The plunder of European art during World War II was as carefully planned—and devastating—as any military invasion. The selection, transport, and storage of artistic treasures was carried out despite the chaos of war across the continent. Nazi forces seized not only paintings, but statuary and decorative art on an unprecedented scale.
Some objects were returned after the war, but the fight to return other pieces languished as owners were difficult to find and other war-related issues moved to the forefront. More recently, there has been another push for reparation, and with it comes new concerns about determining ownership and what to do with art if there is no clear provenance.
Ori Z. Soltes of Georgetown University explores the history, political background, execution, and postwar and contemporary implications of this attack on Europe’s cultural heritage.
JUN 3 Planning and Plunder
Why was the Nazi regime so eager to acquire massive quantities of cultural property? How large was the scale of plunder, how was it carried out, and what did Germany do with the stolen works?
JUN 10 After the War
How much stolen art was returned to its original owners, and by what means? Why did the issues of plundered art and restitution disappear with so little resolution during the postwar period—and when and how did they re-emerge?
JUN 17 The Legacy of Plunder
In the past 15 years there has been an expanded focus on restitution, with each case presenting unique challenges. What are some of the most important cases—and why are they significant? What broad and ongoing implications are raised as the global legal and artistic communities—as well as individuals—wrestle with restitution cases today?
Soltes is the Goldman professorial lecturer in theology and fine arts at Georgetown. He is past director and chief curator of the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, where he co-founded the Holocaust Art Restitution Project and has spent 15 years researching and consulting on the issue of Nazi-plundered art.
3 sessions
World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1/2 credit
Smithsonian Connections
View a transcript of orders from Adolf Hitler authorizing Alfred Rosenberg and his Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce to "search libraries, archives, lodges and other philosophical and cultural institutions of all kinds for appropriate material and to seize such material." The document is in the collection of the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art.
Rihoko Ueno, co–curator of the 2014 Smithsonian exhibition Monuments Men: On the Front Line to Save Europe’s Art, 1942–1946, examines the conditions inside mines throughout Germany and Austria where the Nazis stored caches of looted artwork and artifacts.
