Dagobert Frey (

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, 23 April 1883 – 13 May 1962,

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n art historian, a criminal responsible for the theft of the most valuable European and Polish collections from the

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

museums and national art galleries during the Nazi German

occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

. As professor in European art history from the ''Osteuropa-Institut'', Frey was wined and dined by Polish art experts numerous times in the late 1930s. He prepared a meticulous list of the most valuable paintings at the

National Museum, Warsaw The National Museum in Warsaw ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie), popularly abbreviated as MNW, is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art ( Eg ...

among other locations across Poland. He showed up at the Museum again in October 1939 with the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

, after the capitulation of the Polish capital, and directed the ''SS-Untersturmführer'' Theo Daeisel to art pieces that needed to be seized and shipped to Germany first, including the ''Portrait of a Young Man'' by

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

from the collections of the

Łazienki Palace The Palace on the Isle ( pl, Pałac Na Wyspie), also known as Baths Palace ( pl, Pałac Łazienkowski), is a classicist palace in Warsaw's Royal Baths Park, the city's largest park, occupying over 76 hectares of the city center. From 1674 the pr ...

(''Pałac Łazienkowski''), and numerous other masterpieces including paintings by

Bernardo Bellotto Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/2 or 30 January 172117 November 1780), was an Italian urban landscape painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his ''vedute'' of European cities – Dresden, Vienna, Turin, and Warsaw. He was ...

called ''Canaletto''. The items stolen from the National Museum included 99% of all coins, 100% of historic clocks, 80% jewellery, 63% fabrics, 60% furniture, and 70% ancient manuscripts. The Gestapo headquarters in Warsaw presented ''the Rembrandt'' as a gift to

Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and lawyer who served as head of the General Government in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member of the German Workers' Party ...

in occupied

. Frey moved to Kraków the same month, along with his colleague from the SS, dr Joseph Mühlmann. Together, they pinpointed all sorts of treasures at

Wawel The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established on ...

(architectural detail notwithstanding), directing Frank in a mass looting campaign. On Frey's advice, even the fireplaces were ripped out from the walls. WWII Krakow - 12

Career

Frey studied architecture in Vienna at the ''Technische Hochschule'', and in 1911 obtained a job at the Austrian monument conservation bureau. In 1929 he published his controversial book about the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

and in 1931 moved to the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

to teach art history in Breslau (

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

). After the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, he was selected by Berlin to validate Poland as a "Teutonic land" deliberately with no mention of Jews whatsoever. In 1941 he wrote his infamous book ''Krakau'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

for Kraków) – denying this ancient Polish capital its Slavic origins. In 1942 he wrote a guide to the city of

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...

"without" Jews. After the war, Frey moved back to Vienna and worked at the municipal office for the restoration of relics. In 1951 he moved to

in southern Germany, where he obtained the position of professor at a local polytechnic. Frey never faced justice for his crimes committed in

German occupied Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Notes

* See: ''Portrait of a Young Man'' by Rembrandt offered as gift to Frank in occupied Kraków. Wikimedia Commons. {{DEFAULTSORT:Frey, Dagobert Austrian Nazis German art historians 1883 births 1962 deaths Art thieves Writers from Vienna German male non-fiction writers Looting Austrian criminals Austrian emigrants to Germany

Career

See also

Notes