Michael J. Kurtz, Assistant Archivist for Records Services at the National Archives, will discuss the topic “America and the Return of Nazi Contraband: The Recovery of Europe’s Cultural Treasures.” In the ruins of Hitler’s Third Reich, Allied occupiers found millions of paintings, books, manuscripts, and pieces of sculpture hidden in thousands of secret hideaways. Kurtz’s lecture will explore how the American Military Government in Germany, spearheaded by a few dozen dedicated Fine Arts, Monuments, and Archives officers and enlisted men, coped with restoring Europe’s cultural heritage. Caught up in often bitter diplomatic wrangling during and after the war, the Americans struggled to unearth and return what the Nazis had hidden.
The speaker was introduced by Professor Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, National Archives and Records Administration.
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