DC Public Library System

The spoils of World War II, the American military's role in the stealing of Europe's treasures, Kenneth D. Alford

eng

Includes bibliographical references (page 282) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The spoils of World War II

bibliography

30669788

Kenneth D. Alford

A Birch Lane Press book

the American military's role in the stealing of Europe's treasures

Van Evek's Ghent Altarpiece, Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child, Van Dyke's Portrait of a Man With Neck Frill; what happened to these celebrated artworks and other treasures procured by the Third Reich during the thirties and forties?The Spoils of World War II answers that question while telling a remarkable story of greed and avarice, with war-torn Europe as its backdrop. More than fifty years of research and documentation have finally revealed the extent to which the German forces stole from the lands they occupied, and portrays the American military forces as both liberators ... and plunderers themselvesThe Reich armies requisitioned everything from art treasures to porcelain, pottery, furniture, and even Austria's prized Lippizaner stallions. But when the Reich finally fell, what happened to these priceless objects when the American troops located the vast storehouses of treasure, and what became of the possessions of the various mansions and castles that lay along the liberators' routes?This is the story of many of the individuals who did the "liberating." Names are named ... and the culprits range from lower-level staff officers to generals at the very top of the command chain. One captain, although ignorant of the German language, even took away leatherbound copies of first-edition works by Goethe and Schiller. In a macabre act of looting, one soldier brought home a burial urn containing the ashes of victims of DachauParts of this account of military thefts, investigations, courtroom hearings, and verdicts may not be attractive, but the overall experience of reliving those days is powerful and dramatic. The Spoils of World War II is a definitive record of events that have, for the most part, remained hidden for nearly half a century. The illustrations have been reproduced from photographs in the National Archives in Washington

1. Spilling the Beans -- 2. The Hungarian Gold Train -- 3. The Budingen Affair -- 4. The Occupation of Berlin -- 5. The Early Raids -- 6. The Kaminsky Affair -- 7. Concealing the Nest Eggs -- 8. The General's Kingdom -- 9. The Property Control Warehouse -- 10. The Salzburg Coin Collection -- 11. Robberies in the Property Control Warehouse -- 12. Judge James H. McGuire -- 13. The Unearthing of the Treasure -- 14. Washington D.C. -- 1946 -- 15. The Tightening Noose -- 16. The Trials -- 17. The End of the Gold Train Property -- 18. Austria -- 1947 -- 19. The Austrian Monasteries -- 20. The Salzburg Province -- 21. The Munich Collection Center -- 22. Evelyn Tucker's Final Report -- 23. The Looting of the Munich Collection Center -- 24. The Good Fortune of Austria -- 25. Resolution -- Appendix: Partial Inventory of SS Loot