After 70 years, lost paintings come home

After Mr Bohmer's death in 1991, the paintings were stored by his family friend, Kath Pearce, at her home in Bedford. Mrs Pearce's own mother was also interned in the Isle of Man.

It was only after her retirement last year that she began to sift through his belongings, discovered Dr Adam's paintings and set about reuniting them with his family. Mrs Pearce said: "Walter was a hoarder and had these paintings.

"Before he died he told me what to do with various items and when I asked him about the paintings he told me where they were originally from But I did not know what camp he had been in. I searched through Walter's papers and discovered he had been in the Isle of Man."

After matching the names on the paintings with paperwork from the internment camp, Mrs Pearce spent 18 months searching for remaining members of Dr Adam's family.

She eventually traced his daughter, Mary-Clare, to Tel Aviv. The women made contact and last month Ms Adam visited Britain to collect the paintings. They were handed over at a Friday night dinner hosted by Charlotte Lang, a cousin newly discovered by Kath Pearce during her research.

Ms Adam said: "Words are far from sufficient to express my admiration to Kath for succeeding in her quest to fulfil Walter's wish and to locate me wherever I was in the world."

Mrs Pearce said: "It's what Walter and Leonhard wanted. They would have been delighted. Mary-Clare and I could not even speak when I handed the paintings back.

"We were overwhelmed and could not believe I had tracked her down. But it was the right thing to do and the outcome is fantastic."

Following his arrival in Australia, Dr Adam worked in the University of Melbourne's History department as a scholar and lecturer. Dr Adam died in 1960.