Original subtitles

Narrator: AT THE END OF WORLD WAR II,

ALLIED SOLDIERS UNCOVERED VAST HOARDS

OF STOLEN GOODS ACROSS EUROPE.

UNDER HITLER'S COMMAND,

THE NAZIS HAD SYSTEMATICALLY PLUNDERED MUSEUMS

AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS FOR PRICELESS TREASURES

AND WORKS OF ART.

♪

THE SCALE AT WHICH THE NAZIS LOOTED

AND STOCKPILED THE GREATEST MASTERWORKS OF EUROPEAN ART --

IT'S TRULY STAGGERING.

THERE'S WORKS BY PICASSO, WORKS BY KLIMT,

WORKS BY CARAVAGGIO.

THERE'S MANY WORKS OF ART THAT HAVE SIMPLY DISAPPEARED.

♪

Narrator: WHILE RAVAGING EUROPE OF ITS CULTURAL HERITAGE,

RUMOR HAS IT THAT HITLER WAS ALSO ON THE QUEST

FOR AN EVEN BIGGER PRIZE -- HOLY RELICS...

♪

ESPECIALLY THE HOLY GRAIL

AND THE POWER THAT HAVING THESE OBJECTS WOULD BRING.

♪

Selwood: SO, ON THE ONE LEVEL, THESE OBJECTS

ARE HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS OF ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL MERIT.

BUT ONE CAN'T GET AWAY FROM THE FACT THAT

THE OCCULTISM OF NAZISM ALSO IMBUED THEM WITH SPECIAL POWERS.

Charney: HE BELIEVED THAT THERE WAS A CODED TREASURE MAP

BUILT INTO THE PAINTING THAT WOULD HAVE LED

TO SOME OF THE MOST VENERATED CHRISTIAN RELICS.

Janulis: HITLER WAS ORGANIZING A DIFFERENT TYPE OF POWER.

HE WAS ORGANIZING THE POWER OF RELIGIOUS PERSUASION.

♪

♪

-- Captions by VITAC -- www.vitac.com

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

♪

♪

Narrator: ON JANUARY 30, 1933,

ADOLF HITLER WAS APPOINTED THE CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY.

OVER THE COMING MONTHS, HE GREW IN POWER AND BECAME A DICTATOR.

HE SAW HIMSELF AS KING OF THE WORLD.

♪

Walters: WHAT NAZISM WAS TRYING TO ACHIEVE

WAS BASICALLY CREATING A POLITICAL RELIGION,

AND THAT'S AN INCREDIBLY POWERFUL THING.

NO ONE HAS REALLY CREATED A POLITICAL RELIGION

BEFORE THIS POINT IN QUITE THE SAME WAY.

♪

Selwood: IF YOU LOOK AT NAZISM,

IF YOU LOOK AT ALL OF ITS ELEMENTS HOLISTICALLY,

YOU CAN'T BUT COME TO THE CONCLUSION

THAT THERE'S SOMETHING VERY RELIGIOUS ABOUT IT.

AND BY THAT, I MEAN IT HAD BELIEFS.

IT HAD A CENTRAL FIGURE.

IT HAD AN IDEA FOR HOW YOU WOULD REACH SALVATION.

IT HAD A MISSION. IT HAD DOGMA. IT HAD IMAGERY.

YOU ONLY HAVE TO THINK OF THE CATHEDRALS OF LIGHT

AT NUREMBERG, BUILT BY SPEER,

OF THE HYPNOTIC CHANTING AND MARCHING,

OF THE ADULATION TOWARDS THIS ONE CHRIST-LIKE FIGURE,

WHICH IS HOW HITLER MONSTROUSLY LIKED TO PRESENT HIMSELF.

SO IT SHOULD BE SEEN AS AN IDEOLOGY,

BUT WITH ABSOLUTE CULT WRAPPING AROUND IT.

♪

McMahon: WHAT HE STROVE TO DO

WAS TO REPLACE ORGANIZED RELIGION IN GERMANY

WITH A NEW NAZI RELIGION -- THAT JESUS WOULD BE AN ARYAN,

THAT INSTEAD OF THE BIBLE, THERE WOULD BE "MEIN KAMPF,"

AND THAT INSTEAD OF THE CRUCIFIX,

THERE WOULD BE THE SWASTIKA.

♪

Janulis: THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A HORRIFYING CHURCH.

IT'S A CHURCH THAT BELIEVED IN RACIAL PURITY.

A CHURCH THAT WAS PART OF A SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT

THAT BELIEVED THAT ANYBODY THAT WASN'T OF THE PUREST FORM

WAS NOT WORTHY OF LIVING OR WOULD HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED

BELOW THE ARYANS.

ALSO, THEY WERE PULLING AND HIJACKING ELEMENTS

OF PAGAN RELIGION, OCCULT RELIGION,

AND THROW IN JUST THE NAZI BRUTALITY.

IMAGINE GOING TO THAT CHURCH.

[ SINGING IN GERMAN ]

Narrator: GERMAN EXPANSION THROUGHOUT EUROPE BEGAN IN 1938

WITH THE ANNEXATION OF AUSTRIA AND THEN CONTINUED

WITH THE OCCUPATION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA IN 1939.

