The treasures of Quedlinburg . . . the Trojan gold . . . the Amber Room.
These fabled objects are only the tiny summit of an immense mountain of
artifacts - artistic, religious, historic - that were sold, confiscated,
stolen, dismembered, defaced, destroyed, or buried as Europe succumbed
first to the greed and fury of the Nazis and then to the ravages of war.
Now, in a riveting account brimming with tales of courage and sacrifice,
of venality and beastliness, Lynn H. Nicholas meticulously reconstructs
the full story of this act of cultural rape and its aftermath. In doing
so, she offers a new perspective on the history of the Third Reich and
of World War II. From the day Hitler came to power, art was a matter of
highest priority to the Reich. He and other Nazis (especially Hermann
Goering) were ravenous collectors, stopping at nothing to acquire
paintings and sculpture, as well as coins, books, tapestries, jewels,
furniture - everything. Their insatiable appetite (feared by the museum
directors who sent their collections into hiding as war loomed) whipped
the international art market into a frenzy of often sleazy dealing. When
the German occupation of Poland, France, the Low Countries, and finally
Italy began, a colossal wave of organized and casual pillage stripped
entire countries of their heritage as works of art were subjected to
confiscation, wanton destruction, concealment in damp mines, and
perilous transport across combat zones. Meanwhile, in Washington and
London curators and scholars campaigned energetically to convince
President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and,
most importantly, General Dwight Eisenhower to add the protection of art
and edifices tothe Allied invasion agenda. The landings in Italy and
France, and the ultimate victory of the Allies, brought a dedicated
corps of "Monuments officers" to the ravaged continent. On the front
lines or immediately behind, they shored up bombed churches, cleaned the
vandalized buildi
