by Susan Ronald
Neumann, J. B.
Die Neunte Elfte. See putsch of November 9
Neumann-Nierendorf Gallery
New Art Circle (NY)
New Objectivity art
New Secession
Nierendorf, Karl
Nietzsche
Night of the Long Knives
Nolde, Emil
Nordau, Max
Notgeld (emergency money)
Novembergruppe
NSDAP (German abbreviation for the Nazi Party, National Socialist German Workers’ Party). See also Nazi Party
Nuremberg Laws
Nuremberg Trials
OAP. See Office of Alien Property, US
Oberbürgermeister (lord mayor)
objects of value. See Fluchtgut
Oertel, Robert
of an alien people. See fremdvölkisch
Office of Alien Property, US (OAP)
Office of Strategic Services. See OSS
OMGUS (Office of the Military Government of the United States)
“On the Concept of the Nation” (Bauch)
Operation Gericht
Organization Consul. See Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund
OSS. See also ALIU
Osthaus, Karl Ernst
Ostwanderer (Eastern European immigrants)
Ottoman Empire
Pabst, Waldemar
Pan-German League. See Alldeutscher Verband
Pan-German nationalism
Papen, Franz von
paramilitary groups. See Freikorps
Paris
art collections seized in
art scene
art trade booming in
auctions resume in
liberation of
Nazi treat art differently in
Viau auction in
Pechstein, Max
Penfield, Frederic C.
Pétain, Henri
Pevsner, Nikolaus
Picasso, Pablo
picture gallery/art museum. See Gemäldegalerie
Pinder, Wilhelm
Plaut, James S.
Plutarch
Poincaré, Raymond
Poland
Pölnitz, Gerhard von
Pommer, Erich
Popov, Blagoi
Port of New York Authority
Portrait du père de l’artiste
Posse, Hans
Austrian art plundering
death of
as director Sonderauftrag Linz
profiteers. See Raffkes
prohibition to paint. See Malverbot
Project Safehaven
propaganda. See also RMVP
art as
effectiveness of
Flamenpolitik as
Monuments Men (German) for
Propagandaministerium. See RMVP
Prussians
putsch of November 9
of racial mixture. See Mischling
racism in art
Rae, Edwin
Raffkes (profiteers)
Rave, Paul Ortwin
RBK (Reichskammer der Bildenden Künste)
rearmament through art
Reemtsma, Philipp
regional art association. See Kunstverein
regional Nazi Party leader. See Gauleiter
Reich Chamber for the Visual Arts. See RBK
Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. See RMVP
Reichskammer der Bildenden Künste (RBK) (Reich Chamber for the Visual Arts). See RBK
Reichskulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture). See RKK
Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda (Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda). See RMVP
Reichstag
burning of
elections for
Nazi control of
Potsdam reopening of
Reichsverband Bildender Künstler (Federal Association of Artists)
Reichswehr (National Defense Force)
Reimer, Gottfried
Remarque, Erich Maria
Rentenmark (anti-inflation currency)
Ribbentrop, Joachim von
Ring, Grete
RKK (Reichskulturkammer)
RMVP (Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda)
Rochlitz, Gustav
Röhm, Ernst
Roosevelt, Franklin
Roosevelt, Teddy
Rosenberg, Alfred
Rosenberg, Paul
collection of
as Flechtheim associate
Rosterg, August
Rothschild family
Rousseau, Theodore Jr.
Ruhr Red Army (Rote Soldatenbund)
Ruhr region
Ruins by the Sea (Guardi)
Russia. See also Soviet Union (USSR)
aggression of
arms spending of
Bolshevism in
as cause of German woes
Constantinople quest of
Czar Nicolas II of
failed revolution of
Franco-Russian alliance of
in Great War
Japan peace with
“the curse of God” on
Wilhelm II hostile to
Rust, Bernhard
SA. See Sturmabteilung
Sachlichkeit (fresh objectivity)
Sachs, Paul
Schacht, Hjalmar
as currency commissar
as Hitler Economic Minister
Schardt, Alois
Schiele, Egon
Schiller, Friedrich
Schleicher, Kurt von
Schlemmer, Oskar
Schlieffen, Alfred von
Schloss Collection theft
Schloss Niederschönhausen
Schmidt, Justus
Schmidt-Rottluff, Karl
Schnitzler, Georg von
Scholz, Robert
Schönerer, Georg von
Schopenhauer, Arthur
Schulte, Alfred E.
