In this book, Hector Feliciano reveals the story of the systematic pillaging of Jewish-owned artwork during World War II. Between 1939 and 1944, the Nazi occupation of France enabled Germany to confiscate rare works from Jewish art collectors and gallery owners. More than 20,000 pieces were sent to Germany, many bearing the mark "Property of the Third Reich." Some were destined for a museum of European art that Hitler planned to create in Austria; others entered the private collections of top Nazi dignitaries, or were sold into France and Switzerland's flourishing wartime art market.<BR>The Lost Museum focuses on the private collections of five families: Rothschild, Rosenberg, Bernheim-Jeune, David-Weill, and Schloss. The fate of these works is traced as they pass through the hands of top German officials, unscrupulous art dealers, and unwitting auction houses such as Christie's and Sotheby's. Hector Feliciano paints a vivid picture of a concealed international art trade with links in France, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, the former Soviet Union, and the United States - disclosures that have provoked an ongoing debate in Europe.