[ ENGINE RUMBLING ]

AT THE SAME TIME, HITLER'S NUMBER TWO, HEINRICH HIMMLER,

WAS EXPANDING HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE OCCULT.

HE WAS CONVINCED THE NAZIS COULD ACHIEVE GREAT VICTORIES

BY HARNESSING THE POWERS OF THE RELICS.

♪

Picknett: SEVERAL OF THE OTHER NAZIS IN THE HIERARCHY

DID LEAN TOWARDS THE OCCULT,

BUT MAINLY, OF COURSE, IT WAS HEINRICH HIMMLER,

HEAD OF THE SS, WHO HAD THIS GLORIFIED IDEA

OF HOW THE CHIVALRIC IDEAL OF THE MEDIEVAL TIMES

COULD SOMEHOW BE CHANNELED THROUGH HIM AND HIS HENCHMEN.

BUT HE WAS COMPLETELY BONKERS.

Janulis: THE NAZIS WERE SYSTEMATICALLY LOOTING EUROPE

OF ALL OF THE ANCIENT HOLY RELICS THAT THEY COULD.

BUT IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE,

CHURCHES IN EUROPE AT THIS TIME PERIOD

HAD A LOT OF POWER

AND PERSUASION OVER THE LOCAL POPULATION

BY TAKING THE MOST SACRED THINGS,

YOU'RE TAKING THE POWER AND THE INFLUENCE

AND ESSENTIALLY KIND OF RIPPING THE HEART OUT.

HE WANTED THE CHURCHES TO BE DICTATED BY HIM.

THE NEW RELIGION. THE NEW EMPIRE.

HITLER'S EMPIRE. HITLER'S RELIGION.

Picknett: HITLER HAD AN IDEA FOR AFTER THE WAR.

HE WAS GOING TO HAVE THIS SORT OF PALATIAL MUSEUM,

WHICH WOULD BE THE BEST AND BIGGEST MUSEUM IN THE WORLD

AND WOULD HAVE THE BEST ART IN IT.

SO HE BASICALLY SENT HIS STORM TROOPERS OUT

TO BRING THAT BACK TO GERMANY.

♪

Narrator: NOAH CHARNEY IS AN ART-CRIMES INVESTIGATOR

AND HAS BEEN STUDYING THE NAZIS' OBSESSION

WITH ARTWORKS AND RELICS.

♪

Charney: TO UNDERSTAND THE NAZI INTEREST IN HOLY RELICS,

IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THE PLACE OF ORIGIN OF NAZISM.

AND IT REALLY GREW UP IN A SOCIOECONOMIC WORLD,

IN MIDDLE-CLASS GERMANY AND AUSTRIA,

WHERE PEOPLE WERE FOCUSED ON MYSTICISM AND THE SUPERNATURAL.

THIS BELIEF IN THE OCCULT

WAS REALLY IN THE CULTURAL OXYGEN OF THE TIME,

SO IT SOUNDS, MAYBE, FUNNY TO US TODAY,

BUT AT THE TIME, IT WAS NOT VERY EXOTIC.

AND THE NAZI PARTY ACTUALLY BEGAN AS AN OCCULT FRATERNITY

BEFORE IT MORPHED INTO A POLITICAL PARTY.

HITLER AND HIMMLER HAD THIS CONCEPT

OF CREATING A SORT OF NEW RELIGION.

AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT FASCINATED THEM

WAS THE LEGEND OF PARZIVAL,

WHICH WAS A MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN POEM

THAT HAD BEEN POPULARIZED IN THE LATE 19th CENTURY,

AND ALSO THROUGH WAGNER'S INTERPRETATION

OF THE GRAIL MYTH.

♪

THE ARMA CHRISTI, OR WEAPONS OF CHRIST,

WERE THE IMPLEMENTS THAT WERE USED IN CHRIST'S PASSION.

WE'VE GOT THE CROWN OF THORNS, THE HOLY NAILS,

THE VERONICA VEIL, AND PIECES OF THE TRUE CROSS.

THESE OBJECTS WERE VENERATED BY CATHOLICS

BUT ALSO THOUGHT BY SOME TO HAVE SUPERNATURAL POWERS.

AND CERTAIN KEY NAZIS, HIMMLER AND HITLER ABOVE ALL,

REALLY BELIEVED THAT THEY DID.

THE HOLY GRAIL IS INCREDIBLY SIGNIFICANT FOR ALL SORTS

OF REASONS FOR DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

FOR DEVOUT CHRISTIANS, IT'S THE CUP THAT CAUGHT

THE BLOOD OF CHRIST AS HE HUNG ON THE CROSS

JUST AFTER THE SPEAR OF DESTINY PIERCED HIS SIDE.

IT IS, FOR OTHER CHRISTIANS, THE VESSEL THAT HE DRANK OUT OF

AT THE LAST SUPPER.

IT IS, FOR PEOPLE IN SEARCH OF GLOBAL DOMINATION,

A VESSEL THAT IS MEANT TO PROVIDE THAT POWER.

Picknett: IF ANYBODY WANTED THE HOLY GRAIL,

IT WAS ADOLF HITLER.

