
Reclaiming the Spoils of War
In the aftermath of World War II, photos of U.S. soldiers reclaiming works of art looted by the Nazis.
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"From 1940 to 1945, Nazi soldiers across occupied Europe seized books, religious icons, and untold amounts of art from prisoners and public institutions," writes Debra Kamin in her FP piece, "Israel’s Nazi Art Hunters." According to the National Archives Greg Bradsher, it's estimated that some 20 percent of Europe's art works was taken by the Nazis. (Vanity Fair's Alex Shoumatoff put the actual number at 650,000.) The recovery of these priceless works began with the Allied Forces, in particular the United States, after Germany surrendered in 1945. But as Kamin writes, many of these pieces were displaced, "sold and traded — with and without knowledge of their sordid past — across the globe."
Above:A U.S. soldier inspects art, taken from Jews by the Nazis and stashed in the Heilbron salt mines, on May 3, 1945, in Germany.
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American soldiers load a truck with recovered art stolen by German General Hermann Goering on April 1, 1945.
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A storage room of artworks deemed "degenerate" and confiscated by the Nazis in Berlin, Germany, date unknown.
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A U.S. soldier unwraps a painting recovered in May 1945 from a storage site in Fussen, Germany, where Nazis had stashed stolen art.
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American soldiers pose with two paintings found among a cache in Fussen, Germany, in May, 1945.
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U.S. soldiers carry paintings discovered in an Austrian castle in May 1945.
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U.S. soldiers view art at a former Luftwaffe barracks near Konigsee, Germany, in May, 1945.
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U.S. soldiers stand next to a 15th century statue of biblical Eve, three paintings by Lucas Cranach, and three by Rembrandt at a former Luftwaffe barracks near Konigsee, Germany.
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A U.S. soldier inspects art recovered from the Heilbron salt mines on May 3, 1945, in Germany.

A unidentified man unravels scrolls found at the Heilbron salt mines on May 3, 1945, in Germany.

U.S. soldiers unload a crate of art at the Heilbron salt mines in Germany on May 3, 1945.

A U.S. soldier views a jewelry collection, stolen from a Jewish family by the Nazis and stashed in Germany, on May 18, 1945.
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Men hoist a painting up at an auction of art reclaimed from the Nazis in Dec. 1948 in Paris.
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The member of a Jewish family whose art was stolen by Nazis holds up a painting returned to the family on Dec. 12, 1999, in New York.
STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty ImagesReclaiming the Spoils of War
In the aftermath of World War II, photos of U.S. soldiers reclaiming works of art looted by the Nazis.