24.  In April and May 1938, the Nazis levied enormous taxes against Ferdinand in Vienna because he was Jewish. The imposition of these taxes was motivated by religious and racial animus.

25.  In exile in Switzerland, Ferdinand was cut off from his family and all his possessions. The sugar company he directed was aryanized, and Ferdinand’s shares held in Swiss banks were handed over to the Nazis.  Ferdinand’s home in Vienna was transferred to the railroad for its new headquarters.  The artworks were plundered. In early 1939, a large group of Nazi and museum officials, including representatives of the AUSTRIAN GALLERY, met in Ferdinand’s palais to discuss dividing up the enormous art collection. His famous 400-piece porcelain collection was sold at a public auction, with the best pieces going to Vienna’s museums. Some of his 19th century artworks by Austrian masters were taken and given to Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring.  Others were bought for Hitler’s planned museum in Linz.  Dr. Erich Führer, the Nazi lawyer liquidating the estate, was given permission by Hitler’s museum director Hans Posse to take a few paintings for his own personal collection in consideration for his service to the Third Reich.

26.  Dr. Führer disposed of Ferdinand's six remaining Klimt paintings as follows:

a) In October 1941, Dr. Führer traded two Klimt paintings -- Adele Bloch-Bauer I and Apple Tree I -- to the AUSTRIAN GALLERY in exchange for the return of the painting Schloss Kammer am Attersee III, which Ferdinand had delivered to the AUSTRIAN GALLERY in 1936.

b) Schloss Kammer am Attersee III was subsequently sold by Dr. Führer to Ingeborg and/or Gustav Ucicky (an illegitimate son of Gustav Klimt who was a successful director of Nazi propaganda films) for approximately 6,000 Reichsmarks.

c) In November 1942, the painting Beechwood was sold by Dr. Führer to the Museum of the City of Vienna (Wiener Städtische Sammlung) for 5,000 Reichsmarks.

d) In March 1943, the AUSTRIAN GALLERY purchased the painting Adele Bloch-Bauer II from Dr. Führer for 7,500 Reichsmarks.

e) Dr. Führer kept the painting Houses in Unterach am Attersee for himself.

f) The portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl also left the collection during this time and ended up in the hands of the art dealer Vita Künstler.

27.  By early 1943, Ferdinand's entire art collection, including all the Klimt paintings, was liquidated and expropriated.  The liquidation and expropriation of Ferdinand's estate were accomplished without his consent and in violation of international law. The liquidation was motivated by religious and racial hatred and occurred without payment of any just or fair compensation. In his second-to-last will, dated Oct. 8, 1942, written while in exile in Zurich, Switzerland, Ferdinand wrote: "In an illegal manner, a tax penalty of one million Reichsmarks was imposed and my entire estate in Vienna was confiscated and sold."