The Nazi-stolen painting that disappeared twice (and has finally been discovered)

The story behind this mysterious painting could fill several books and more than one film. It's about a missing painting that was stolen during World War II and found in the home of the daughter of a high-ranking fugitive in Argentina. If the story wasn't shocking enough, it disappeared for a second time, according to The Telegraph , and has finally been recovered.

Portrait of a Lady , painted by Giuseppe Ghislandi (Italian Baroque portraitist), was stolen in 1940 in Amsterdam from the Jewish art collector Jacques Goudstikker. Its whereabouts remained unknown for decades, until, by a twist of fate, Patricia Kadgien recently put her villa up for sale, complete with photos inside showing the 18th-century portrait above the sofa. Patricia's father was Friedrich Kadgien, an SS officer and aide to Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring. He fled to Buenos Aires after the war.

Argentine police raided the house (located in Mar del Plata ) on Tuesday, after the Dutch newspaper AD (Algemeen Dagblad) reported the situation in its pages. But the painting (which is on the international list of lost works of art) had disappeared . Carlos Martínez , the local prosecutor behind the operation, promised the media that the search would continue. The police couldn't help but notice that the house's decor had changed since the announcement was published (and two firearms were also seized).

The villa was then removed from the market, and the listing was removed from the Argentine real estate website. Mrs. Kadgien changed her name on social media and declined requests to speak to the media. However, in a surprising turn of events (while the police were still searching the city), yesterday the Nazi official's family decided to make the painting available to the Civil Court. The couple has been ordered to be held under house arrest for 72 hours, accused of obstructing the investigation.

The villa was then no longer for sale and the listing was removed from the Argentine real estate website.

The painting, meanwhile, is one of more than 1,000 works of art stolen from the collection of Goudstikker, a successful Amsterdam art dealer who helped other Jews flee Nazi oppression. He died at sea while escaping to Great Britain in 1940.

At least 800 pieces from Goudstikker's collection were illegally sold at a low price to Göring, one of the most powerful figures in Nazi Germany, head of the Luftwaffe, and a well-known art collector. Kadgien had acted as his right-hand man, helping to finance the Nazi war machine. Afterward, American interrogators described him (Göring) as "a snake of the worst kind" and not "a true Nazi."

Kadgien fled first to Switzerland, then to Brazil, like so many other Nazis, and then settled in Argentina in 1949. He died in Buenos Aires in 1978. More than 200 of the looted works have already been returned to Goudstikker's descendants living in the United States as part of an investigation the Dutch government began in the early 2000s.

The story behind this mysterious painting could fill several books and more than one film. It's about a missing painting that was stolen during World War II and found in the home of the daughter of a high-ranking fugitive in Argentina. If the story wasn't shocking enough, it disappeared for a second time, according to The Telegraph , and has finally been recovered.