Hitler’s Last Hostages, by Mary M. Lane—A chilling look at the rise of Hitler and the Nazis seen through the lens of the art world ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆

Before reading Hitler’s Last Hostages I was vaguely aware of Adolf Hitler’s background as a failed artist, and I had heard of the Führermuseum project. I had also read the excellent book, The Monuments Men, by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter, and I was expecting something that expanded upon the information contained in that book. What I found was very much more than that.

The book opens by looking into the discovery of the hoard of looted/stolen artwork that was in the possession of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of a notorious Nazi art “dealer”—though Gurlitt senior was in fact just a licensed looter, given carte blanche by the Third Reich to acquire works of art by coercion, for pennies on the dollar, or by outright theft. The narrative then shifts to Adolf Hitler’s early life and background in art, other German artists that were active before, during, and after the First World War, and the effects of that war on the world of the arts, and the artists who worked within it—in great, and sometimes excessive, detail.

That was all fascinating and somewhat unsettling, as were the following portions of the book, which detailed the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, and the stifling of free artistic expression that was practiced by the Nazi party. The main thrust of this book is to reveal the manner in which, and degree to which, the Nazis sought to mold German society, and later all of European society, into their twisted, perverse mold. It is frightening to contemplate, even at nearly a century’s remove, and I admit that I had to pace my reading through much of the book, taking it in small doses to avoid being overwhelmed.

This is an important book, which should put all of us on alert to the practices, not just in politics but in all areas of life, which can be promulgated in the interest of destroying our freedoms and forcing society to conform to the perverse ideals of the bigoted, hate-mongering few.