Bruno Lohse was a little-known art historian, until he was drafted into the German army and recruited by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR): a Nazi unit tasked with looting art across Europe. Stationed in Paris, Lohse soon caught the eye of Hermann Göring, who commissioned him to source artworks for his personal collection. In Hugo Macgregor’s gripping documentary, historian, Jonathan Petropoulos — who met and filmed Lohse several times during his research — uncovers the astonishing story of how Lohse not only escaped justice after the war, but later profited from the postwar art market. As American museums sought to expand their collections, and art philanthropy became a lucrative method for tax mitigation, Lohse quietly trafficked the looted art. The film exposes the shadowy intersections between high art, war crimes, and postwar ambition, offering a chilling reminder of how plunder is the most profitable and least risky war crime.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Part of the International Documentary Strand

Sponsored by The Blavatnik Family Foundation

Sponsored by

Jeffrey Gruder KC and Gillian Gruder