The Holocaust Art Restitution Project was founded on September 4, 1997, in Washington, DC.  Its founders were Ori Z. Soltes, then director of the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, Marc J. Masurovsky, and Willi Korte.

At the time, HARP’s mission was to provide the best possible information on the paths of dispersal of works of art and objets d’art stolen between 1933 and 1945 at the hands of the National Socialists and their Fascist allies across Europe.  The works in question included those on canvas, paper, rare books, manuscripts, furniture, decorative objects, sculptures, antiquities, and religious objects.