The
documentary, “The Rape of Europa” shows how the fate of Europe’s treasures in
the Third Reich during the Second World War was decided mainly by Nazi plunder
of looted art as well as their appropriation, storage, concealment, destruction
and smuggling. The Allies worked to preserve as much culture as possible from
being destroyed and forever being lost. This was not easily done for one could
not anticipate which historical monuments and masterpieces would be targeted.
Even historical rich cities such as Florence, which one believed would remain
completely unharmed, were bombed and countless priceless objects were effected.
All one could do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Museums were
constantly relocating their treasures, trying to stay one step ahead of the
bombings. Through precautionary planning the regular accounts of impending
destruction of Europe did not completely demolish the entire cultural
background that built Europe’s history.
The
documentary, which successfully shows the course most pieces of art in Europe
took during that time period, creates a great appreciation for the art that
remains nowadays, knowing how these masterworks were nearly destroyed if not
for the actions of several brave individuals. By showing the grand efforts of
individuals such as the Monuments Men, curators and other citizens, questions
such as the lengths individuals should go to protect artworks arose. Should
people die in trying to protect these works? When everyone and everything is
dying around one, do artworks remain a priority? These questions had to be
pondered by each region separately at the time and the decisions that were made
really show how important culture is to the individual regions based on their
efforts of preservation.
The information presented in The Rape of Europa does not
only provide an insight to the past but remains very much present. The
generation of the war still remains with us and the conflicts and emotions
considering the war and the art during the war are far from dealt with. Much of
the lost art, which has not been victimized by the war, is still turning up in
the most remote places of Europe. The art which we find ourselves lucky to
possess creates heated conflicts, for the puzzle of to whom the art rightfully
belongs to remains unsolved. The film successfully portrays the devastating
repercussions of the war, which creates enough motives for it to hopefully
never happen again.
The film is slightly biased for it portrays the Germans
as the sole destroyer of European culture and although the Germans do portray
the villains and are accountable for most lost art, the actions of art dealers
in the rest of Europe during this troubled time are also questionable. Although
the allies were using destruction as a mean of defense, they too took
infrastructure and hundreds of cultural monuments down in their mission of
justice. This prompts another controversial question on how the Nazis could have
been planning museums and worrying about the survival of art, while they were
simultaneously killing innocent people and destroying valuable infrastructure
left and right.
