Nazi Art Theft: The History of Germany’s Confiscation and Destruction of European Artworks during World War II
Written by Charles River Editors
Narrated by Daniel Houle
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Looting and the acquisition of plunder have long been crucial features of war. Removing an enemy’s portable wealth is a way of ensuring they lack the resources to create a new army while making it possible for members of the victorious army to be suitably rewarded. In the past, that plunder tended to be in the form of coinage, precious stones, gold, and silver. The removal of artwork for its own sake (rather than for the intrinsic value of the materials from which they were made) was relatively rare.
In the long history of Europe, no country established such complete domination of the continent as the Nazis had by the summer of 1941. Before the war, Germany used the threat of the army rather than direct conflict to achieve territorial gains in Austria and Czechoslovakia. In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, triggering the war, and by June 1940, German forces had occupied Poland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland, and large parts of France. By the spring of 1941, Greece, Serbia, and Yugoslavia were also occupied by Nazi forces. Italy, Hungary, Romania, Spain, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Finland, and Croatia were all either in alliance with Germany or subject to German control. Furthermore, by the winter of 1941, German forces were close to Leningrad and Moscow.
Given their unlimited and virtually uncontrolled access to most of Europe, it is perhaps unsurprising that this would also lead to consideration of the acquisition of art. If Berlin was to become the new world capital, then surely it was reasonable to assume Berlin should display the world’s most important works of art. With nothing to stop them, the Nazis became the most rapacious looters of art the world had ever seen, to the extent that it has been estimated that the Nazis may have acquired up to 20% of all art in Western Europe. Some works were returned after the war, many disappeared, and still others have become the subject of intense speculation.
More audiobooks from Charles River Editors
The Denisovans: The History of the Extinct Archaic Humans Who Spread Across Asia during the Paleolithic Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The East India Company: The History of the British Empire's Most Famous Mercantile Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mossad: The History and Legacy of Israel’s National Intelligence Agency Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineveh: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cambrian Period: The History and Legacy of the Start of Complex Life on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mysteries of the South: Ghosts, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in Dixie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legends of the West: Deadwood, South Dakota Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Arnold Rothstein and Meyer Lansky: The Lives and Legacies of the Gangsters Who Reformed Organized Crime in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Life and Trial of Lizzie Borden: The History of 19th Century America's Most Famous Murder Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Life and Legacy of the Father of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Midwest: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in America's Heartland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Madame de Pompadour: The Life and Legacy of French King Louis XV’s Chief Mistress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Battle of the Somme: The History and Legacy of World War I’s Biggest Battle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung: The Pioneering Lives and Works of History’s Most Influential Psychologists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Culper Ring: The History and Legacy of the Revolutionary War's Most Famous Spy Ring Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Battle of Hamburger Hill: The History and Legacy of One of the Vietnam War's Most Controversial Battles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Nazi Art Theft
Related audiobooks
The History of France Under German Occupation During World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMarch 1917: On the Brink of War and Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devils' Alliance: Hitler's Pact With Stalin, 1939-1941 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Weimar Culture: The Outsider as Insider Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Summer of 1940: The History of the Months that Decided the Fate of Europe in World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Culture in Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzkrieg Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5After Hitler: The Last Ten Days of World War II in Europe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler in Paris: How a Photograph Shocked a World at War Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/51917: Lenin, Wilson, and the Birth of the New World Disorder Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Third Reich Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCase White: The Invasion of Poland 1939 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Young Hitler: The Making of the Führer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy, Weimar Centennial Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Germany Between the World Wars: The History and Legacy of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany in the Interwar Period Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Jews in Berlin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/51939: Countdown to War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler's Art Thief: Hildebrand Gurlitt, the Nazis, and the Looting of Europe's Treasures Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Spies Who Never Were: The True Story of the Nazi Spies Who Were Actually Allied Double Agents Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Winter of the Weimar Republic: The Rise of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler's Hangman: The Life of Heydrich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Göring's Man in Paris: The Story of a Nazi Art Plunderer and His World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pandora's Box: A History of the First World War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Vichy France: The History of Nazi Germany's Occupation of France during World War II Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Revenants of the German Empire: Colonial Germans, Imperialism, and the League of Nations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Berlin Airlift: The Cold War's most remarkable operation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Hitler's Munich: Jews, the Revolution, and the Rise of Nazism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Wars & Military For You
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin - Book Summary: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead And Win Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Korean War: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America's First Black Generals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine: From Zionism to Intifadas and the Struggle for Peace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kill Anything That Moves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Founding Mothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Nazi Art Theft
6 ratings0 reviews