Museum worthy: Nazi art plunder in postwar Western Europe

Abstract

"A central component of the Nazi Final Solution was the seizure of Jewish assets, including cultural property. Agents of the Third Reich and their collaborators in occupied Europe scoured Jewish homes, galleries, and bank vaults for coveted objects, and manipulated art sales from persecuted owners. All told, they plundered millions of works of art, quality furniture pieces, archives, rare books, musical instruments and other cultural items. With the defeat of the Third Reich, cultural officers in western Allied forces, popularly known as "the Monuments Men," tracked down the plunder in castles, churches and salt mines, and by the mid-1950s returned thousands of items to despoiled individuals. While restitution success stories have been told in books and films such as The Monuments Men and Woman in Gold, less known is the fate of thousands of objects that were repatriated to countries of origin but never returned to rightful owners. In France, Belgium and the Netherlands, postwar governments selected the most coveted unclaimed works for public use, and distributed them to state-run museums and other public buildings. Museum Worthy examines the origins of these art custodianships built with so-called "heirless" art, justified in each case as a restoration of national cultural patrimony--at the expense of private Jewish owners. The quest to recover these items, carried out by descendants of Nazi-era victims, continues today"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

Introduction: Plunder and Patrimony -- Nazi Art Plunder in Western Europe -- Allied Victory and Art Recovery -- Negotiating Cultural Restitution -- Recovered Art as French Patrimony -- National Heritage in the Netherlands -- Restoring Belgian Artistic Heritage -- Contested Patrimony -- Conclusion: A New Era of Museum Ethics.