Schweizerische Verrechnungsstelle (SVSt). See SVSt trust
Searle, Jonathan
Second World War. See WWII
Seeckt, Hans von
Seisser, Hans Ritter von
Shakespeare, William
socialism
Sonderauftrag (Special Commission)
Sonderauftrag Linz (Special Project for Linz)
art market domination of
as focus of ALIU
Führerbau storing art for
Haberstock named Posse for
as Hildebrand customer
safety for treasures of
war crimes of
South America
Soviet Union (USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)
Germans loathed by
London Declaration with
Nazi invasion of
Stalin of
Weimar treaty with
Special Commission. See Sonderauftrag
Special Project for Linz. See Sonderauftrag Linz
Speer, Albert
with Hildebrand
as Nazi party member
“stab in the back.” See Dolchstoss
Stinnes, Hugo
Stoetzel, Markus
storm troopers. See Sturmabteilung
Strasser, Gregor
Strasser, Otto
Sturmabteilung (SA, storm troopers, brownshirts)
Sühneleistung (atonement tax)
SVSt trust
swastika
Switzerland
as art trade center
banking privacy in
fondation hides identity in
Gurlitt vault in
as Nazi art refuge
SVSt trust eased art trade in
Tanev, Vasil
Thoma, Hans
Thoreau, Henry David
Thyssen, August
Thyssen, Fritz
Thyssen conglomerate
Tirpitz (admiral)
Tittmann, Fritz
Toleration Regulations
Torgler, Ernst
Trading with the Enemy Act
Treaty of Versailles
Triple Alliance
Truman, Harry
Tschudi, Hugo von
Two Riders on the Beach
Friedmann tragedy of
Liebermann tragedy of
United Kingdom (UK). See Great Britain
United States
FBI of
Great War entry of
Hildebrand suspected by
interest conflicts in
McKinley
not linking art theft and genocide
Office of Alien Property
OMGUS
targeting Nazi genocide and slave labor
WWII entry of
Urbach, Mel
Utikal, Gerhard
Valentin, Curt
Buchholz NY by
as enemy alien
as first-degree Mischling
at Fischer Auction
as Flechtheim associate
Nazi authorization papers of
Valland, Rose
as French Monuments Woman
inventorying stolen French art
van den Bruck, Moeller
van der Lubbe, Marinus
Versailles. See Treaty of Versailles
Viau Paris auction
mystery of
Vichy France
Vienna
art collections seized in
as diverse metropolis
Hitler learning despotic craft in
as loathed by Hitler
Lueger as mayor
“Mahdi’s Tomb” in
Mühlmann rape of
Vlug, Jean
Voegler, Albert
Volk; völkisch (people; of the people (folk) or folkloric)
Völkischer Beobachter
Volksvermögen (folk wealth)
Vömel, Alex
as Flechtheim manager
Voss, Hermann
as Allies set free
as Hildebrand facilitator
refuge intent of
as replacing Posse at Linz
syncing alibi with Hildebrand
Waetzold, Wilhelm
Waldecker, Willi
as adulterer with Gurlitt, A.
as assistant to Fritz
Wandervögel (the wandering birds)
war guilt, sole. See Alleinschulde
Washington Principles
Weber, Walter
Wehrverein (Defense League)
Weill, Kurt
Weimar Republic
as degenerate to Hitler
elections in
Enabling Act end of
Expressionist antidote for
Hitler likes plight of
moral decline in
as “November criminals”
Raffkes in
Reichswehr beyond control of
Soviet treaty of
upheaval in
Weltanschauung (worldview, but has come to mean the Nazi worldview)
Wendland, Hans
Westerdahl, Eduardo
Wiene, Robert
Wigman, Mary
Wilhelm II (kaiser)
as anti-French and Russian aggression
Bismarck sacked by
empire envy of
exile of
expansion plans of
of German Empire
Tschudi exiled by
Wilson, Woodrow
Wolff-Metternich, Franz
world view. See Weltanschauung
World War I. See Great War
World War II (WWII)
art hidden away in
German control of Europe
Hitler death end of
Nazi invasions in
Polish invasion start of
Yad Vashem Holocaust museum
young style. See Jugendstil
Zuckmeyer, Carl
Zurich, Switzerland
Zwickau
Hildebrand and Cornelia circa 1917
Marie Gerlach Gurlitt as a young woman
Cornelius Gurlitt Senior in full regalia
The three Gurlitt siblings circa 1917. From left to right: Hildebrand, Cornelia, and Wilibald.
The Kaitzer Strasse home in Dresden, where Hildebrand grew up
Kaitzer Strasse home in Dresden today. The original Gurlitt home was firebombed on the night of February 13, 1945. This apartment building was built in its place in the 1960s.
