Jonathan Petropoulos (born January 10, 1961) is an American historian who writes about

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

and, in particular, the fate of art looted during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He is John V. Croul Professor of European History at

Claremont McKenna College Claremont McKenna College (CMC) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It has a curricular emphasis on government, economics, public affairs, finance, and internat ...

Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of Los Angeles. It lies in the Pomona Valley at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had ...

. Before his 1999 appointment to Claremont McKenna College, Petropoulos taught at

Loyola College in Maryland Loyola University Maryland is a private Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early and eight other members of the Society of Jesus in 1852, it is the ninth-oldest Jesuit college in the Un ...

Biography

From 1998 to 2000, Petropoulos served as Research Director for the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets, chaired by Edgar Bronfman, Sr. Since 2000, Petropoulos has served as an expert witness in several legal cases concerning Nazi-looted assets, including ''Altmann v. Austria'' (six paintings by

Klimt Gustav Klimt (14 July 1862 – 6 February 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement. His work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sketc ...

, including

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I ''Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I'' (also called ''The Lady in Gold'' or ''The Woman in Gold'') is an oil painting on canvas, with gold leaf, by Gustav Klimt, completed between 1903 and 1907. The portrait was commissioned by the sitter's husba ...

), ''Cassirer v.

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum (, ; named after its founder, Baron Heinrich Thyssen, Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza), or simply the Thyssen, is an art museum in Madrid, Spain, located near the Museo del Prado, Prado Museum on one of the city ...

'' (painting by

Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( ; ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but t ...

), ''

Kann KANN (1120 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Contemporary Christian format. Licensed to Roy, Utah, United States, the station serves the Ogden/Salt Lake City area. The station is currently owned by Faith Communications Corporation. KANN sign ...

Wildenstein Wildenstein () is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Geography Wildenstein is the highest village in the Thur Valley. The houses cluster along the main street, nestled between the steep slopes of th ...

'' (medieval manuscripts), and ''Rosner et al. v. U.S.A.'' (the Hungarian Gold Train case). Petropoulos was featured in ''

The Rape of Europa In Greek mythology, Europa (; , ''Eurṓpē'', ) was a Phoenician princess from Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre and the mother of Basileus, King Minos of Crete. The continent of Europe is named after her. The story of her abduction by Zeus in the form of a ...

'', a 2006 documentary on Nazi art looting. He is the author of four books: ''Art as Politics in the Third Reich'' (1996), ''The Faustian Bargain'' (2000), ''Royals and the Reich'' (2006) and ''Artists Under Hitler: Collaboration and Survival in Nazi Germany'' (2014). With John Roth, he is the co-editor of ''Gray Zones: Ambiguity and Compromise in the Holocaust and Aftermath'' (2005).Petropoulos, Jonathan and Roth, John, editors. ''Gray Zones: Ambiguity and Compromise in the Holocaust and Aftermath'', Berghahn Books, 2005. In April 2008, Petropoulos resigned his position as director of Claremont McKenna College's Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights amidst controversy over the failed restitution of a

painting looted by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s in 1938. The London-based

Art Loss Register The Art Loss Register (ALR) is the world's largest database of stolen art. A computerized international database that captures information about lost and stolen art, antiques, and collectibles, the ALR is a London-based, independent, for-profit c ...

employed Petropoulos because of his acquaintance with

Bruno Lohse Wilhelm Peter Bruno Lohse (17 September 1911 – 19 March 2007) was a German art dealer and SS-Hauptsturmführer who, during World War II, became the chief art looter in Paris for Hermann Göring, helping the Nazi leader amass a vast collection ...

, a notorious Nazi art looter who died in 2007. The looted Pissarro, ''Le Quai Malaquais, Printemps'', was discovered by Swiss investigators in May 2007 in a secret safe controlled by Lohse in Zurich, Switzerland. After its seizure by Swiss authorities, the painting was independently restituted to an heir of Gottfried Bermann Fischer later in 2007 by a

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

court, and ultimately auctioned by

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

in New York for $1,850,000 ($2,154,000 with premium) on November 3, 2009. Following a review, a March 2008 Claremont McKenna College statement said the professor "adhered to applicable contractual and legal obligations" in attempting to arrange return of the painting.

Books

*
Goering's Man in Paris
The Story of a Nazi Art Plunderer and His World.'' ISBN 9780300251920 *
Artists Under Hitler
Collaboration and Survival in Nazi Germany''. * ''The Faustian Bargain: The Art World in Nazi Germany.'' * ''Art as Politics in the Third Reich.'' * ''Royals and the Reich. Von Hessen Nazi: The Princes von Hessen in Nazi Germany''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petropoulos, Jonathan 1961 births Living people Greek emigrants to the United States 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Art and cultural repatriation after World War II Historians of Nazism Claremont McKenna College faculty Historians from California American male non-fiction writers