IT WAS THE THING THAT WAS GOING TO GIVE THEM

ABSOLUTE INVINCIBILITY

AND GREAT KNOWLEDGE AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

AND EVERYTHING ELSE THEY WOULD WANT.

IT WAS THE HOLY GRAIL.

♪

Narrator: AS THE STORY GOES,

HITLER THOUGHT HE COULD LOCATE THE HOLY GRAIL

IF HE COULD GET HIS HANDS ON THE GHENT ALTARPIECE.

WITHIN IT, HE BELIEVED, WAS A SECRET CODE

THAT WOULD LEAD HIM TO THE RELIC.

THE 12 PANELS OF JAN VAN EYCK'S FAMOUS

"ADORATION OF THE MYSTIC LAMB"

IS BELIEVED TO BE THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PAINTING IN HISTORY

AND PERHAPS THE GREATEST ARTWORK THAT THE NAZIS STOLE.

♪

Charney: EVERYTHING BAD THAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN

TO A WORK OF ART HAS HAPPENED TO THIS ONE.

IT'S BEEN STOLEN AT LEAST SIX TIMES, ALL OR IN PART.

IT'S BEEN THE OBJECT OF FORGERY.

IT WAS NEARLY DESTROYED. PARTS OF IT WERE BURNED.

IT WAS DISMEMBERED, PILLAGED, USED FOR RANSOM.

THE FINAL AND MOST DYNAMIC ADVENTURE

OF THE GHENT ALTARPIECE LED IT HERE TO THIS SALT MINE

DEEP IN THE AUSTRIAN ALPS THAT WAS CONVERTED BY THE NAZIS

INTO THIS HIGH-TECH STOLEN-ART WAREHOUSE.

♪

Narrator: AND IT'S WITHIN THESE MINES THAT MORE CLUES

TO THE NAZIS' SECRET OBSESSION WITH HOLY RELICS CAN BE FOUND.

♪

♪

Narrator: DURING WORLD WAR II,

THE NAZIS SYSTEMATICALLY LOOTED VALUABLE ARTWORKS

FROM ACROSS OCCUPIED EUROPE.

BUT WAS THIS FOR MONETARY GAIN?

OR DID HITLER HAVE A MORE SINISTER MOTIVE?

♪

Bellinger: THE REALITY IS THERE ARE THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS

OF MASTERWORKS STILL LOST.

NOT CLEAR WHETHER THE NAZIS HID THEM SO CAREFULLY --

WE'VE YET TO FIND THEM -- OR WHETHER THEY DESTROYED THEM,

IF THEY, PERHAPS, WERE PARTICULARLY REPUGNANT

IN TERMS OF THEIR RELIGIOUS ICONOGRAPHY.

♪

Narrator: THE ALTAUSSEE SALT MINES IN AUSTRIA

WERE ONE OF THE MANY UNDERGROUND STORAGE FACILITIES

USED BY THE NAZIS.

IT'S BELIEVED THAT IN THIS LOCATION ALONE,

OVER 7,000 PIECES OF ART WERE HIDDEN.

♪

NOAH MEETS WITH HARALD PERNKOPF,

A LOCAL EXPERT, TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING

OF HOW THE NAZIS USED THIS UNDERGROUND TREASURE VAULT.

Pernkopf: SO, NOW WE'RE GOING TO WALK

ABOUT 700 METERS INSIDE THE MINE.

THAT'S WHERE THE ART WAS HIDDEN.

TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHY THIS WAS

SUCH AN IDEAL ATMOSPHERE TO STORE ART.

IN HERE, WE HAVE 70% OF HUMIDITY.

7° OF CELSIUS, AND THE AIR IS VERY SALTY,

SO THIS MAY MAKE PERFECT CONDITIONS, EXCEPT FOR IRON.

SO, IRON GETS RUSTY IN HERE.

BUT ALL KIND OF PAINTINGS OR EVEN PAPER --

YOU THINK 70% OR 75% OF HUMIDITY WOULD BE TOO WET,

BUT THE SALT PRESERVES PERFECTLY.

AND I IMAGINE THERE WERE NO CONCERNS ABOUT BOMBS

BECAUSE WE'RE VERY WELL-SECURED INSIDE THIS MOUNTAIN.

YES. WE ARE 700 METERS INSIDE THE MINE,

AND WE HAVE 200 METERS OF SOLID ROCK ABOVE US.

♪

SO, ABOUT HOW MANY PIECES OF ART WERE STORED HERE?

IT WAS 7,000 PAINTINGS

BUT ALSO GOLD-COIN COLLECTIONS, WEAPON COLLECTIONS,

MICHELANGELO'S "MADONNA OF BRUGES."

THERE WERE EIGHT DIFFERENT ROOMS -- BIG ROOMS,

40,000 SQUARE METERS OF STORAGE ROOM.

ALL WERE CONNECTED WITH RAILROAD TRACKS.

THAT'S WHY THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO CARRY THEM FAR.

IT'S HARD TO SAY HOW MANY THINGS WERE IN HERE.

AND IT'S MORE HARD TO SAY THE VALUE OF THE WHOLE COLLECTION.

