As the Nazis murdered millions of people, they also perpetrated the greatest mass theft in history, says former congressman Jim Leach. He’ll offer his perspective on the topic Tuesday, April 22, at noon in Room 2520D University Capitol Centre.
Leach’s talk is part of the Hawkeye Lunch and Learn series sponsored by the University of Iowa Office of the Provost. The event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. RSVP online. Guests are invited to bring their lunches.
Leach examined Nazi seizures of money and art as chairman of the House Banking Committee in the 1990s. He held four years of unprecedented hearings on Holocaust theft issues after new evidence identified Swiss banks as intermediaries for Germany during World War II and showed how banks and businesses in a swath of countries benefited from the effects of Nazi policies after the war's end.
Leach also served as chairman of the plenary session on Nazi-confiscated art at the 44-nation Washington Conference on Nazi art displacement held at the State Department in 1998. He describes the theft of art as "a tragic barometer of a culture of hatred that provides a historical context for crimes of unthinkable enormity."
But Leach notes that most of the millions lost in the Holocaust did not have great art collections: "Who took over their homes, their businesses, their pots and pans?" he asks.
Leach left Congress in 2007 after three decades in office. After teaching briefly at Princeton and Harvard, he served as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2009 until 2013, when he joined the UI as visiting professor in the College of Law and UI Chair in Public Affairs in the Department of Political Science.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation to participate in this program, contact the Office of the Provost in advance at 319-335-3565.