Art stolen by the Nazis and rescued by the US military’s “Monuments Men” was not returned to its rightful Jewish owners at the end of the war but sold for profit by the Bavarian authorities, according to explosive new claims.
American forces recovered thousands of pieces of art and entrusted them to the Bavarian state government in 1949. But instead of returning the art to its owners, the Bavarian authorities kept several works to display in government buildings and sold others at auction, according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
In several cases, the art was sold to the families of Nazi war criminals.
The real-life Monuments Men were the inspiration behind the 2014 film starring George Clooney and Matt Damon. A unit of art historians served on the front line alongside American troops in the Second World War, with a mission to save Europe’s cultural heritage from destruction. They tracked down more than 10,000 works.
But an investigation by the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, an NGO based in London, discovered that many of the pieces were never returned. (more...)
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