1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,533
-When the war breaks out 
in September 1939,

2
00:00:04,533 --> 00:00:08,233
Lohse is conscripted 
into the German Army,

3
00:00:08,900 --> 00:00:13,666
into an anti-tank unit preparing 
to go into the Soviet Union.

4
00:00:13,666 --> 00:00:15,733
♪

5
00:00:15,733 --> 00:00:20,033
Before the war, he was trying to 
find his way as an art dealer.

6
00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:22,600
He has a PhD in art history,

7
00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,266
which he was very proud of, 
right?

8
00:00:25,266 --> 00:00:27,300
So, he was always "Dr. Lohse."

9
00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:29,733
But, you know, 
when the war breaks out,

10
00:00:29,733 --> 00:00:31,866
he's really kind of a nobody 
in the art world.

11
00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,633
But then something 
extraordinary happens.

12
00:00:35,633 --> 00:00:38,566
He receives a call from Paris,

13
00:00:38,566 --> 00:00:42,100
and he is asked 
whether he wants to join

14
00:00:42,100 --> 00:00:44,800
a new and secret initiative.

15
00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:46,400
And he's not told 
very much about it,

16
00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,500
except that they need 
his skills as an art historian

17
00:00:49,733 --> 00:00:52,966
and that he will be 
working for a Nazi Party agency

18
00:00:52,966 --> 00:00:55,666
in Paris called the ERR.

19
00:00:57,066 --> 00:01:00,466
-So that's where the Lohse story 
basically officially starts.

20
00:01:00,466 --> 00:01:02,633
♪

21
00:01:02,633 --> 00:01:07,766
The ERR is one of the rarest 
forms of state organizations,

22
00:01:07,766 --> 00:01:10,066
whose sole purpose 
was to plunder Europe.

23
00:01:11,666 --> 00:01:14,966
Its reach extended all the way 
from the far western parts

24
00:01:14,966 --> 00:01:17,900
of France, all the way up 
to the Baltic states,

25
00:01:17,900 --> 00:01:20,766
and as far southeast as Crimea.

26
00:01:20,766 --> 00:01:24,200
And it basically went 
where the German army went.

27
00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:26,800
So, we're talking 
about a massive organization

28
00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:28,766
with tentacles everywhere.

29
00:01:29,233 --> 00:01:33,633
-It was probably 
the largest looting

30
00:01:33,633 --> 00:01:36,133
that has ever happened 
in history.

31
00:01:36,133 --> 00:01:38,033
♪

32
00:01:38,033 --> 00:01:39,700
-They actually stole everything

33
00:01:39,700 --> 00:01:41,533
that they could 
lay their hands on.

34
00:01:43,433 --> 00:01:45,866
Whether it was a painting 
of really no value

35
00:01:45,866 --> 00:01:48,133
except to the family, 
they would steal it.

36
00:01:48,466 --> 00:01:51,200
They stole furniture, 
they stole tables,

37
00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:52,400
they stole the plates,

38
00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,366
they stole the cutlery, 
the candlesticks.

39
00:01:55,566 --> 00:02:01,266
♪

40
00:02:01,266 --> 00:02:04,666
-And so, when Lohse arrives 
at the ERR in Paris,

41
00:02:04,666 --> 00:02:09,133
he sees German art looting 
on an industrial scale.

42
00:02:09,433 --> 00:02:10,833
And France is special.

43
00:02:10,833 --> 00:02:13,866
France has more art -- 
or more valuable art --

44
00:02:14,100 --> 00:02:15,766
than any other part of Europe.

45
00:02:15,766 --> 00:02:21,033
-France was really the place 
where art was being shown,

46
00:02:21,366 --> 00:02:24,233
the place where art 
was being collected,

47
00:02:24,233 --> 00:02:26,533
the place 
where art was being sold.

48
00:02:26,766 --> 00:02:28,733
It was really the capital.

49
00:02:28,733 --> 00:02:31,333
-They start to go after 
the French Jewish collections,

50
00:02:31,333 --> 00:02:31,833
right?

51
00:02:32,233 --> 00:02:33,333
And they're going after 
the Rothschilds,

52
00:02:33,333 --> 00:02:35,433
and they're going after 
Alphonse Kann

53
00:02:35,433 --> 00:02:38,900
and the David-Weills and these 
great French Jewish families

54
00:02:38,900 --> 00:02:40,400
that have 
these great collections.

55
00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,000
And they're going off 
with these commandos

56
00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,600
and bringing in masses of art.

57
00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,366
♪

58
00:02:55,266 --> 00:02:57,733
One estimate is 
that they steal one-third

59
00:02:57,733 --> 00:03:01,166
of all the art in 
private collections in France.