In 1938, fearing for their lives amid increased persecution of Jews, Karl and Rosie Adler fled Germany to the then Nazi-unoccupied part of Europe.. To pay for short-term visas, they sold one of their prized possessions, Pablo Picasso's 1904 Woman Ironing.. This painting subsequently entered the collection of the Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York.. Now the Adler heirs want to return the painting. Their story is broadcast by the BBC.

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“Adler would not have lost the painting at that time and at this price if it were not for the Nazi persecution to which he and his family were subjected,” lawyers for the heirs wrote in a lawsuit last week in a New York court..

Several Jewish organizations and nonprofits are also named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit..

Then the Picasso painting cost one and a half thousand dollars, now its price is $32 thousand..

The painting was originally purchased from Heinrich Tannhauser in 1916, a Jewish gallery owner living in Munich at the time..

When the Adlers fled Germany, they sold the painting to Tannhauser's son, Justin, who had already left the country for Paris, for about $1,552 (that's $32,669 today).

This price, according to the lawsuit, was well below market value: just six years ago, Adler offered the painting for about $14,000, but decided not to sell it..

Shortly after purchasing the painting, Thanhouser insured it for $20,000..

After Thanhouser's death, he left his extensive Solomon Guggenheim Museum art collection, including The Ironing Woman.. Prior to his death, as part of the museum's research process to confirm the painting's provenance, museum representatives approached Eric Adler, son of Carl and Rose, the museum said in a statement to the BBC..

Mr Adler "

The painting is kept in the collection to this day, and for decades the descendants of the Adlers did not appeal the issue of ownership of the painting, until 2014. Then the grandson of one of the other Adler children, Carlota, learned this family story with a painting.

Note that Picasso created the work " At that time, he painted mostly monochrome paintings in shades of blue and green-blue with a rare addition of warm tones.. These gloomy paintings are now one of the artist's most recognizable works, although by that time he had difficulty selling them..

For several years, lawyers for the Adler heirs and the Guggenheim Museum argued over who actually owned the painting, culminating in this lawsuit..

The Guggenheim Museum told the BBC it "

What to do with art sold or looted during Nazi Germany has long been a concern. Many Jews and others fleeing persecution were forced to sell assets, including valuable art, in order to escape.. Works of art were simply stolen from others.

In 1998, 44 countries signed the Washington Principles on Nazi Confiscated Art, which states that "

However, " is an American philanthropist of Jewish origin, a native of Switzerland, founder of the Museum of Modern Art in New York).

The cultural institute explains its position by the fact that the painting was not sold in Germany, but after the departure of the Adlers and it was sold to a collector of Jewish art who is not a member of the Nazi Party, the museum noted.