Berlin – It was one of the biggest thefts in history – the
forced transfer of Jewish-owned businesses, homes and art
collections to German “Aryan” ownership. Long before the
Kristallnacht pogrom of November 9, 1938, the Nazis systemically
began seizing possessions of Jews living in Germany, under an
official policy known as Aryanization. After the start of World
War II in September 1939, the Germans continued the looting in
Eastern Europe, helped by a huge apparatus which administered
the stolen items. The main beneficiaries were the Nazis
themselves, their supporters, art dealers and museums. Some of
the looted works were returned to their rightful owners after
the war ended. But decades later, the whereabouts of many
missing works of art are still unknown. Experts believe many
paintings and sculptures that once belonged to Jews are still
kept in private collections and by museums. Tens of thousands of
people in Hitler’s Germany enriched themselves from the thefts
as different Nazi organizations argued over