FLICKS: The Rape Of Europa The Rape of Europa documents how fascism threatened not only our physical survival, but the precious art and culture which is a vital part of our humanity.
by Chris Dashiell- Film Snob
War has always been horrible, but in the 20th century it descended into absolute barbarism, never more than in the atrocities of World War II. The war in Europe presented a stark contrast between the high culture we associate with the Western tradition and the mass slaughter that descended on the continent. A new documentary called The Rape of Europa, directed by Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen, and Nicole Newnham, highlights one fascinating aspect of that contrast: the threat posed by Nazi Germany to the great art treasures of Europe.
Based on a book by Lynn Nicholas, the film tells many stories, each one of which could probably inspire an entire movie of its own. We learn how Adolf Hitler was rejected by Vienna's Academy of Fine Arts when he was a young man, which fueled a hatred of modern art that became official government policy when the Nazis came to power. The work of Jewish artists, along with other modernists such as Picasso and Matisse, were declared degenerate, and were often confiscated or destroyed. As Germany invaded most of Europe, the Nazis looted the art treasures from the countries they conquered, transporting them to Germany where they ended up in Hitler's state museum collection, or numerous private collections such as that of Hermann Goering, whose house had more priceless paintings than most museums. The paintings, silver, furniture, religious objects and other artworks belongs to victims of the Holocaust were stolen to enrich the coffers of the murderers. Later in the film we meet a heroic German of today who tracks down Jewish religious objects, investigates whom they belonged to, and then returns them to their rightful heirs.
There are other inspiring stories. The staff of the Louvre, Paris's great museum, evacuated almost every treasure they had when the Germans invaded France in 1940, hiding them in various places in the southern part of France. We meet one woman whose family was in charge of hiding the Mona Lisa in their country villa. When the Nazis looted Jewish homes and museums in Paris, an unassuming-looking woman named Rose Valland who worked at the place the artwork was stored, pretended not to know German and secretly kept records of everything stolen and where it was sent, information that greatly aided the work of recovery after the war.
When the Allies invaded Italy, there was concern about possible damage to art treasures in that country. We learn the story of the so-called "Monument Men" and especially of Captain Deane Keller, a Yale art professor whose job was to protect Italian art. He couldn't prevent the German destruction of the bridges in Florence, or the Allied bombing of the Camposanto in Pisa, but he helped saved much more, and headed later restoration efforts.
I'm just skimming the surface of a complex and penetrating film with many intriguing aspects. The Rape of Europa documents how fascism threatened not only our physical survival, but the precious art and culture which is a vital part of our humanity.
Chris (the Film Snob) produces the weekly mini-program "Flicks" exclusively for 91.3FM KXCI. Tune in Mondays at 8:00PM and Fridays at 10:00AM and 3:00PM. For more writings from the Film Snob visit www.cinecene.com
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