In Berlin last week, experts from museums, auction houses and government agencies gathered as part of an international effort to train art-world professionals in recovering looted art. 

Though World War II ended nearly 70 years ago, millions of plundered objects remain at large. 

This six-day conference, the first meeting of the new Provenance Research Training Program, will be offered as workshops in other countries.

According to the Shoah Legacy Institute, which organized the conference, the idea is to provide advanced training “in issues concerning cultural plunder during the Third Reich, the Holocaust and World War II.”  Some of these looted and lost items are just now beginning to filter into the art market via family estate auctions.