America and the Return of Nazi Contraband
The Recovery of Europe's Cultural Treasures

This 2006 book tells the story of how the American restitution effort in Germany coped with restoring Europe's cultural heritage after World War II.

Michael J. Kurtz (Author)

9780521849821, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 6 March 2006

290 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.6 kg

"While other current publications deal with the restitution of looted art objects, none do so from the vantage point of the American military government, and it is this more than anything else that makes Kurtz’s volume such a contribution to the field." -Dana Herman, The American Jewish Archives Journal

The Nazi war on European culture produced the greatest dislocation of art, archives, and libraries in the history of the world. In the ruins of the Reich, Allied occupiers found millions of paintings, books, manuscripts, and pieces of sculpture, from the mediocre to the priceless, hidden in thousands of secret hideaways. This 2006 book tells the story of how the American military government in Germany, spearheaded by a few dozen dedicated Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives officers and enlisted men, coped with restoring Europe's cultural heritage. Caught up in often bitter diplomatic wrangling during and after the war, the American restitution effort struggled to uncover what the Nazis had hidden and to equitably return all that was found. Based on the pioneering study of cultural restitution first published in 1985, America and the Return of Nazi Contraband presents insights into how the American government and Jewish organizations managed the painfully difficult problem of heirless Jewish cultural property.

Part I. Crisis and Response: 1. Looting and restitution
2. Nazi looting: the war against European culture, 1933–45
3. Preservers and restorers
4. Wartime frustrations: great power diplomacy
Part II. First Efforts: 5. Restitution imbroglio: the American dilemma in the first six months of occupation
6. The allies agree on restitution
Part III. America Leads: 7. Cultural restitution in the American zone, 1946–9
8. A special concern: the Jewish inheritance
Part IV. Cold War and Beyond: 9. Conflict and cooperation: the politics of restitution in the Cold War
10. Restitution at home: the American scene
11. Renewed ferment: restitution in the post Cold War era
12. Past, present, and future: an evaluation.

Subject Areas: Law [L], Second World War [HBWQ], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD], History of art & design styles: from c 1900 - [ACX]