Lost Lives, Lost Art: Jewish Collectors, Nazi Art Theft, and the Quest for Justice by Melissa Müller

Lost Lives, Lost Art: Jewish Collectors, Nazi Art Theft, and the Quest for Justice Reviews

• 
  Ross

  The longer one reads this meticulously researched and beautifully illustrated work, the more depressed one becomes about the depths of deviousness, greed and dishonesty to which individuals can descend,especially when given the opportunity and "legal" imprimatur by government. The book recounts in detail the thousands of unethical dispossessions that were undertaken under the facade of "legality" by the nazis, and perhaps more shockingly, continued by postwar governments who also used the argument of "legal transactions" to rationalise the continued possession of paintings taken or stolen under duress and threat of death. The book brings home, with tremendous impact,the difference between legislation and justice, and illustrates the sad truth that decency and government frequently have very little to do with each other.
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  Betsy

  Excellent true drama! Compulsively very readable but so heart breaking! Never read anything like it- featuring the true stories of the Nazi looting of Jewish art collections and the tragedies of that time in Europe during the Holocaust when families and art collections were torn apart... there is hope as some famous paintings and works of art have been returned to heirs over 60 years later.
• 
  Jonathan Lopez

  In separating wealthy Jews from their art collections, the Nazi regime was nothing if not resourceful. Decrees of confiscation, forced sales, sham auctions, “taxes” demanded in return for exit visas--such formalities generated mountains of paperwork and lent an air of legality to Holocaust plunder.
  
  As a result, many artworks stolen 70 years ago remain subject to competing claims and counter-claims today. Sovereign governments to whom looted items were repatriated by Allied recovery teams in the postwar period have often been slow to return valuable masterpieces to descendants of the original owners. And thorny legal issues arise when disputed objects come into the possession of third parties who wish to establish clear title.
  
  The 15 cases detailed in Lost Lives, Lost Art are among the most contentious in the field of Holocaust art restitution. All have been subject to extensive litigation, and some proceedings remain active. Melissa Müller, a historian of the Holocaust, and Monika Tatzkow, an authority on art restitution, provide a spirited history of the people and collections behind these cases. They offer a clear and unequivocal rationale for why hundreds of disputed objects should be returned to specific individuals, forcefully arguing the plaintiffs’ brief in the court of public opinion. As such, this book is a powerful and persuasive piece of advocacy journalism.
  
  But serious scholars may well deem it a missed opportunity. Vast amounts of useful and interesting information can be found here, but only very broad sources are cited--“Central Bavarian State Archive, Munich,” or “City Archive, Amsterdam.” Few references tie any facts mentioned in the text to the particular archival documents or other source materials from which they derive. In consequence, the book is of negligible value as a guide for further research.
  
  The authors are at their best dealing with cases in which the main legal issues are no longer in dispute, such as the Goudstikker matter, in which the heirs of Amsterdam art dealer Jacques Goudstikker negotiated the return of 200 pictures from the Dutch government in 2005--some 65 years after Hermann Goering’s agents unlawfully acquired them. The Goudstikker section is particularly valuable because it is co-written by the Dutch journalist Pieter den Hollander, author of De zaak Goudstikker (1998), the influential, but never translated, Dutch-language book that set into motion the family’s successful restitution claim.
  
  With its measured tone, thoughtful arguments, and impeccably documented research, Den Hollander’s book could have provided a worthy model for the present volume. Unfortunately Müller and Tatzkow too often oversimplify the weighty questions of law and jurisprudence that complicate many restitution cases while dwelling on personalities and side issues. The book is handsomely produced with full-color reproductions of artworks and numerous historical photographs, but the lavish design aesthetic seems too heavily influenced by high-end fashion magazines and is wildly at odds with the sober subject matter under discussion.
  
• 
  Deb Oestreicher

  This book is beautifully produced, packed with historical photographs and images of artworks as well as well-written accounts of several families whose art was confiscated, lost, or sold for far less than its actual value as a result of Nazi persecution. Most of these accounts are quite sad, but also fascinating as they manage to recreate a world that has been lost.
  
  The book also provides an understanding of the legal issues around restitution and makes you think differently about museums, which behaved pretty badly in the postwar period.
• 
  Barbara

  Excellent book. Full review will follow.
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  Susan Tan

  Very dry detailed history book on the ultra-rich Jewish families of Austria & Germany during Nazi occupation and how they lost their art. This is a book about the concentrations camps from the POV of art theft & art collectors and their descendants who want to claim lost Nazi-looted art from art museums.
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  Nicole Brinkmann

  Beautiful collection of heart-breaking stories that leave you aching for justice and mourning how the Holocaust not only murdered millions of people but destroyed huge parts of central and eastern European culture.
• 
  Donna

  A beautiful book!!
• 
  Lynne Emmett

  A beautiful book on an ugly subject.
• 
  Ritja

  Ein sehr gutes Buch über die Enteignung von jüdischen Menschen während der NS-Zeit. Anhand von bekannten und unbekannten Biographien zeigen die Autoren die teilweise brutale Vorgehensweise der Nazis bei der "Jagd" nach entarteter Kunst bzw. bei der Enteignung der Juden. Die jüdischen Kaufleute, Künstler usw. hatten kaum eine Chance ihre Gemälde, Bilder und Skizzen zu verstecken oder außer Landes zu bringen. Oft wurden sie bei Freunden untergestellt oder mussten weit unter Wert verkauft werden. Erst nach 1945 konnten sich die Überlebenden auf die Suche nach ihrem Eigentum machen und nicht selten sind sie dabei gescheitert. In zähen und langwierigen Prozessen konnten sie sich einen Bruchteil zurückholen. Das Buch zeigt deutlich, dass die Rückgabe von Raubgut noch lange nicht abgeschlossen ist und viele Bilder, Gemaälde & Co. wohl für immer verschwunden bleiben werden. Für die Nachkommen wird es schwer werden den Besitz zu beweisen bzw. zu belegen, denn welcher Flüchtling nimmt Kaufbelege und Quittungen mit, wenn es um sein nacktes Uberleben geht? Die Biographien sind interessant und gut recherchiert. Das Bildmaterial ist sehr gut und bringt dem Leser die Familien und deren Schicksal noch ein Stück näher. Lebendige Geschichte, die sehr empfehlenswert ist.
• 
  Sandy

  Interesting book about owners of much of the lost art....some of the people mentioned are well know but many were not familiar to me. Also wish more pictures of the lost and stolen art could have been included....
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  Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides

  Just the foreword and introduction were enough to make me want to cry and feel sick. Not because they were gory or anything, but because it's upsetting to think about people being willing to be accessories after the fact in this way. Because these days art is big money and big business.
• 
  Margarita

  This is a series of 15 biographies - well written and researched - outlining the loss of art collections during the Second World War along with the challenges of retrieving them. The use of images of the families and lost art helps to personalize the reading experience.
• 
  Janette

  Maybe 2 1/2 stars...interesting.