SURE.

♪

Narrator: WHEN THE MONUMENTS MEN DISCOVERED

THE ALTAUSSEE TREASURE TROVE AT THE END OF THE WAR,

THE GHENT ALTARPIECE WAS AMONG THE PRICELESS WORKS OF ART.

Charney: HE ALSO WANTED IT BECAUSE IT WAS CONSIDERED

THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT PAINTING EVER MADE.

AND SO IT WAS TO BE THE CENTERPIECE OF HIS PLANNED

SUPER MUSEUM AT LINZ.

BUT THERE ARE ALSO SOME ALTERNATIVE THEORIES

ABOUT WHY HE MAY HAVE WANTED IT.

ONE OF THEM GOES THAT HE BELIEVED

THAT THERE WAS A CODED TREASURE MAP

BUILT INTO THE PAINTING THAT WOULD HAVE LED

TO SOME OF THE MOST VENERATED CHRISTIAN RELICS,

AND THAT HE MIGHT HAVE WANTED THESE FOR BOTH SYMBOLIC

AND, PERHAPS, SUPERNATURAL REASONS.

Bellinger: THE OCCULT WAS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT

TO THE NAZIS,

BUT NOT FOR THE STRAIGHTFORWARD REASONS ONE MIGHT THINK.

[ MARCHING BAND MUSIC PLAYING ]

YES, HIMMLER CLEARLY BELIEVED IN THIS MUMBO-JUMBO,

BUT THE REALITY IS THAT THE EFFICACY OF IT

WAS NOT IN PERFORMING RITUALS THAT DID ANYTHING.

IT WAS IN CLOAKING THE ENTIRE NAZI PROJECT

IN A CERTAIN MAGICAL LEGITIMACY

THAT LEAPED WAY BACK INTO THE DEEPEST MYTHICAL HISTORY

THAT THE GERMAN PEOPLE REALLY NEEDED TO BOOST THEIR MORALE

AND TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES.

♪

Narrator: THIS WAS JUST ONE OF MANY LOCATIONS

WHERE THE NAZIS HID THEIR STOLEN LOOT.

ALL ACROSS EUROPE, SECRET LAIRS CAN BE FOUND

WHERE THEY STASHED PRICELESS VALUABLES

AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY TO THE REGIME, HOLY RELICS.

♪

POLAND WAS INVADED BY THE NAZIS IN 1939,

AND IT BECAME AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE REICH'S STRATEGY

FOR TAKING OVER EUROPE.

♪

LIKE FRANCE AND ITALY, ITS ARTWORK AND HOLY RELICS

WERE RUTHLESSLY STOLEN BY THE NAZIS.

♪

POLISH JOURNALIST AND EXPLORER JOANNA LAMPARSKA

HAS SPENT SEVERAL YEARS

INVESTIGATING THE NAZIS' THEFT OF ART AND HOLY TREASURES.

♪

IT'S GENERALLY ACCEPTED THAT THE NAZIS HID THIS LOOT

ALL OVER OCCUPIED EUROPE.

IT WAS A VAST COLLECTION OF MATERIAL.

♪

Lamparska: THEY MOVED ALL VERY VALUABLE ITEMS TO GERMANY FIRST,

TO BERLIN, TO MUSEUMS,

TO PRIVATE COLLECTION OF HIMMLER, HITLER, AND SO ON.

BUT WHEN ALLIES WERE APPROACHING FROM THE WEST

AND WHEN RUSSIAN ARMY STARTED TO APPROACH FROM THE EAST,

THEY CHOSE A FEW CASTLES AND PALACES,

AN ABBEY IN LOWER SILESIA,

TO COLLECT ALL THESE CHURCH AND MUSEUM ITEMS,

VALUABLE THINGS, JUST TO PROTECT THEM FROM OTHER ARMIES.

Narrator: TODAY, BENEATH A CHURCH IN POLAND,

UNDERGROUND TUNNELS ARE BELIEVED TO STILL HOLD POWERFUL RELICS

STOLEN BY THE NAZIS FOR THEIR OWN OCCULT USE.

♪

Narrator: THROUGHOUT THE NAZI OCCUPATION OF EUROPE,

IT WAS ACCEPTED PRACTICE FOR SOLDIERS

TO RUTHLESSLY STEAL PRICELESS WORKS OF ART WHEREVER THEY WENT.

OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE WERE RELIGIOUS RELICS

BELIEVED BY THE GERMAN LEADERS TO POSSESS OCCULT POWERS.

♪

ONE OF THE LOCATIONS THAT WAS USED TO STORE THEIR PLUNDER

WAS LUBIAZ ABBEY IN SOUTHWEST POLAND.

IT'S A FORMER MONASTERY AND, ARCHITECTURALLY,

ONE OF THE LARGEST CHRISTIAN COMPLEXES IN THE WORLD.

♪

ITS UNDERGROUND SPACES WERE USED EXTENSIVELY BY THE NAZIS

TO BUILD RESEARCH LABORATORIES AND MANUFACTURING PLANTS.

