General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and George Patton, examining art stolen by the Nazis during the Second World War.
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During World War II, the Nazis orchestrated the largest art theft in history, systematically plundering an estimated 600,000 works across Europe. Targeting Jewish collectors, museums, and occupied nations, they seized masterpieces by artists such as Picasso, Klimt, and Vermeer. Much of the stolen art was intended for Hitler's unrealized Führermuseum, while thousands of pieces were destroyed or sold.
After the war, the Allies established the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program—known as the Monuments Men—to recover and return looted treasures. Despite these efforts, tens of thousands of works remain missing, and restitution cases continue to this day.
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