By Rachel McFarland 

A major issue of the world today is the appropriation of historical artifacts and artwork. This has been an issue since colonialism, but the first movement towards putting things back in order came after the events of World War II. Prior to and during World War II, the Nazis had multiple campaigns where they would steal and “lawfully” acquire major works of art that were owned by Jewish people living in what was then the German Empire. During this time period “over 20% of Europe’s art by the end of World War II” was looted.

 

Why I Chose This Topic 

The main reason that I am interested in this topic is the fact that there are still so many works of art that are missing. Another is that I have been interested in lost artifacts and artwork. One of my favorite book series to listen to when I was younger was Treasure Hunters by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein. It is silly and goofy, but it also has a lot of accurate history. Many of the treasures that they find in the series are actual missing treasures or at least treasures that are said to exist. 

They mention legendary treasures such as King Solomon’s Mines, the Amber Room, and the Romanov Easter Eggs. Another more well-known movie series that also ties into this is Lucasfilms’ Indiana Jones. Although significantly less historically and scientifically accurate thanks to Hollywood, two of the five movies still give an exciting outlook on discovering hidden or lost items of importance that may or may not still exist. For example, Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark has the Ark of the Covenant, and Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade has the Holy Grail. 

Finally, there was a book that I read for my AP Literature and Composition class during my junior year of high school that partially covered the Nazi confiscations. It was called All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, and there is now a Netflix series adaptation. Part of the story follows a German officer who is searching for the Sea of Flames, which is a gemstone with a legend saying that it can heal the sick. Since he has severe cancer, he believes that it can heal him. One of the two main characters, a Jewish blind girl from France named Marie, had a father who worked at a museum in Paris, which I believe was the Louvre, and he was charged to safekeep the Sea of Flames once the Nazi confiscations first began. Even though the Sea of Flames is a fictional gemstone, the story is the most historically accurate out of the Treasure Hunters book series or the Indiana Jones movies, especially the ones that I did not mention. 

The History of Nazi Looting 

The true Nazi confiscations began after the annexation of Austria into the German Empire. In the words of Rothfeld, “The first official rounds of Nazi confiscations began in Austria after the 1938 Anschluss.” These thefts were made out to be “lawful” by several different acts and decrees such as the Decree on the Registration of the Assets of Jews in April of 1938. This decree had Jews register all items over 5,000 reichsmark, which is around “$2,000 dollars in 1938 and $34,000 today,” at the tax office. This continued in the same way once Poland was taken in 1939. 

Other acts that contributed to the confiscations include the 11th Decree to the Reich Citizenship Act and the 13th Decree to the Reich Citizenship Act. The 11th decree deprived Jews of German citizenship, making all of their belongings go to the Nazis. The 13th decree transferred all the property of deceased Jews to the Nazis, instead of their next of kin, including artwork. 

Where Did the Art Go? 

The main question now is where did all of the artwork go? It did not just disappear, but it was hidden in places throughout Europe. They were hidden in several different places, including museums in the empire, the many Nazi bases and headquarters, and most famously salt mines and caves. 

In fact, the original goal for the artwork was to build a large art museum for Hitler. The museum was to be located in Linz and called the Führermuseum. Another man, Hermann Göring, was also creating his own private collection at the same time with the simple name of the Hermann Göring Collection. 

Efforts to Recover the Art 

Beginning in the 2000s, several efforts have been put forth to recover these missing pieces of artwork and return them to the heirs or the descendants of the previous owners. One of these organizations that has made efforts like this is The Holocaust Records Project. The Holocaust Records Project has been “identifying, preserving, describing, and microfilming more than twenty million pages of records” for over twenty years. 

This may seem like this is not really connected to the Nazis looting art, but the Holocaust Records Projects’ “first completed project was the preservation microfilming of selected records of the Art Looting Investigation Unit.” 

Modern-Day Cases 

In November of 2011, there was an incident where the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement discovered a work that is believed to have been confiscated by the Nazis’. The work discovered was Christ Carrying the Cross Dragged by a Rascal, by Girolamo de’ Romani, known as Romanino. Previously it had only been on display at the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science since March 18th, 2011. It was allegedly a forced sale by Frederico Gentili di Giuseppe who died in 1941. Some of his family was able to flee to the United States and Canada, but unfortunately some died in concentration camps. Since 1999, legal issues have caused not only this painting to be kept from the remaining kin, but many others that Frederico owned as well. 

A few months ago, the Kunsthaus Zurich museum in Switzerland announced that they would be removing five paintings that they had discovered might have been confiscated by the Nazis’. However, this caused many problems and they were under a lot of scrutiny “as a result of the United States State Department’s latest best practices for handling Nazi-looted art.” Even though it was a Swiss Museum, this was a big deal because they look towards the United States museum practices to model after. In addition to the five paintings, they are currently “conducting a separate investigation of a sixth work currently on display at Kunsthaus Zurich.” 

What Now? 

Overall, when it comes to returning artifacts and artwork, there are several different routes to go. Unfortunately, all of those routes are full of legal troubles that can go on for decades. However, this all starts with how the art was taken or acquired in the first place. In the case of the Nazi confiscations, they were either stolen, forced to be sold, or forced to be given up. This is similar to colonial confiscations, which were under very similar pretenses. 

Then, it is on to who will get the artifacts. The options include putting them in museums and whether or not it is in a museum in its’ home country is a whole other argument. Another option is giving them to the next of kin of the previous owners, however they may not be able to properly maintain the artifact or piece of artwork. Yet another option is to give it to the next of kin of the creator of the piece of art, if they are known, this is less likely than the other options though. Still, it can be given to the government of the artifacts’ homeland, but yet again there is the question of if they can properly maintain the artifact or artwork. The rest of this presentation will discuss all of these paths and determine which ones are right for specific artifacts and pieces of artwork.