External view of Schloss Niederschönhausen, where “degenerate” art was stored awaiting sale to foreign buyers
Looted artworks at Schloss Niederschönhausen with works by Delaunay, Chagall, Ensor, Picasso, and van Gogh
Original March 1944 invoice approved for export, signed by Hermsen and with the official stamp
The same invoice, but doctored with paintings substituted, amounts changed, and without the official stamp
Castle Aschbach front entrance at the end of the war. It remains substantially unchanged today.
Castle Aschbach dining room interior at the end of the war
Kurt Kirchbach’s Jurid-Werke factory shortly after the war, rebranded “Cosid.” Kirchbach abandoned the factory, fleeing to Switzerland at the end of the war, before resettling in Düsseldorf in the early 1950s.
Assembly line interior of Kirchbach’s Jurid-Werke factory during the Nazi era. Kirchbach manufactured all German brake linings during the Great War.
Völkischer Beobachter, Nazi party newspaper—“Historic Day for German Art”
Cornelius Gurlitt’s Salzburg home. The only other semi-derelict property in the area is directly opposite. Did Cornelius own both?
Exterior of Hôtel Drouot today, Paris
Dorotheum auction house, Vienna
This painting was looted from Alfred Flechtheim by Hildebrand Gurlitt. When it sold at auction, the Gurlitt mystery began to unravel.
A Monuments woman researching art provenance in Altaussee salt mine
Max Liebermann painting Two Riders on the Beach as shown in the news conference in November 2013; it once belonged to David Friedmann and is the second painting to be restored from the Gurlitt art hoard.
Hildebrand’s cousin, Wolfgang Gurlitt, painted by Lovis Corinth. Wolfgang, too, was an unscrupulous looter but he never signed his letters “Heil Hitler!” unlike Hildebrand.
Aequi Mountains 1856 by Louis Gurlitt (1812–1897), on display at the Lentos Museum, Linz. It is one of the few reminders of the museum’s associations with Wolfgang.
Cornelius Gurlitt attempting to go grocery shopping in 2013. The revelations of his father’s role in the Nazi looting shocked him.
Cornelius Gurlitt’s now notorious fifth-floor Munich apartment, where the world’s press camped out in November/December 2013
Nazi propaganda against Jewish artists and art dealers “In the shadow of Jehovah”
One of the areas where art was stored at Altaussee—two kilometers underground
Painting of Alfred Flechtheim by Otto Dix, Nationalgalerie, Berlin. Flechtheim became Hitler’s symbol of the hated Jew.
Hildebrand Gurlitt in Zwickau, 1930, during his only period as a museum director (1925–1930)
Henri Matisse’s painting The Open Window, now called Figure with a Fan, which once belonged to Paul Rosenberg, and is the first painting to be restored to the rightful heirs
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in the United States, SUSAN RONALD has lived in England for more than twenty-five years. She has consulted for five British government departments and the National Trust, and in addition of Hitler’s Art Thief, she is the author of Heretic Queen: Queen Elizabeth I and the Wars of Religion; Shakespeare’s Daughter, a novel; The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Europe; The Sancy Blood Diamond: Power, Greed, and the Cursed History of One of the World’s Most Coveted Gems; and France: Crossroads of Europe. She also owns a film-production company and is a screenwriter and film producer.
VISIT HER WE
B SITE AT WWW.SUSANRONALD.COM. Or sign up for email updates here.
ALSO BY SUSAN RONALD
Shakespeare’s Daughter (A NOVEL)
Heretic Queen: Queen Elizabeth I and the Wars of Religion
The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire
The Sancy Blood Diamond: Power, Greed, and the Cursed History of One of the World’s Most Coveted Gems
France: The Crossroads of Europe (AS SUSAN BALERDI)
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
On Names and Acronyms
Prologue
PART I • THE UNMAKING OF THE MAN
1. New York, May 1944
2. At the Beginning—Germany, 1907
3. From The Hague to Vienna
4. Cause and Effect
5. War
6. Gurlitt’s Struggle
7. Peace
8. Aftermath
9. Weimar Trembles
PART II • ART AND POLITICS
10. Rebels with a Cause
11. Hopes and Dreams
12. From New York to Zwickau
13. The Mysterious Mr. Kirchbach
14. The Root of Evil
15. Chameleons and Crickets
16. The First Stolen Lives
PART III • WORLD WAR AND WILDERNESS
17. Chambers of Horrors
18. The Four Horsemen
19. Tradecraft
20. The Treasure Houses
21. The Posse Years
22. Swallowing the Treasure
23. Viau
24. King Raffke
25. Quick, the Allies Are Coming!
