Forbes: The Diabolical Tale Of Hitler's Art Thief

By SIMON CONSTABLE

There are times in history when business and government start working together in a diabolical way. Most recently we’ve seen the so-called Islamic State develop an industry of looting priceless artifacts from the middle east and selling them to willing collectors around the world. They are but the latest group to engage in such behavior.

Back in the 1930s and 1940s the Nazis teamed up with art experts to rob Europe’s Jews of enormous caches of priceless art, often via forced sales. Paintings were then shipped off to collectors in New York, for instance. Susan Ronald chronicles one man’s extraordinary career of thievery in her recent book, Hitler’s Art Thief: Hildebrand Gurlitt, the Nazis, and the Looting of Europe’s Treasures.

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