Art theft and looting during World War II
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Art theft Art theft, sometimes called artnapping, is the stealing of paintings, sculptures, or other forms of visual art from galleries, museums or other public and private locations. Stolen art is often resold or used by criminals as collateral to se ...
and
looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
occurred on a massive scale during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It originated with the policies of the
Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
countries, primarily
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, which systematically looted occupied territories. Near the end of the war the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, in turn, began looting reclaimed and occupied territories. "The grand scale of looted artwork by the Nazis has resulted in the loss of many pieces being scattered across the world." (Minyard, 2007) Although the looting of "cultural heritage" of the German people and private collectors was not permitted in the 1945 agreement of Yalta, following the defeat of Germany by the Allied forces the following goods disappeared: three truckloads of precious art, which was listed in a confiscated list by the US forces (in the mine Merker in Thuringia), and one trainload of 20 wagons loaded with artwork and jewels from Hungary (named the "gold train"). According to a 2001 ''Der Spiegel'' article, the artwork is suspected to be in the US and has never been officially declared. The lost artworks from the "Grube Merker," about 450 pictures, are not found in any museum and thought to have been sold privately. An attempt by the US to confiscate more German art by requesting 202 precious pictures to be taken was prevented by Walter Farmer on 6 November 1945, an art protection officer in Wiesbaden leading the central art collection store. Although against his direct orders from the US, he assembled 24 colleagues from Germany and Austria and successfully prevented the removal of the pictures (named as operation "Westward Ho"). Before his death in 1997, Farmer was awarded Germany's highest civilian honor, the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit, for his work in returning the 202 paintings. In the book ''Art as Politics in the Third Reich'' by Jonathan Petropoulus he outlines how there is a need for further cooperation by smaller art galleries to recover art that they may be holding and not know who it belongs to. He says that there are still many tens of thousands of pieces of art missing today, but there is still more research to be done to get a more accurate number. A large plan was drafted by the Nazis for much of the stolen art to be featured in a so-called
Führermuseum The ''Führermuseum'' or ''Fuhrer-Museum'' (English: Leader's Museum), also referred to as the Linz art gallery, was an unrealized art museum within a cultural complex planned by Adolf Hitler for his hometown, the Austrian city of Linz, near ...
, which would display much of the art plundered by the Nazis. This museum would feature works that were not considered to be "
degenerate art Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...
" and would instead solely focus on the aesthetics that Hitler considered to be "good", and was to be created in the city of
Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...
. However, this museum was never created, and much of the art that may have been on display there is still missing today. The Nazis were so vehemently against the loss of the art that they had plundered for this museum that there was a plan to destroy a stockpile of art saved for the Führermuseum at the
Altaussee Altaussee (Central Bavarian: ''Oid Aussee'') is a municipality and spa town in the district of Liezen in Styria, Austria. The small village is nestled on the shores of the Lake Altaussee, beneath the Loser Plateau. Occupying an area of 92  ...
salt mines, which held over 12000 pieces of stolen art, using eight 500-kilogram bombs. Countless pieces of art were stolen during the Holocaust and many were destroyed. The Nazis were relentless in their efforts to get rid of the Jewish people and their culture. Paintings that had been passed down from generation to generation were taken and destroyed. This was extremely emotionally hard for many Jewish families because it was not only an attack on their families and culture, but also on their history. There have barely been any efforts of restitution. Many of the families who lost art are simply now left with claims. One of the primary problems encountered by individuals pursuing claims is that it is difficult to locate the necessary documentation on
provenance Provenance (from the French ''provenir'', 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses i ...
. Organizations with information on a piece's history, museums in particular, often have a disincentive to share information that could assist in an heir's claim. For organized looting, see: * Art theft and looting by Nazi Germany * Art theft and looting by Japan * Art theft and looting by the Soviet Union On a smaller scale, art was stolen by individuals from various countries, taking opportunity of the chaotic war conditions. For example, see: *
Theft of medieval art from Quedlinburg The theft of medieval art from Quedlinburg was perpetrated by United States Army Lieutenant Joe T. Meador in the days prior to the end of World War II in Europe. Precious church objects stored near Quedlinburg, Germany, were found by the U.S. Army. ...


