The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War

Painstaking research behind the fascinating documentary, Rape of Europa. Lynn Nichols compelling book of the same title explores broad efforts to safeguard European masterpieces from Nazi greed and plunder. She shifts her focus from capital to countryside, from the one border to the next. While she records art historians' views on looting and valued artifacts retained by conquering nations, she also turns her lens onto the less-publicized cases of Allied looting, the cases of victorious soldiers purloined objets d'art as souvenirs. In the final chapter, Nichols describes the fate of the heirs to American military plunder finding that the stolen items, while valuable, are unsalable, Some are returning stolen items anonymously discovering that there is still a penalty attached to war-time loot; others are forced to surrender objects identified by German investigators tracking historical collections spirited beyond its borders. The German government lost paintings taken back to the Soviet Union in train loads where they are still held as compensation for monstrous ravage and destruction;, the art world as a group monitors the markets for individual pieces going for auction and ponders in general the moral dilemma posed by war loot and restitution. The compelling moral directive still remains as one of massive concerted Allied effort from the top down to discover, identify and return thousands of pieces of stolen art to their rightful owners--if they still be among the living, a story that continues through this day.

This a both a work of considerable scholarship and also a work written with considerable understanding of human nature. Essentially it is written in two parts. The first covers the Nazi expropriation or destruction of works of art all over Europe from 1939 through 1942. The second part covers the Allied attempts to recover and safeguard the stolen/confiscated/extorted works of art. The strength of this work is that the author makes clear that this simple narrative is complicated by the fact that not all motives were entirely pure or entirely corrupt depending on the nature of the individuals involved. There were some German army officials who actually tried to safeguard and protect art though their efforts were usually overcome by rapacious National Socialist ideologists and greedy Party officials. "Collaborationist" French officials did all in their bureaucratic power to delay and obstruct the systematic looting. On the other side, not all Allied military personnel behaved correctly with personal instances of indifference and corruption against which the "Monument Men" struggled untiringly. The author is particularly clear about the role of European art dealers who, if they were in business from 1939 to 1945, did some business with the Nazis who ruled Europe. Their ethical challanges are described as is the way they met those challanges with various levels of compromise. The only flaw in the book is that there are not many illustrations of the works involved in theis huge transfer of ownership and location. Of course, such illustrations would practically describe a history of Western art, so instead we have many contemporary photos of the activities being described in the text, which are quite interesting.

What an eye opener. after reading this book one think the world war II was ment by the Germans to get hold on art only. One can never visit an museum in europe/america/ Argentina/south america/auction houses without thinking: what is the provenance of said article: also robbed / fenced/ stolen? How much blood is on it? Is there not an exhibition in London (March 2008) with stolen art by the Russian (so called reparation payment taken from hidden German wareshouses) this month full with French/Paris school / entarte kunst and more? Comming from France the loot was 28 thousant train wagons(containers) After reading, one should feel never be save anymore regarding own collection!

For all who like the Rape of Europa there is now a documentary of the same name which just opened in theaters in San Francisco. This is a story based on images and the film makers have done it proud with fabulous photography plus amazing period footage. Watch for this film soon nationwide in your local art theaters and eventually on TV. Its fantastic.

World War II was unique in so far as war can have different degrees of intensity, scope, or perhaps evil. The Germany of the Nazis was one with an insatiable appetite, whether for killing, inventing crimes so heinous new words were needed, or the absolute fervor with which they wanted everything. They literally wanted everything, whether changed to suit them, or in the case this book discusses, they wanted art, all of it. Their actions went well beyond the spoils of War that a victor generally has taken as his own, either from greed or an imagined sense of recompense for the battles fought. They wanted to change the demographics of the planet, had they succeeded, they would have managed the greatest art theft in History.It may sound like a bizarre comparison, but the "Grinch" of Dr. Seuss fame came to mind while reading. The fictional character like his Nazi counterparts attempted to wipe out a culture by taking everything. The list of names of Artists includes every Master that ever painted, sculpted, drew, or any artisan who created a work of beauty. Nothing was overlooked; imagine having to return over 5,000 bells stolen from all over Europe. Yes, bells, as I said they took everything.The book has some great photographs. There is a photo of one of the Goering residences and the Art he had stolen. It may sound bizarre but it looks like a bad yard sale. Any taste he had was in his mouth. It's quite a feat to amass priceless objects, and then display them in such a way and in such numbers, that the result is a garage sale. The picture also illustrates what the whole theft was about, the desire to have stuff, all the stuff you could steal. Happily they lost, or the world's great art would have become the personal property of the artistically challenged moral degenerates of the Third Reich.Much more intriguing was Ms. Nicholas's treatment of how so much art was preserved, hidden, and protected. A photograph of DaVinci's "Last Supper", or better said the protective covering, is simply amazing. So too are the photos of American Soldiers casually posing with a Goya, or standing with The Ghent Altarpiece. Aerial photographs of destroyed cities where virtually all that was saved was the Art.There are also troubling events after the War that remain to the present. So much art was stolen yet again by the Victors, some has reappeared, and much has not. Even the custody that was taken of many works after the War by this Country, and displayed at our National Galleries is an event I would hope we would never again repeat. The value of these objects, the tons of precious metals, and other items are beyond calculation. Hopefully with the changes in Europe and the Former Soviet Union more art will find it's way back to where it originally resided.In the end all the effort the Nazis expended on their desire to feed there egos probably saved many, many pieces of art. I am in no way suggesting what they did was correct. If t