♪

POLISH JOURNALIST AND EXPLORER JOANNA LAMPARSKA

HAS COME TO LUBIAZ

TO SEARCH ITS SUBTERRANEAN TUNNELS AND CHAMBERS

WITH A TEAM OF EXPERIENCED LOCAL TREASURE HUNTERS.

CAN THEY FIND EVIDENCE OF THE PRICELESS HOLY RELICS

AND OTHER VALUABLES ALLEGEDLY HIDDEN AT THE SITE?

Lamparska: THEY HAD TO FIND HIDDEN PLACES,

AND IN THE END OF WAR, THEY BROUGHT IT HERE.

EXPLORERS AND TREASURE HUNTERS

BELIEVE THAT SOMETHING STILL MAY BE HIDDEN IN THIS ABBEY.

♪

Narrator: AMONG THIS LABYRINTH OF TUNNELS AND PASSAGEWAYS,

SECRET ROOMS AND SPACES

LAY HIDDEN BEHIND BRICK AND STONE WALLS.

♪

THE TEAM IS USING HIGH-TECH METHODS

TO EXPLORE THESE DARK VOIDS.

♪

Lamparska: CHRISTOPH IS USING SO-CALLED INSPECTION ENDOSCOPE CAMERA

IT IS A VERY SMALL CAMERA.

STICK TO A WIRE OR A CABLE OR A STICK,

AND YOU PUT IT INTO A VERY NARROW HOLE

TO SEE WHAT IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL.

♪

IN THIS ABBEY, THE GERMANS MADE A MILITARY FACTORY

DURING THE WAR, AND THEY ROBBED THE WHOLE MONASTERY,

AND THEY HID ALL VALUABLES FROM THIS BUILDING SOMEWHERE.

AS FAR AS WE KNOW, THEY WERE BURIED IN A CRYPT FOR A MOMENT.

THEN THEY WERE STOLEN.

BUT THERE WAS A LOT OF TREASURE HUNTERS

WHO STILL BELIEVE THAT SOMETHING COULD BE HIDDEN

IN THE LOCKED CHAMBERS IN THE CELLARS OF THIS ABBEY.

♪

SOME PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR GOLD.

SOME PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR WORKS OF ART.

NO ONE KNOWS WHAT IS HIDDEN HERE.

♪

Narrator: CHURCHES UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE NAZI REGIME

SAW THEIR PRIZED RELICS AND MASTERPIECES SPIRITED AWAY,

BUT THIS WAS MORE THAN MERE ROBBERY.

HITLER AND MANY IN HIS REGIME

POSITIVELY LOATHED THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

[ CHEERING ]

♪

Selwood: THE REASON WHY HITLER HAD SUCH A LOATHING

FOR CATHOLICISM WAS THAT, FUNDAMENTALLY,

THE IDEA BEHIND CATHOLICISM AND CHRISTIANITY

IS THAT EVERYBODY IS EQUAL IN GOD'S EYES,

THAT EVERYBODY SHARES GOD'S LOVE.

TO NAZIS, THAT'S ABSOLUTELY ANATHEMA.

FOR THEM, THERE ARE COMPLETE HIERARCHIES

OF THE ORDER OF PEOPLE.

SO THEY HAD TO EXTERMINATE THOSE VALUES

THAT THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE IN.

SO A WAR WAS BEGUN AGAINST CATHOLICISM.

McMahon: THE NAZIS ARE ARRESTING PRIESTS.

THEY'RE CLOSING DOWN ROMAN CATHOLIC ORGANIZATIONS.

THEY'RE SHUTTING DOWN CATHOLIC POLITICAL PARTIES.

AND SO THERE'S JUST THIS GROWING STRESS AND TENSION

BETWEEN CATHOLICISM AND NAZISM.

♪

Narrator: HITLER TOOK A VERY FIRM LINE WITH THE POLISH PEOPLE.

HE KNEW THEY WERE ALL PRACTICING CHRISTIANS,

REGULAR AND FAITHFUL CHURCHGOERS,

BUT WANTED THEM TO FOLLOW AND BELIEVE IN A NEW NAZI IDEOLOGY.

♪

Lamparska: CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS A VERY STRONG LINK

TO POLISH NATIONAL HISTORY,

AND IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT FOR GERMANS TO CLOSE THE CHURCHES,

TO DESTROY THEM, TO TURN THEM INTO PRISON,

JUST TO HUMILIATE THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN POLAND.

♪

THEY TOOK OVER THOUSANDS OF POLISH CHURCHES.

MANY OF THOSE PRIESTS WERE SENT

TO EITHER CONCENTRATION CAMPS OR KILLED.

MOST OF THE RELICS AND ARTIFACTS WERE TAKEN AND ESSENTIALLY

JUST WIPED THE POLISH CHURCH CULTURE FROM EXISTENCE.

♪

Narrator: ONE OF THE MOST BIZARRE EXAMPLES

OF NAZI CULTURAL VANDALISM

CAN BE FOUND HERE IN SAINT MICHAEL'S CHURCH,

LOCATED IN THE TOWN OF OLESNO IN PRESENT-DAY POLAND.

A MEMBER OF THE LOCAL CLERGY LEADS JOANNA TO THE SITE

OF THIS EXTRAORDINARY CRIME.

