JNS.org – British actress Helen Mirren will be honored by the World Jewish Congress (WJC) for her recent role in Woman in Gold and for raising awareness on Nazi-looted art.

Mirren will be presented with the award by WJC President Ronald S. Lauder in New York later this year.

In Woman in Gold, Mirren plays Austrian-American woman Maria Altmann, who won a lawsuit against the Austrian government in 2006 to reclaim five paintings by renowned Austrian painter Gustav Klimt.

One of the paintings, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, was a portrait of Altmann’s aunt. These paintings were confiscated from the husband of Adele Bloch-Bauer by the Nazis because he was Jewish. After the painting of Altmann’s aunt was returned to her, it was purchased by Lauder. Currently, the painting is displayed at the Neue Galerie in Manhattan.

“The history of the Woman in Gold painting exemplifies the immense suffering, painful loss and, for a prolonged period, the injustice that many Jews were subjected to during the 20th century,” Lauder said in a statement.

“Being a part of this film and preserving Maria Altmann’s legacy has been a truly exceptional experience from the start,” Mirren said. “I am utterly moved to be receiving an award from the World Jewish Congress, an organization that does such important work all over the globe in advocating for Jewish rights.”