Gallery

File:Raphael missing.jpg,
Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...
, ''Portrait of a Young Man'', circa 1513 to 1514. Plundered by the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
s in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. Falsely reported to have been found 1 August 2012, the location is still unknown. File:Vincent Van Gogh 0013.jpg,
Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...
, 1888, ''The Painter on His Way to Work''. Listed as "missing" on Monuments Men Foundation 'Most Wanted' website. Property of Kulturhistorisches Museum in Magdeburg, Germany (formerly the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum). File:Gustav Klimt, 1907, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, Neue Galerie New York.jpg,
Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's prim ...
, 1907, '' Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I''. Recovered and sold for US$135 million to
Ronald Lauder Ronald (Ron) Steven Lauder (born February 26, 1944) is an American businessman, billionaire, philanthropist, art collector, and political activist. He is the president of the World Jewish Congress since 2007. He and his brother, Leonard Lauder, ...
for his
Neue Galerie New York The Neue Galerie New York (German language, German for "New Gallery") is a museum of early twentieth-century German and Austrian art and design located in the William Starr Miller House at 86th Street (Manhattan), 86th Street and Fifth Avenue i ...
in June 2006, which made it at that time the most expensive painting for about 4 months. File:Jean Metzinger, 1913, En Canot, oil on canvas, 146 x 114 cm, missing or destroyed.jpg,
Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
, 1913, '' En Canot (Im Boot)'', oil on canvas, 146 x 114 cm (57.5 in × 44.9 in), exhibited at Moderni Umeni, S.V.U. Mánes, Prague, 1914, acquired in 1916 by
Georg Muche Georg Muche (8 May 1895 – 26 March 1987) was a German painter, printmaker, architect, author, and teacher. Early life and education Georg Muche was born on 8 May 1895 in Querfurt, in the Prussian Province of Saxony, and grew up in the Rhön ...
at the Galerie
Der Sturm ''Der Sturm'' () was a German List of avant-garde magazines, avant-garde art and literary magazine founded by Herwarth Walden, covering Expressionism, Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, among other artistic movements. It was published between 1910 an ...
, confiscated by the Nazis circa 1936, displayed at the
Degenerate Art Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...
show in Munich, and missing ever since. File:Albert Gleizes, 1911, Stilleben, Nature Morte, Der Sturm postcard, Sammlung Walden, Berlin. Collection Paul Citroen, sold 1928 to Kunstausstellung Der Sturm, requisition by the Nazis in 1937, and missing since.jpg,
Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...
, 1911, ''Stilleben, Nature Morte'', Der Sturm postcard, Sammlung Walden, Berlin. Collection
Paul Citroen Roelof Paul Citroen (15 December 1896 – 13 March 1983) was a German-born Dutch artist, art educator and co-founder of the New Art Academy in Amsterdam. Among his best-known works are the photo-montage Metropolis and the 1949 Dutch postage sta ...
, sold 1928 to Kunstausstellung Der Sturm, requisition by the Nazis in 1937, and missing since. File:Recoveredgleizes.jpg, Albert Gleizes, 1911, '' Le Chemin, Paysage à Meudon'', oil on canvas, 146.4 x 114.4 cm. Exhibited at Salon des Indépendants, 1911, Salon des Indépendants, Bruxelles, 1911, Galeries J. Dalmau, Barcelona, 1912, Galerie La Boétie, Salon de La Section d'Or, 1912, stolen by Nazi occupiers from the home of collector Alphonse Kann during World War II, returned to its rightful owners in 1997.Site Rose-Valland, Musées Nationaux Récupération, Paysage (Meudon; paysage avec personnage), 1911
/ref> File:Albert Gleizes, 1912, Landschaft bei Paris, Paysage près de paris, Paysage de Courbevoie, oil on canvas, 72.8 x 87.1 cm, missing from Hannover since 1937.jpg, Albert Gleizes, 1912, ''Landschaft bei Paris, Paysage près de Paris, Paysage de Courbevoie'', oil on canvas, 72.8 x 87.1 cm, missing from Hannover since 1937.


Further reading

* Kline, Thomas
The Recovery of Stolen Art sold in the United States from a "Neutral" Country
American University International Law Review 14, no. 1 (1998): 243-248.


See also

* Nazi-looted artworks of Vincent van Gogh *
List of libraries damaged during World War II This is a list of libraries damaged during World War II. Austria When Hitler's Germany started the Anschluss with Austria in 1938, one of the first casualties was the looting of the public and private libraries of Vienna. * Of the library of t ...
*
List of missing treasure This is an incomplete list of notable treasures that are currently lost or missing. Note that the existence of some of these treasures is mythical or disputed. List See also * Art theft and looting during World War II * Looted art * Lost ar ...
* '' The Rape of Europa'' * ''
The Monuments Men ''The Monuments Men'' is a 2014 war film directed by George Clooney and written and produced by Clooney and Grant Heslov. The film stars an ensemble cast including Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh ...
'' 2014 comedy-drama on the theft and recovery of looted art *
M-Aktion The M-Aktion ("Furniture Action" or also "M-Action", abbreviation for "Möbel-Aktion"), was a Nazi looting organisation. Attached to the "Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg", starting in early 1942 the M-Aktion looted approximately 70,000 homes of ...
*
List of claims for restitution for Nazi-looted art The list of restitution claims for art looted by the Nazis or as a result of Nazi persecution is organized by the country in which the paintings were located when the return was requested. Australia and New Zealand Austria Belgium Ge ...
*
Vugesta The Vugesta (also VUGESTAP) for “''Vermögens-Umzugsgut von der Gestapo''" ("Property Removed by the Gestapo") was a Nazi looting organization in Vienna that from 1940 to 1945 seized the possessions of 5,000-6,000 Viennese Jews. It was a key pl ...
* Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce (E.R.R.) *
Aryanization Aryanization (german: Arisierung) was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. I ...
*
The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Art Theft And Looting During World War Ii Art crime Art and cultural repatriation after World War II Cultural history of World War II Looting