♪

Lamparska: DURING WORLD WAR II, NAZIS COME HERE

AND TAKE DOWN THE BIGGEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL BELL

OF THE SAINT MICHAEL CHURCH.

IT WAS TAKEN TO GERMANY AND WAS LOST UNTIL THE END OF THE WAR.

♪

Gough: THE NAZIS ARE ESTIMATED TO HAVE SEIZED

OVER 175,000 CHURCH BELLS ACROSS EUROPE.

THIS IS GOING AT THE HEART OF THE SPIRITUALITY

OF EACH INDIVIDUAL COMMUNITY THAT THEY WERE TAKING OVER.

♪

Selwood: BECAUSE THE NAZIS NEVER WASTED ANYTHING,

THEY TOOK THE METAL AND THEY MELTED IT DOWN,

AND THEY USED IT FOR MUNITIONS.

SO THEY'VE TAKEN THESE BELLS FROM BUILDINGS OF PEACE

AND TURNED THEM INTO WEAPONS.

McMahon: SO TERRIFIED WERE PRIESTS AT THE PROSPECT OF

THEIR HOLY RELICS,

THE CHALICES AND THE MONSTRANCES AND THE BELLS,

BEING STOLEN BY THE NAZIS

THAT THEY EVEN PUT THEM INTO COFFINS AND STAGED FAKE FUNERALS

IN ORDER TO HIDE THESE ITEMS FROM PRYING NAZI EYES.

[ BELL CHIMING ]

Narrator: FORTUNATELY FOR THE PARISHIONERS OF OLESNO,

THE MYSTERY OF THEIR CHURCH BELLS

HAD A HAPPY CONCLUSION.

Lamparska: FOR 60 YEARS, A CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN OLESNO

WAS WONDERING WHERE THE BELL COULD BE.

THEY HEARD SOMETHING ABOUT BELL CEMETERY IN HAMBURG.

THEY HEARD THAT SOMEBODY RECOVERED THE BELLS

IN OTHER CITIES,

SO THEY DECIDED TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION.

AND WHEN THEY WERE INFORMED THAT THERE WAS A CHURCH

IN GERMANY WITH A BELL FROM OLESNO,

THEY DECIDED TO ACT,

AND THEY RECOVER THIS PIECE OF ART.

[ BELL CHIMES ]

Narrator: BUT NOT ALL RELIGIOUS OBJECTS STOLEN FROM CHURCHES

WERE PUT TO SUCH PRACTICAL USES.

FOR THE NAZIS,

SOME HOLY RELICS SERVED MUCH MORE OCCULT PURPOSES.

♪

Narrator: AS THE NAZIS STORMED ACROSS EUROPE,

TAKING CONTROL OF COUNTRY AFTER COUNTRY,

SOLDIERS PLUNDERED THE GREATEST ART,

HOLY RELICS, AND GOLD WHEREVER THEY WENT.

IN THE END, THEY AMASSED A VAST FORTUNE OF STOLEN GOODS,

WHICH THEY HID IN SALT MINES ACROSS GERMANY AND AUSTRIA.

THE NAZIS' GRAND PLAN WAS TO CAPTURE

AND THEN DISPLAY SOME OF THE GREATEST HOLY RELICS

IN THE WORLD.

♪

IN THE END, THEY ONLY CAPTURED ONE PIECE,

THE HOLY LANCE, WHICH WAS CLAIMED TO BE THE ACTUAL SPEAR

THAT PIERCED CHRIST'S SIDE WHILE HE WAS ON THE CRUCIFIX.

♪

Selwood: THE SPEAR OF DESTINY, OR LANCE OF LONGINUS,

WAS SOMETHING THAT HITLER FELT

HAD DEEP SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE FOR HIM

WHEN HE FIRST SAW IT IN THE MUSEUM IN VIENNA,

HE SAID HE FELT AS IF HE'D FORMERLY HELD IT,

THAT IT WAS HIS TALISMAN OF POWER

AND IT GAVE THE DESTINY OF THE WORLD TO HIM IN HIS HANDS.

♪

Narrator: DESPITE THE NAZIS HAVING TAKEN IT TO NUREMBERG,

TODAY, THIS LEGENDARY OBJECT IS KEPT WITH OTHER

PRICELESS ARTIFACTS IN THE TREASURY

OF THE HOFBURG PALACE IN VIENNA.

♪

DOCTOR FRANZ KIRCHWEGER IS THE COLLECTION'S CURATOR.

Narrator: THIS EXTRAORDINARY ASSORTMENT OF OBJECTS

IS PART OF THE IMPERIAL REGALIA,

THE CEREMONIAL CROWN JEWELS OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS.

DATING BACK TO MEDIEVAL TIMES,

THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS WERE THE IMPERIAL CROWN,

IMPERIAL SWORD, AND THE CHRIST-LINKED SPEAR OF DESTINY.

