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 during an upcoming talk in Des Moines.
Leach’s talk is part of the Hawkeye Lunch and Learn series sponsored by the University of Iowa Office of the Provost. It will take place Tuesday, Feb. 25, from noon to 1 p.m. at the UI John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center (JMPEC), 1200 Grand Ave. in Des Moines.
The event is free and open to the public, and a light lunch will be served. RSVP online.
Iowa’s “monuments man”
George Clooney’s character in the new film The Monuments Men is based on UI alumnus George Stout—read about his real-life art rescue missions.
Leach describes the Holocaust as "the greatest sin ever perpetrated," noting that the magnitude of Nazi atrocities were so vast they overshadowed lesser crimes such as theft.
"Nonetheless, the new film The Monuments Men makes clear that Hitler's avarice accompanied his political megalomania and even extended to art," he says.
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 by 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 University of Iowa as visiting professor in the College of Law and UI Chair in Public Affairs in the Department of Political Science. ( Read a profile of him from fall 2013.)
The Hawkeye Lunch and Learn series offers monthly events at the JMPEC designed to connect Iowa communities, university faculty, and government and industry leaders. ( Watch a video of January's talk on wind energy by UI Executive Vice President and Provost P. Barry Butler.)
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.