confiscations and contributions

Presents an account of those who were part of a special force of American and British curators, art historians, museum curators, and other experts who risked their lives to prevent the destruction of cultural artifacts and structures while also trying to locate missing items that had been stolen by the Nazis during World War II.

Tells the story of the "Gold Train," which held millions of dollars' worth of loot taken from Hungarian Jews before they were murdered in the Holocaust, and investigates its fate after the war.

Presents an account of those who were part of a special force of American and British curators, art historians, museum curators, and other experts who risked their lives to prevent the destruction of cultural artifacts and structures while also trying to locate missing items that had been stolen by the Nazis during World War II.

The legendary names include Rothschild, Mendelssohn, Bloch-Bauer, distinguished bankers, industrialists, diplomats, and art collectors. Their diverse taste ranged from manuscripts and musical instruments to paintings by Old Masters and the avant-garde. But their stigma as Jews in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe doomed them to exile or death in Hitler's concentration camps. After years of meticulous research, Melissa M?ller and Monika Tatzkow present the tragic, compelling stories of 15 Jewish collectors, the dispersal of their extraordinary collections through forced sale and/or confiscation, and the ongoing efforts of their heirs to recover their inheritance.

Tells the riveting true story of how an American college professor turned Army sleuth recovered cherished symbols of Hitler's Thousand-Year Reich before they could become a rallying point in the creation of a Fourth, and equally unholy, Reich.

Discusses the role of Swiss banks in the financing of German efforts during World War II, arguing that Swiss banks laundered money taken from Holocaust victims and provided loans and ammunition to German forces.