The Ministry of Culture has hired experts on art provenance for the purpose of “allowing indisputable attribution of looted property to their rightful owners,” Korzinek added.

The minister also aims to initiate “improvement to the legislative framework” so that the process is simpler for those seeking the return of lost property.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)