It is the first in a series of steps Wollongong City Council has vowed to take after working with the Sydney Jewish Museum's resident historian Emeritus Professor Konrad Kwiet to determine Mr Sredersas' background before he arrived in the city.

As well as removing the naming plaque at the Burelli Street gallery, the council will also update the gallery's website to reflect the new information about Mr Sredersas' past, update the online collection catalogue's explanatory note, and review items within Wollongong City Libraries' local studies collection connected to Mr Sredersas.

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"We want to get this process right and I'm very appreciative of the time the Sydney Jewish Museum and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies have offered us, as well as the expertise of Professor Kwiet, as they have supported Council to work through this process correctly and respectfully,'' Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said.

"We now have an altered perception of Sredersas and his life before he came to Australia.

"It's important that we are transparent about what we have learnt, and share what we know with our community and gallery visitors, as well as those from further afield who are interested in our gallery and modern history.''

None of the works he donated are now on display and the gallery will consider whether any of them should be used in upcoming exhibitions.

However, Mr Bradbery said the Jewish Museum had not asked the council to take down or disperse the collection.

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"We've got custodianship of it, and we need to honestly represent it and not resile from the ugly past truths behind it," he said.

The personal history of the gallery's donor was not the fault of the artists, Mr Bradbery added.

"The decision by Council to remove the plaque is the right move, and we commend the Council for listening to the community's concerns and for acting swiftly on the report's findings," NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark said.

"Bob Sredersas is no hero. He should not be celebrated or commemorated in any way and it is important that his true past has finally come to light.

"The focus should now be about education and empowerment, and ensuring the Wollongong community is informed about Mr Sredersas's history, the Holocaust and the Nazi era.

To that end the Jewish Board of Deputies and the Sydney Jewish Museum have offered all Wollongong primary and high school students free entry and transport to the Jewish Museum for the next 12 months.

"We hope the council will take up this offer," Mr Bark said.

Prof Kwiet's report showed Mr Srederas served in the Nazi Party's security service, the Sicherheitsdienst , as an intelligence officer from June 1941 until January 1945.

Mr Srederas successfully applied for German citizenship and changed his name to Bronislaus Schroeders in 1941. After the war he resumed his Lithuanian name and became eligible for resettlement as a political refugee.

After moving to Australia in 1950 and working at the BHP steelworks and for decades, he built a huge art collection - all the time concealing his wartime identity.

He bequeathed 100 works from his collection to Wollongong Art Gallery five years before his death.

- with AAP