Directed by Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen and Nicole Newnham. (STC) 117 min. Jan 25-31 at the Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor W.
Though much has been revealed about the Nazis’ campaign to eradicate what they deemed “degenerate art,” the lesser-known story of what they did with the art they actually appreciated is arguably more fascinating. A straightforward doc based on the 1994 book by Lynn H. Nicholas, The Rape of Europa recounts the Third Reich’s almost unfathomably elaborate scheme to seize Europe’s greatest art treasures (often from Jewish collectors), ship them back to the Fatherland and ready them for new homes like the museum Hitler planned for Linz. Though quick-thinking employees of the Louvre and the Hermitage successfully smuggled collections out of harm’s way, works by Da Vinci, Vermeer, Klimt and nearly every other master you could cite — along with the contents of plundered synagogues — ended up hidden in Germany.
Equally startling is the story of how American liberators strived to protect these holdings from further damage and return them to rightful owners. That so many prized artifacts of Western culture survived the devastation is due to the actions of these “Monuments Men,” and with a nickname like that, it’s no wonder one of The Rape of Europa’s producers is working on a feature-film version of their story. Unfortunately, more recent reports of what a later generation of American liberators allowed to happen to Baghdad’s collections suggests that we should not expect any more art-historical rescue missions should the need arise again.