Nazi Plunder: Great Treasure Stories Of World War II [Paperback]

Kenneth D. Alford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

World War II was the most devastating conflict in human history, but the tragedy did not end on the battlefields. During the war, Germany--and, later, the Allies--plundered Europe's historic treasures. Between 1939 and 1945, German armed forces roamed from Dunkirk to Stalingrad, looting gold, silver, currency, paintings and other works of art, coins, religious artifacts, and millions of books and other documents. The value of these items, many of which were irreplaceable, is estimated in the billions of dollars. The artwork alone, looted under Hitler's direction, exceeded the combined collections of the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the Louvre. As the war wound to its conclusion in 1945, occupying forces continued the looting. The story of these celebrated works of art and other vanished treasures--and the mystery of where they went--is a remarkable tale of greed, fraud, deceit, and treachery. Kenneth Alford's Nazi Plunder is the latest word on this fascinating subject.

Editorial Reviews

Review

World War II was the most devastating conflict in human history, but the tragedy did not end on the battlefields. During the war, Germany--and, later, the Allies--plundered Europe's historic treasures. Between 1939 and 1945, German armed forces roamed from Dunkirk to Stalingrad, looting gold, silver, currency, paintings and other works of art, coins, religious artifacts, and millions of books and other documents. The value of these items, many of which were irreplaceable, is estimated in the billions of dollars. The artwork alone, looted under Hitler's direction, exceeded the combined collections of the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the Louvre. As the war wound to its conclusion in 1945, occupying forces continued the looting. The story of these celebrated works of art and other vanished treasures--and the mystery of where they went--is a remarkable tale of greed, fraud, deceit, and treachery, Kenneth Alford's Nazi Plunder is the latest word on this fascinating subject.

About the Author

Kenneth D. Alford has been researching archival material relating to the World War II lootings for over thirty years. He is a frequent consultant for television productions involving Nazi plunder, and his first book, Spoils of World War II, was the subject of a History Channel documentary. He lives in northern Virginia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030681241X
• ISBN-13: 978-0306812415
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #825,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Actually: American Plunder Of Nazi Plunder., November 9, 2006

By 

John P. Rooney "John" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nazi Plunder: Great Treasure Stories Of World War II (Paperback)

"Nazi Plunder: Great Treasure Stories Of World War II.

By Kenneth D. Alford. Da Capo Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2001.

Although the title of this book is "Nazi Plunder", most of the book is concerned with the American Army plundering all the Nazi loot that they ran across at the end of the war in Europe. As a conquering army and as an agent of the United States government, the American Army had the right and the duty to capture and hold the masses of gold, silver, jewels, painting and books that were scattered around the Third Reich in April/May 1945. But, as the author, Kenneth D. Alford, points out, there were many American soldiers, (officers and enlisted men) who were willing to pocket as much as they could of the captured Nazi loot. Alford tells engaging stories about golden reliquaries that were in Texas for half a century and later returned to the church in Germany and about Adolf Hitler's library which ended up in the Library of Congress in Washington. With the exception of the Russians and the "Amber Room", it seemed that all the looting had been done by Americans. What did the British, Canadian and French soldiers loot?

I found the book to lack continuity. The author announces a subject change by the simple expedient of placing a blank page in the book and then jumping from German War Art to "Fabulous Horses". Further, the book would benefit from more editing. On the same page, page 7, the author uses two different spellings for the town as (1) Frankfort and (2) Frankfurt. He does not tell you if it is Frankfurt Am Main or Frankfurt on Oder, but the context shows the town to be Am Main. On page 72, he calls Heinrich Himmler's home as "Haus Schmeewinkel". I would expect that the proper spelling is "Haus Schneewinkel". On page 123, he writes the "Unties States" instead of the United States.

When I was working on my MA thesis (History), my thesis advisor made me use an old-fashioned brown wooden ruler and go through the text line by line. Spell checker does not cut it. On page 187, the picture does not show a "...shape like a bishop's hat", but rather, a ... "shape like a bishop's mitre". In fact, many of the captions for the different photos just repeat the words found in the associated text.

For the great amount of research, four stars. For the lack of continuity of the story, one star. For the need for a more through editing, one star. Average: two stars.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nazi Plunder: Great Treasure Stories of World War II, January 29, 2007

By 

Susan (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nazi Plunder: Great Treasure Stories Of World War II (Paperback)

I agree completely with "John's" assessment of the book. I found the numerous grammatical and spelling errors to be quite distracting. One wonders if the author was this sloppy with the writing, did he also make mistakes with the historical facts?

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Treasure Stories is right on!, November 23, 2010

By 

Dorothy HALLA-POE (Chaska, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nazi Plunder: Great Treasure Stories Of World War II (Paperback)

This was just a great book. These really are great treasure stories of World War II. What a fascinating history of the plunder, and, often, the return of artifacts from Nazi Germany.

This is a great piece of history and it's just a really good book!