WEBVTT

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I first met
Dr. Bruno Lohse

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in June 1998,

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and I remember
every single detail.

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You know, after all,

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it's not every day
you meet an old Nazi.

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We arranged
to have lunch together,

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and he said he would pick me up

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from the Central Institute
for Art History,

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in the heart of Munich.

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It had been
an old Nazi building.

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And I remember thinking
this was actually appropriate.

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And as the moment drew nearer,

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I think my heart started to beat
even more and more quickly.

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And then I do
recall this extraordinary moment

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when a massive Mercedes
pulled up.

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In front, there was a driver.

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He appeared to be
a kind of chauffeur.

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The back door swung open

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and there he was...

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the last
Nazi art plunderer still alive.

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He motioned
for me to get in the car,

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and off we went.

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He had a, a presence.

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He had a, an aura,
if you will.

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I knew that Lohse was
a member of the SS.

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I also knew
that he was a real player

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in the post-war art world,

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especially in America.

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But I didn't realize
that our relationship

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would continue for
years and years

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and that, you know,

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it would take me
to another world...

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To his apartment,

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filled with valuable artworks.

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To a Swiss bank,

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that concealed stolen pictures.

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[speaking German]

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And even to the contemporary
art world,

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where Nazi looted art
is still traded...

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[gavel slams]

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... and still concealed.

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It's the greatest art scandal
of the 20th century.

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But one doesn't trifle
with Lohse without consequences.

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I had no idea

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what I was getting into.