Stolen Beauty: The Nazi Obsession for Art

From the plundering and confiscation of art from museums and collectors’ houses, to the 4 great exhibitions which take stock of the situation 80 years later, this investigative series examines what happened to Nazi-looted art treasures. Revealing how Hitler and Goering were both compulsive collectors, the 3-episode series retraces the dramatic stories of families involved at the time and the difficult recovery of artworks carried out over the last few decades.

The first episode opens with the Gurlitt Case, an extraordinary discovery of masterpieces that reignites attention on a long-forgotten story—the Nazi art thefts—perceived as resolved, yet far from over. To this day, tens of thousands of missing artworks remain unaccounted for. What began as a simple news story revealed just how much remains hidden and needs to be brought to light.

The second episode explores the complicity of art dealers and the Nazi system of art theft, highlighting both failed and successful restitution efforts by the victims' families.

The third episode focuses on the key figures in the fight against the large-scale Nazi art theft: those who fought against it during World War II and those who continue to seek justice today.