♪

Bellinger: THIS SPEAR THAT SUPPOSEDLY PIERCED THE SIDE OF CHRIST

AND THUS WAS EMPOWERED WITH HIS POWER

THEN WENT ON TO DEVELOP EVEN GREATER LEGEND AS IT PASSED

FROM THE HAND OF ONE POWERFUL MAN TO THE OTHER,

UNDER THE BELIEF THAT IF THEY WIELDED THIS SPEAR,

THEY WERE OMNIPOTENT

AND THEY COULD BEND THE WORLD TO THEIR WILL.

McMahon: FOR HITLER, HAVING THE IMPERIAL REGALIA

OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

WAS HIS ASPIRATION TO CREATE A 1,000-YEAR REICH.

I MEAN, THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE LASTED 1,000 YEARS,

SO HE WANTED HIS REICH TO LAST THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME.

AND IN THE SAME WAY THAT HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS

HAD SACRED RELICS

WHICH GAVE THEM AUTHORITY BEFORE THE PEOPLE,

HITLER VIEWED THE SACRED RELICS, SUCH AS THE SPEAR OF DESTINY,

IN THE SAME LIGHT.

♪

Bellinger: HITLER GOT HIS HANDS ON A SPEAR OF DESTINY.

NOW, THE FACT IS THAT SEVERAL DIFFERENT OBJECTS

HAVE BEEN PRESENTED AS THE SPEAR OF DESTINY,

WHICH, AGAIN, GOES TO SHOW YOU

THAT THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS OBJECT

ISN'T REALLY IN THE THING ITSELF.

IT'S IN WHAT IT STOOD FOR.

♪

Walters: THE WHOLE STORY OF THE SPEAR OF LONGINUS

AND THE WAY IT'S TREATED BY THESE SORT OF JUNK HISTORIANS --

IT'S LIKE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

IN EPISODE 1 OF "INDIANA JONES"

IT'S GONNA GIVE THEM, THE NAZIS, INFINITE POWER.

IT'S JUST TOTAL NONSENSE.

IT'S JUST ANOTHER RELIC

THAT'S MEANT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH CHRIST.

AND YOU KNOW, AND I KNOW, THAT THAT'S JUST SIMPLY NOT TRUE.

Narrator: FOR CENTURIES,

NUREMBERG HAD BEEN HOME TO THE IMPERIAL REGALIA,

AND HITLER THOUGHT THAT THE CITY WAS WHERE THEY BELONGED.

BUT IN THE LATE 1700s,

THESE CROWN JEWELS WERE HASTILY MOVED FROM NUREMBERG TO VIENNA

TO AVOID NAPOLEON'S CLUTCHES,

AND HITLER WAS DETERMINED TO TAKE THEM BACK.

IN 1938, THE LANCE,

AS WELL AS THE REST OF THE IMPERIAL REGALIA,

WAS BROUGHT BACK TO ITS FORMER HOME OF NUREMBERG.

♪

Bellinger: NUREMBERG WAS SACRED TO THE NAZIS.

IT WAS THE TRADITIONAL HEART OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE.

AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE HAD BEEN, AT ITS HEART,

A GERMAN STATE.

AND SO HITLER WANTED TO RETURN THESE ITEMS OF POWER

TO THIS HEART AND RULE HIS THIRD REICH FROM IT.

Selwood: NUREMBERG WAS THE HEART OF NAZISM.

IT'S WHERE HITLER HELD ALL THE EARLY RALLIES.

IT'S WHERE THEY WOULD RECONVENE EVERY YEAR

TO EXTOL THE VIRTUES OF NAZISM.

BUT IT WAS ALSO DEEPLY SYMBOLIC PLACE.

IT WAS ONE OF THE GREAT MEDIEVAL CITIES OF SOUTHERN GERMANY.

IT WAS A PLACE WHERE THE CHURCH AND RELICS AND CATHEDRALS

HAD VERY POWERFUL SWAY.

IT WAS A SYMBOLIC PLACE IN THE GERMAN MIND.

AND THE NAZIS HARNESSED ALL OF THAT

AND MADE IT THEIR OCCULT HEADQUARTERS.

[ SPEAKING GERMAN ]

[ ANTHEM PLAYS ]

Charney: IT'S AN AMAZING FEELING TO BE HERE

FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME AT THE NAZI RALLY GROUNDS IN NUREMBERG.

IF YOU CAN IMAGINE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE

GATHERED HERE DURING SIX ENORMOUS RALLIES

BETWEEN 1933 AND 1938.

THIS IS THE ZEPPELIN FIELD, AND OVER HERE ON THIS GRANDSTAND

IS WHERE HITLER WOULD HAVE GIVEN HIS MOST FAMOUS SPEECHES.

[ HITLER SPEAKING GERMAN ]

[ CROWD CHEERS ]

THERE ARE A COUPLE OF IDEAS ABOUT WHY HITLER

WANTED TO POSSESS THE CROWN JEWELS SO BADLY,

PARTICULARLY THE SPEAR OF DESTINY.

THE MORE ACCEPTED THEORY IS ITS SYMBOLIC VALUE,

THAT IT WOULD SYMBOLICALLY LINK HIM

TO ALL OF THE PAST GERMANIC KINGS,

THE HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS,

AND HE SAW HIMSELF AS THE LATTER-DAY VERSION OF THEM,

A NEW INCARNATION FOR THE THIRD REICH.

