S4 Ep38: The Nazi Plunder of World War II

Crimes of the Centuries

Amber Hunt and Audioboom

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2024

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We all know Adolph Hitler as a mediocre artist-turned-genocidal dictator, but did you know that he pulled off the greatest art heist the world has ever seen? As World War II unfolded across Europe, Hitler directed his Nazis to steal countless masterpieces from every country they traversed. He kept his favorites, while others were hidden in castles and salt mines to be unearthed after the war ended. Many of the pieces have never been recovered.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK! Order today atwww.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)!

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Episode Sponsors:

Smalls. Head to Smalls.com/COTC use promo code COTC at checkout for 50% off your first order PLUS free shipping! That’s the best offer you’ll find but you HAVE to use my code,COTC, for 50% off your first order.

Miracle Made. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF. TryMiracle.com/COTC

Wildgrain. Wildgrain is offering our listeners $30 off the first box-PLUS a free item in everybox-when you go to Wildgrain.com/COTC

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Some crimes are so heartbreaking or shocking that they change laws, change society, or even
0:13.2	earn the label Crime of the Century. But the stories that made headlines in decades past
0:20.2	aren't necessarily remembered today.
0:23.4	I'm Amber Hunt, a journalist and author, and in each episode of this show, I'll examine a case that's maybe lesser known today, but was huge when it happened.
0:34.6	This is Crimes of the Centuries.
1:05.1	Music This is Crimes of the Centuries. This is Crimes of the Centuries. Adolf Hitler hated modern art.
1:11.6	At 18, he thought he'd set those idiots straight when he was admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna,
1:15.9	where some of those degenerate artists were doing that ridiculous work.
1:20.5	You know, show them that their colors weren't right, or their proportions were off, or they had to stop tinkering with images of what was real, and what the hell was cubism anyway.
1:30.9	He hated all of those experimental artists,
1:40.4	Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Wesley Kandinsky. Why would anyone think that non-representational scribbling counted as art? He'd prefer they paint houses, better use of the paint in any case,
1:46.4	than slopping it on canvases and calling them paintings that he said, quote,
1:51.1	cannot be understood in themselves but need some pretentious instruction book to justify their
1:57.0	existence, end quote. But he was rejected by the Art Academy and turned to politics instead.
2:09.6	His histrionics and his jingoistic racism worked to change Germany and, by 1933, he could get his revenge on everyone he
2:20.6	wanted. Because that's what weak, petty, disgusting people do when they get in positions of power,
2:27.0	they plot revenge. The New Age of Art, those painters whom the Academy deemed worthy while he was not, they would more
2:35.7	than have their turn being ravaged by him.
2:39.7	He openly and repeatedly called abstract art insane.
2:44.2	Most everything modern he termed subversive from a documentary called Raiders of the Lost
2:50.4	Art. Modern art was declared aniders of the Lost Art.
2:50.9	Modern art was declared an enemy of the state and culminated in the Antarctica Kunst or so-called degenerate art exhibition of 1937.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -109 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Amber Hunt and Audioboom, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Amber Hunt and Audioboom and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.