Physical art holds history and recognition – a sentiment Jews fought for after the Holocaust and one that Armenians have been fighting for since 1915, and long before.

Prof. Michael Bazyler of Chap-man University presented “Nazi Looted Art Recovery as a Model for Recovery of AGLA: Armenian Genocide Looted Art” on Friday, September 5. In his presentation, he discussed the process that Jews took to reclaim Nazi stolen art and encouraged Armenians to follow in these footsteps. Bazyler noted both the legal and social troubles that a culture must endure to reclaim what was once theirs.

The lecture began with introductions by Berberian Coordinator of Armenian Studies Barlow Der Mugrdechian and Jill Fields, the Coordinator of the Fresno State Jewish Studies Program, which co-sponsored the event.

“This takes that whole concept of recognition and justice into a realm that I don’t think a lot of Armenians have necessarily thought about,” said attendee Phillip Hagopian. “Even when we think of reparations, we think about monetary reparations or physical, like real estate, we don’t think about artistic things.”

Dr. Taner Akçam, the inaugural director of the Armenian Genocide Research Program of the Promise Armenian Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles was welcomed as the first speaker and then gave a general introduction to the topic.

Prof. Der Mugrdechian introduced Dr. Akçam, who is widely regarded as one of the first scholars of Turkish descent to write about the Armenian Genocide.

A large part of Dr. Akçam’s speech was about the concept of justice, which goes far past recognition.

“Without justice, recognition is meaningless,” he said.

In 2025, the Turkish government has yet to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Former U.S. President Joe Biden referred to 1915 as a genocide during his presidential term – but the U.S. hasn’t seen much recognition beyond that.

It can be argued that a large priority for the Armenian-American community is about achieving recognition, since that seems to be the first step in repairing the wound left open in 1915, but Dr. Akçam asserted that this isn’t enough. He said that this drive for more is what led him to begin developing a new framework for restitution, and then he learned of Prof. Bazyler’s work on the Nazi looted Jewish art.

Thus, the Armenian Genocide Looted Art (AGLA) Research Project was born. In its early stages, Dr. Akçam stated that Prof. Bazyler was one of the only people to hear out his plan.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t find open ears within the Armenian community, but Prof. Bazyler was willing to listen,” said Dr. Akçam.

After Dr. Akçam concluded his portion of the presentation, Prof. Bazyler took the stage. He provided some background information about how his personal journey with recovering Nazi looted art got started.

Prof. Bazyler told the audience that at the Nuremberg Trials it was reported that when Nazis were transporting stolen art, it took as many as 30,000 railway cars to do so.

At the time, in the 1930s and 40s, the total monetary value of Nazi stolen art was roughly $2.5 billion which, in today’s currency, is about $20.5 billion. After the Holocaust, people began questioning how they were going to retrieve the art.

President Bill Clinton’s ad-ministration was very interested in the Holocaust Restitution movement, according to Prof. Bazyler, who agreed with Dr. Akçam about the idea that recognition is not enough – the Jews needed justice.

Armenians, however, have not been so lucky.

Bazyler brought up several lawsuits that have occurred over the years, many involving an individual discovering a piece of stolen art that once belonged to their family. Upon discovery, the individual had to go through a lengthy legal process to obtain the art.

One case even went to the Supreme Court. These kinds of cases gained national attention, which greatly helped the furthering of the Holocaust Restitution movement.

Though the U.S. still hesitates to use the word “genocide,” several world leaders acknowledge 1915 as a massacre or tragedy, which serves as some sort of recognition.

Dr. Akçam said that Armenians should stop focusing on the wording of 1915 alone and get into the legality of reparations – just like the Jews did after the Holocaust.

“We don’t have any legal framework that follows the recognition,” Dr. Akçam said.

Though the fight to reclaim Armenian art is just beginning, Dr. Akçam encouraged young people to become involved with the AGLA mission.

“To fight for justice is the biggest moral obligation for us,” he concluded.