Living in a North America, we have been very fortunate not to fight in a war on own soil, the situation is different in Europe where 2 world wars were fought. In each war, the place of battle and use of technology changed. Prior to the World Wars most wars were fought in the country, the change brought the war to the city. Within the cities, particularly wealthier ones is art. Some of the art was in private hands and others the art viewed by the public. If you grow up around it, you will begin to treasurer the art which is in your community either outside or in the galleries. The art in the public galleries is not for sale and is considered to be priceless by the community, what happens during war? In a book called The Rape of Europa by Lynn Nicholas published by Vintage Books, NY, 1995.

We each have a perspective of the Germany at the time of the Hitler and Nazi Party, but few books deal with their attitudes and actions towards art or at least expensive art. There were two aspects to their attitude – one Hitler wanted to established great buildings to showcase Germanic art and the development over the years; the second one concerned people they thought of less than them. They were opportunity seekers lead by Goering who first decorated his home in Carinhall and sold some to pay for the war efforts. The first group as shown by Mrs. Nicholas that researchers were sent to countries around Europe to identify which art was where and where it would go when it came back to Germany (after invasion).

The second group lead by Goering, as the Jewish population was put in ghettos, the homes which had art was taken, if it was valuable went through the process of Goering, second to German galleries and museums and then to storage areas. If the artist was Jewish it was labeled as decadent and generally went to storage. If it was expensive and owned by a Jewish family, then it was not decadent, but enriched the lives of Goering and museums.

The Germans used the same system in each country it invaded. First they sent in researchers to locate and catalogue the art, particularly if it was related to German roots. The country would invade and take the art (it was an interesting use of manpower or extreme confidence that people would not fight back or in the losses would not be great).

In each country which was invaded, people had to find ways to protect and hide the art till their country was free again.There are many wonderful stories of how people protected the art in the community.

After the war ended the operation to bring back the art to the owners has been a long one which was not the first priority of the victors. The victors first priority was to feed and cloth Europe. Art was a secondary concern, but to many countries represented different things to the people of the country and rallies for support could be done.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the markets did not operate in wartime, which means it was very hard to sell, fortunately for many people in North America that is not our first concern. In time of war, having access to readily saleable items was important to flee and to start again. At the present time,  many stocks are listed on different exchanges and there is greater protection than in the past.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions