The Rape of Europa

The Rape of Europa examines the artistic tastes of Adolf Hitler as well as his fellow advisers, and how they looted art from many of Europe's most treasured museums and prized art collections during the course of World War II. The Nazis looted the art in order for them to gather an immensely expansive collection of the finest art in all of Europe. They collected the art for a grand museum that was to be built in Nazi Germany, which would have held some of the most significant art in the world. This would have added much glory to the Third Reich due to Hitler's obsession with fine art. Hitler cherished and collected much art from all around Europe, however, there was much art which Hitler completely destroyed because he viewed some specific art as "degenerate". This meaning that Hitler had absolutely no appreciation for "degenerate" art, art which was not German or of Jewish nature. Hitler, also did not appreciate modern art, he was more into art that had aspects of racial purity, militarism, and obedience. During the time if the Third Reich, art was either being collected or brutally destroyed by the Nazis. In 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, the majority of art in parts of Poland such as Warsaw, were thought of as "degenerate" and were destroyed by the Nazis.When news began to spread of how the Nazis were looting art from all around Europe, a few countries such as France prepared for what was to come. Members of  the Louvre, which is a grand museum located in Paris decided that it was best to put all of the priceless works of art into storage and ship them off to the countryside in France. This was an extremely difficult task to accomplish due to how delicate the works of art are. When putting the art into storage, the individuals who helped out had to be very careful with all the art in order to make sure they did not harm or break the art. When art was shipped out by either a plane, train, or automobile, it was taken to the countryside where it would remain in hiding for the duration of World War II. One piece specifically that was more difficult to move was the Winged Victory. This Greek sculpture was difficult to move due to its size, delicacy, and its location in the Louvre. The statue overlooks a set of stairs which made it hard for the Winged Victory to be moved into storage. When the Nazis reached Paris in 1940 they were surprised to find no art contained within the Louvre, however they did not destroy and vandalize Paris as they did to Warsaw. The Nazis appreciated the city of Paris and did not consider it to be degenerate. Other issues have come out into the light in the years since this all happened. For example, many works of art that belong to their rightful owners have not been found, or are in museums around the world. Works of art confiscated by the Nazis are still being searched for today and rightful owners of art in museums are battling for possession of the art. Just recently, more than 1400 works of art were found in a flat in Munich, Germany. This only goes to show that more works of art stolen by the Nazis are somewhere out there and will hopefully soon be found and returned to their owners. Approximately 20% of the art in Europe was looted by the Nazis, and there are well over 100,000 items still missing today. The majority of what is missing today includes china, crystal, and silver. The most interesting part about all of this is how Adolf Hitler's views on art so significantly influenced his actions during World War II. If Hitler had been accepted into the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and perused a career in art rather than in politics/military, the world today would be a different place.