Now worth millions of dollars, 3,600 posters stolen by the Nazis in 1938 have been returned to the collector's son and will now be offered on the auction block.

Peter Sachs, 74, the son of collector Hans Sachs, is the rightful owner, ruled a federal court in Germany after years of legal battles. The posters were held by the German Historical Museum in Berlin.

The posters cover travel, sports, propaganda, cabaret and other posters from all over Europe, said Arlan Ettinger, the president of Guernsey’s auction house, where the collection will be sold.

Sachs would like the colletion to stay together. If that is not possible, the posters will be sold in three sales, starting on January 18, 2013.

Another 800 posters will be donated to museums. The posters were part of a 12,500-piece collection of which the rest is still missing.

Hans Sachs was taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and after his wife secured his freedom, the family escaped to the United States. He had received compensation of an undisclosed amount for the collection from West Germany in 1961.