On the cover: The Astronomer by Jan Vermeer ( 1668), that was taken from the home of Édouard de Rothschild in 1940 by the ERR ( Einsatzstab Reich- sleiter Rosenberg), was stamped with a swastika, declared as "Property of the Third Reich," and was put in a crate stamped H13. H here stands for Hitler. Originally published in 1995 © Éditions Austral, Paris. English translation and updated edition copyright © 1997 by Hector Feliciano. Translation by Tim Bent and the author. Published by Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. Designed by Elliott Beard Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Feliciano, Hector. [Musée disparu. English] The lost museum : the Nazi conspiracy to steal the world's greatest works of art / by Hector Feliciano. -- 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-465-04194-9 (cloth) ISBN 0-465-04191-4 (paper) 1. Art thefts -- France -- History -- 20th century. 2. Germany -- cul- tural policy. 3. World War, -- 1939-1945 -- Art and the war. 4. Pil- lage -- France. 1. Title. N8795.3.F8F4613 1997 709'.44'09044 -- dc21 97-7195 00 01 /RRD 10 9 8 7 6 -ii- |