Plunder and Survival: Stories of Theft, Loss, Recovery, and Migration of Nazi Uprooted Art

Suzanne Loebl

Book cover for Plunder and Survival: Stories of Theft, Loss, Recovery, and Migration of Nazi Uprooted Art
Image for variant 9781538194225
Book cover for Plunder and Survival: Stories of Theft, Loss, Recovery, and Migration of Nazi Uprooted Art
Image for variant 9781538194225

Plunder and Survival: Stories of Theft, Loss, Recovery, and Migration of Nazi Uprooted Art

Plunder and Survival: Stories of Theft, Loss, Recovery, and Migration of Nazi Uprooted Art

Suzanne Loebl

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Description

Written by a Holocaust survivor whose family collected art, Plunder and Survival tells the stories of principal figures, events, and artworks that contribute to the intricate story of the ruthless Nazi attack on modern art and the art world's subsequent repositioning in America.
Each chapter focuses on a selection of artworks, the individuals who owned or acquired them, and those who decided their fate. Since the book spotlights Hitler's crusade against "degenerate" art, readers will encounter many Expressionist works, but they will also find old masters stolen by the Nazis and later restituted.
The author has also added a personal element to the text, incorporating autobiographical anecdotes on relatives' special relationships to art, their voyage from Germany to America, and the fate of their collections.
Illustrations appear throughout the book, and following the main text, two appendices offer a listing of 100 Nazi-stolen artworks currently housed in U.S. museums and capsule biographies of people discussed in the book.

About the Author

Suzanne Loebl is the author of fourteen books, most recently America's Medicis: The Rockefellers and Their Astonishing Cultural Legacy. She was born into an art-collecting family in Germany and escaped the Nazis as a teenager by hiding in Belgium. Her other books include America's Art Museums: A Traveler's Guide to Great Collections Large and Small and a memoir on her experience during World War II, At the Mercy of Strangers: Growing Up on the Edge of the Holocaust. In 2012, Loebl received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. She splits her time between New York and Maine.

Abigail Wilentz has developed books on art, design, photography, fashion, lifestyle, and other topics as an editor at Universe Publishing, a division of Rizzoli International Publications, at Watson-Guptill Publications, and independently with agents and authors. She has written several books commissioned by publishers and directed a custom publishing line for the luxury fashion brand Brioni. She lives in Manhattan with her husband.

Critical Reviews

"A work that stands out from the immense and ever-growing shelf of World War II literature. . . . A rich portrait of the fate of art-and artists-in the shadow of Hitler." --Kirkus Reviews

"As a Holo-caust sur-vivor, Loebl's writ-ing dis-plays a deep degree of sen-si-tiv-i-ty and lev-el of poignan-cy. Read-ers are swept along as the author shares what hap-pened, paint-ing by paint-ing, start-ing with the theft and then look-ing at a great many of the pieces that were recov-ered and restored to their right-ful owners. . . . The writ-ing is crisp through-out, and each seg-ment about a piece of art brings us deft-ly into the next one." --Jewish Book Council

"Loebl has produced an in-depth art-historical examination of a dark time for European culture. Plunder and Survival represents a significant addition to our understanding of how and why the rapacious Nazis sought to erase art and artists they didn't like." --Art New England

"A unique and extraordinary contribution to the growing library of Holocaust related histories and accounts . . . An informative, engaging, and simply fascinating read from start to finish." --Midwest Book Review

"Suzanne Loebl weaves her own fascinating and unique family history into a narrative that is as compelling as it is detailed. Plunder & Survival is a must-read and will undoubtedly change the way we look at the art looted by the Nazi regime." --June Beallor, Founding Executive Director, USC Shoah Foundation Oscar(R), Emmy(R), and Peabody Award-winning Filmmaker

Publishing Information

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Pub date: 2025-10-16
Length: 240 pages

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