Preview | Plunderer: The Life and Times of a Nazi Art Thief (Part Two)
Preview: Season 22 Episode 6 | 32sVideo has Closed Captions
Historian Jonathan Petropoulos investigates the post-war life of former Nazi art dealer Bruno Lohse.
Historian Jonathan Petropoulos investigates former Nazi art dealer Bruno Lohse’s role in post-war America. Lohse established relationships with curators at some of the nation’s most important cultural institutions and became an invisible hand, dealing in looted art – even as the families of the original owners pursued the restitution of works rightfully theirs.
SECRETS OF THE DEAD is made possible, in part, by public television viewers.
Preview | Plunderer: The Life and Times of a Nazi Art Thief (Part Two)
Preview: Season 22 Episode 6 | 32sVideo has Closed Captions
Historian Jonathan Petropoulos investigates former Nazi art dealer Bruno Lohse’s role in post-war America. Lohse established relationships with curators at some of the nation’s most important cultural institutions and became an invisible hand, dealing in looted art – even as the families of the original owners pursued the restitution of works rightfully theirs.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- On "Secrets of the Dead"... - At war's end, Bruno Lohse is a former Nazi, he's an art plunderer -- but he was acquitted.
- And he was free to do what he wanted.
- He knows that to revive his career, he needs to go to America.
The museum world just explodes.
They need works to exhibit.
- There was too much money to be made, and there were no consequences.
- If Lohse's life is indicative of anything, it's that the crime of plunder pays for itself.
[propulsive music]
The Gutmann Family’s Tragic Loss
Video has Closed Captions
Simon Goodman recounts the story of his grandparents’ tragic deception by Nazi forces. (4m 58s)
How Americans Profited Off Looted Art
Video has Closed Captions
With the explosion of American museums in the 1950s, provenance took a backseat. (1m 46s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
SECRETS OF THE DEAD is made possible, in part, by public television viewers.