America and the return of Nazi contraband : the recovery of Europe's cultural treasures / Michael J. Kurtz.

Originally published: 2006.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I. Crisis and Response: 1. Looting and restitution; 2. Nazi looting: the war against European culture, 1933-1945; 3. Preservers and restorers; 4. Wartime frustrations: great power diplomacy; Part II. First Efforts: 5. Restitution imbroglio: the American dilemma in the first six months of occupation; 6. The allies agree on restitution; Part III. America Leads: 7. Cultural restitution in the American zone, 1946-1949; 8. A special concern: the Jewish inheritance; Part IV. Cold War and Beyond: 9. Conflict and cooperation: the politics of restitution in the Cold War; 10. Restitution at home: the American scene; 11. Renewed ferment: restitution in the post Cold War era; 12. Past, present, and future: an evaluation.

The Nazi war on European culture produced the greatest dislocation of art, archives, and libraries in the history of the world. In the ruins of the Reich, Allied occupiers found millions of paintings, books, manuscripts, and pieces of sculpture, from the mediocre to the priceless, hidden in thousands of secret hideaways. This book tells the story of how the American military government in Germany, spearheaded by a few dozen dedicated Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives officers and enlisted men, coped with restoring Europe's cultural heritage. Caught up in often bitter diplomatic wrangling during and after the war, the American restitution effort struggled to uncover what the Nazis had hidden and to equitably return all that was found. Based on the pioneering study of cultural restitution first published in 1985, America and the Return of Nazi Contraband presents new insights into how the American government and Jewish organizations managed the painfully difficult problem of heirless Jewish cultural property.