Lost And Found
A new book tells of the Nazis' methodical
pillaging of French art.
LYNNE MEREDITH COHN STAFF WRITER
I
n a way, it is Hector Feliciano's
personal story.
A Sephardic Jew who is half
French, half Puerto Rican, Mr.
Feliciano gave a lecture May 15
at Cranbrook's Art Museum on
his book The Lost Museum. He be-
gan his research with a little
timidity — which abated when he
saw how willing the French were
to speak to him.
Between 1939 and 1944, as the
Nazis took over most of Europe,
they stole priceless pieces of art
found in galleries and collections
owned by Jews. Works by Ver-
meer, Rembrandt, Degas,
Cezanne and Picasso disappeared
into the Nazi system, some never
to be seen again.
The Nazis took more than
20,000 paintings, sculptures and
drawings from France. The art
was catalogued, photographed
and shipped to Germany, some-
times with the help of friends and
servants of the families from
whom the art was taken.
The best, most valuable pieces
were destined for an art museum
that Hitler planned to create in
Austria, as well as for the private
collections of Hitler, Goering and
other Nazi officials.
About eight years ago, Mr. Fe-
liciano "learned that about 20 per-
cent of the looted art was still
missing. Twenty percent — thou-
sands of pieces. I started asking
questions [and learned that] no
one had gone to see the families"
from whom the art was taken.
In a dozen years, "as many
works of art were displaced, trans-
ported and stolen as during the
entire Thirty Years War or all the
Napoleonic wars," he says.
Mr. Feliciano has a degree in
art history and another in jour-
nalism, and has worked for the
Washington Post, the Los Angeles
Times and the New York Times.
The book debuted a year ago in
Europe, creating a lot of debate.
Mr. Feliciano does not have per-
sonal ties to the Holocaust, other
than his mother's Jewish heritage.
"[But]," he says, "I really wanted
to know how the looting happened
and where the paintings are to-
day."
The nearly 300 pages of The
Lost Museum are extremely read-
able, written in a nonfiction style
with a hint of mystery and drama.
In Part II, "Anatomy of a Pillage,"
Mr. Feliciano looks closely at the
looting of art from the Rothschild
empire, the Paul Rosenberg
Gallery, the Bernheim-Jeune Col-
lection, David David-Weill and the
Schloss Collection.
Mr. Feliciano explains how
Hitler rationalized his desire for
the works of great artistic masters
who had close ties to Jews, or in-
cluded Jews in their art. "Hitler
was preoccupied with "Rem-
brandt's `Germanness' and racial
purity ... He was doubtless aware
that the Dutch masterpieces so
dear to him were rich with refer-
ences to the Jewish world. [To
Hitler], if Rembrandt embodied
the Aryan ideal, his contact with
the Jewish world was incompat-
ible."
A portrait of Manasseh ben Is-
rael, a Dutch Jewish publisher
whom Rembrandt painted, today
hangs in the Israel Museum. And
biblical subjects abound in Rem-
brandt's works. Hitler knew of this
connection, Mr. Feliciano says.
Mr. Feliciano began writing on
the side, weekends and nights,
but after three years quit his full-
special moment
time job to complete the book.
He focused only on the art
stolen from France because, he
says, it was "the most looted
country in Western Europe."
One-third of French art was in
private hands, and many of the
owners were Jewish.
Despite Italy's magnificent
role spearheading the Renais-
sance, it was an ally of Ger-
many. The only looting that
HECTOR
FELICIANO
Hector Feliciano: Still searching.
took place from Italy's artistic cof-
fers occurred at the end of the
war, as the Nazis were leaving,
Mr. Feliciano says.
His research has changed how
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he views the Holocaust. Un-
derstanding Hitler's and Goer-
ing's affinity for art "makes [the
Holocaust] more complex ... It
would be easy to say [the Nazis]
hated art, hated everything,
and that's why the Holocaust
[happened]. But these people
were able to go to museums and
also created [death camps]."
People assume that those
who appreciate art rise to a high-
er intellectual level than that
which would allow violence and
tragedy, he says. "That's not al-
ways true: ❑
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