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Title: The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War
ISBN: 0679756868
Author:
Lynn H. Nicholas
Publicate Date: 1995-04-25
Publish: 1995-04-25
List Price: $16.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $9.99
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $7.74
Amazon Merchant Price: $11.53
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| Customer Review: |
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1: great book on art looting
The Rape of Europa is an eye-opening book. Nicholas has done a tremendous amount of research that reveals the almost unimaginable extent of Nazi art looting during World War II. But the book never gets bogged down in details. The chilling story moves along quickly. I recommend this book highly for anyone interested in World War II, or for readers who are curious about the political uses of art.
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2: rape of europe
What an eye opener. after reading this book one think the world war II was ment by the Germans to get hold on art only. One can never visit an museum in europe/america/ Argentina/south america/auction houses without thinking: what is the provenance of said article: also robbed / fenced/ stolen? How much blood is on it? Is there not an exhibition in London (March 2008) with stolen art by the Russian (so called reparation payment taken from hidden German wareshouses) this month full with French/Paris school / entarte kunst and more? Comming from France the loot was 28 thousant train wagons(containers)
After reading, one should feel never be save anymore regarding own collection!
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3: See the movie if you can
After seeing the documentary movie with the same title, I was anxious to buy the book. The movie is based on the book and generally I find books preferable to movies. In this case, however, I would recommend the movie unless you are an art history major or World War II history buff. The book is a scholarly work with dense writing and extensive footnotes. While I can appreciate such texts, it was not what I was expecting since the movie is so engaging that I sat through it utterly entranced and with an intense desire to learn more.
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4: A gripping movie, must be seen
The movie, THE RAPE OF EUROPA, is a gripping documentary about the plan by Hitler to take over all of Europe's cultural treasures and the way that the U.S. dealt with these artworks after the war. The Nazis' success at stealing paintings, sculpture, and other art was phenomenal and this film does an excellent job of presenting all the facts. Many of the participants, or their descendants, are still alive and speak to the filmmakers movingly of their efforts, whether it was as the "monuments men" or the owners.
At a time when it is all too easy to forget history, the filmmakers have created a terrific movie that reveals yet another horrific aspect to the Nazi regime. Highly recommended.
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5: Nazi and non-Nazi German Rapacity; Planned Slav Extermination, etc.
Nicholas traces the plunder of cultural treasures by Nazi Germany followed by the Allies' efforts to locate and return the booty. The Germans also engaged in the wanton destruction of others' cultural treasures, beginning with the very start of WWII. For instance, the German forces deliberately bombed and shelled the historical section of Warsaw (the Old Town). (p. 61)
The reader soon learns that the pillage of conquered nations was done not just by Nazi hacks, but also by German intellectuals, as in German-occupied Poland: "Even the most distinguished German scholars were not immune to the opportunities presented by a cultural scene so open to exploitation...once the country lay at their feet many of these academics felt not the slightest qualms at transferring the collections, libraries, and even research notes of their erstwhile colleagues to their own use." (p. 74).
Spectacular German thefts include that of the giant Wit Stwosz (Veit Stoss) altar of Krakow (Cracow), and the Bursztyn Komnaty (Amber Room) of the city of Pushkin. The latter is yet to resurface.
Nicholas touches on those German genocidal plans against the Slavs that were to be implemented after Germany's expected victory over Russia: "The basic policies would be the same as those applied to Poland. After conquest, areas would be cleansed, exploited, and Germanized...In these [German-appointed districts] the cleansing would again be cultural, racial, and ideological. Not only Jews and `Bolshevists' would be eliminated by immediate execution; much of the general Slavic population would be allowed to expire naturally when their food supplies were diverted to the worthier citizens of the Reich." (p. 185)
There are some distortions and omissions in this book. Nicholas repeats the myth of the Poles "arriving at" an already-abandoned Monte Cassino (p. 247) when in actuality the Poles had to overcome fierce German resistance, and to take grievous casualties, in order to take Monte Cassino. She elaborates on the Germans' burning of the libraries and archives of Naples (pp. 232-233), and the agony of the Soviet-betrayed Warsaw Uprising (p. 77), but not the magnitudes-greater destruction of Warsaw's cultural treasures. AFTER the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, the vindictive Germans burnt and blew up the still-standing architectural treasures of Warsaw. They also burned all the libraries and archives of Warsaw, causing the loss of 13 million volumes, including about 500,000 irreplaceable ones.
All in all, however, Nicholas has given the reader a good overview of this sad subject.
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