title: Nazi Plunder: Great Treasure Stories Of World War II
author:  Kenneth D. Alford 
description: World War II was the most devastating conflict in human history, but the tragedy did not end on the battlefields. During the war, Germany--and, later, the Allies--plundered Europe's historic treasures. Between 1939 and 1945, German armed forces roamed from Dunkirk to Stalingrad, looting gold, silver, currency, paintings and other works of art, coins, religious artifacts, and millions of books and other documents. The value of these items, many of which were irreplaceable, is estimated in the billions of dollars. The artwork alone, looted under Hitler's direction, exceeded the combined collections of the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the Louvre. As the war wound to its conclusion in 1945, occupying forces continued the looting. The story of these celebrated works of art and other vanished treasures--and the mystery of where they went--is a remarkable tale of greed, fraud, deceit, and treachery, Kenneth Alford's Nazi Plunder is the latest word on this fascinating subject.
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  ![Missing Images](images/cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Contents**
  
  
  [Introduction](intro.xhtml)
  
  
  [Authors’ Note](anote.xhtml)
  
  
  [Acknowledgements](ack.xhtml)
  
  
  [**Part One: The Robbery**](part001.xhtml)
  
  
  [1 The Destruction of the Reichsbank](chapter001.xhtml)
  
  
  [2 The Flight to the Redoubt](chapter002.xhtml)
  
  
  [3 The Burial of the Treasure](chapter003.xhtml)
  
  
  [4 In Quest of Gold, Silver and Foreign Exchange](chapter004.xhtml)
  
  
  [5 The House on the Hill](chapter005.xhtml)
  
  
  [6 The Money Baggers](chapter006.xhtml)
  
  
  [7 Finding’s Keeping](chapter007.xhtml)
  
  
  [8 Losing’s Weeping](chapter008.xhtml)
  
  
  [9 Opportunists of the Worst Order](chapter009.xhtml)
  
  
  [10 The Men from the Villa Ostler](chapter010.xhtml)
  
  
  [11 A Hole in the Bucket](chapter011.xhtml)
  
  
  [12 The Boys from the CID](chapter012.xhtml)
  
  
  [13 The Reckoning](chapter013.xhtml)
  
  
  [**Part Two: Corruption and Cober-up**](part002.xhtml)
  
  
  [14 The Collapse of a Great Army](chapter014.xhtml)
  
  
  [15 The White Horse Inn](chapter015.xhtml)
  