BUT THEN THERE ARE THE MORE EXOTIC THEORIES THAT MAY POSIT,

AND IT'S ENTIRELY PLAUSIBLE THAT HITLER WOULD HAVE BELIEVED THIS,

THAT SOME OF THESE HOLY RELICS,

PARTICULARLY THE SPEAR OF DESTINY,

MIGHT HAVE GRANTED THE OWNER SOME SORT OF SUPERHUMAN POWERS.

IN FACT, THE LEGEND GOES THAT THE SPEAR OF DESTINY,

IF IT'S CARRIED IN BATTLE, WHOEVER CARRIES IT CAN'T LOSE.

AND WE KNOW THAT HITLER AND HIMMLER WERE RESEARCHING THINGS

THAT WOULD SUPPORT THE WAR EFFORT

FOR SUPERNATURAL MEANS, AS WELL.

SO IT'S ENTIRELY PLAUSIBLE TO BELIEVE

THAT HITLER THOUGHT HEDGING HIS BETS,

THE POSSESSION OF THE SPEAR OF DESTINY

MIGHT HAVE HELPED FROM A MILITARY STANDPOINT, AS WELL.

♪

Narrator: HITLER'S DREAMS WOULD EVENTUALLY LAY IN TATTERS,

AND AS THEIR EVIL EMPIRE COLLAPSED AROUND THEM,

WHERE DID THE NAZIS HIDE THESE PRECIOUS RELICS?

♪

Narrator: DURING WORLD WAR II,

THE NAZI REGIME SYSTEMATICALLY LOOTED ARTWORKS

AND RELIGIOUS RELICS FROM ACROSS OCCUPIED EUROPE.

♪

THE MOST IMPORTANT RELIC HITLER EVER GOT HIS HANDS ON

WAS THE HOLY LANCE, OR SPEAR OF DESTINY,

THAT HE KEPT IN NUREMBERG,

TOGETHER WITH OTHER PRICELESS PIECES

WHICH COMPRISE THE IMPERIAL REGALIA,

OR GERMAN CROWN JEWELS.

ART HISTORIAN NOAH CHARNEY FOLLOWS THE TRAIL.

Charney: WHEN THE SECOND WORLD WAR WAS

BROUGHT TO GERMANY AND THE ALLIES STARTED BOMBING,

THERE WAS A SERIOUS CONCERN THAT SOME OF THE ART TREASURES

OF NUREMBERG, INCLUDING THE CROWN JEWELS,

WOULD BE DESTROYED IN AN ALLIED AIR RAID.

IN ORDER TO PREVENT THIS,

IT WAS ORDERED THAT THE CROWN JEWELS

SHOULD BE STORED IN A SECRET BUNKER,

A VAULT UNDERNEATH NUREMBERG CASTLE,

WHERE I'M STANDING NOW.

THAT VAULT IS WHERE THE CROWN JEWELS REMAINED

THROUGHOUT THE WAR,

UNTIL THEY DISAPPEARED FROM THIS LOCKED VAULT.

♪

Narrator: TODAY, THIS TUNNEL SYSTEM IS KNOWN AS THE KUNST BUNKER.

♪

NOAH MEETS GUIDE ANDREAS CLEMENS,

WHO CAN TELL HIM MORE ABOUT THE INTRIGUING SITE

WHERE THE IMPERIAL REGALIA AND THE HOLY LANCE

WERE SAFELY HIDDEN FROM THE ALLIES.

♪

Clemens: THE BUNKER ORIGINALLY WAS A BEER CELLAR.

THE BEER CELLARS ARE NOW 640 YEARS OLD.

THERE ARE FOUR FOOTBALL FIELDS OF THEM,

AND IN SOME SPOTS, THEY'RE UP TO FOUR FLOORS DEEP.

♪

THIS PLACE WAS BOMBPROOF.

THE SPOT WHERE WE'RE STANDING RIGHT NOW

HAS APPROXIMATELY 24 METERS OF SOLID SANDSTONE ROCK ON TOP.

SO THAT WAS SAFE FROM BOMBS.

NEXT THING THEY DID, THEY PUT IN A VENTILATION SYSTEM.

SO FIRE WAS NO PROBLEM HERE.

BOMBS WERE NO PROBLEM HERE.

THE PLACE WAS DRY. THE PLACE WAS WELL-VENTILATED.

SO, AT LEAST DURING WARTIME,

THIS WAS PERFECT TO STORE ARTWORK.

♪

Narrator: EVEN AS THE ALLIES OVERRAN GERMANY,

THE TREASURES STORED IN THE KUNST BUNKER

SHOULD HAVE REMAINED HIDDEN.

BUT A U.S. ARMY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER

NAMED WALTER HORN HAD A LUCKY BREAK.

YET HORN WASN'T AN AVERAGE INTELLIGENCE OFFICER.

HE HAD AN EXTENSIVE EDUCATION IN ART HISTORY.

WALTER HORN WAS A SENIOR INTELLIGENCE OFFICER

IN THE U.S. ARMY, AND AT THE END OF THE WAR,

HE WAS INTERROGATING A 48-YEAR-OLD GERMAN PRIVATE,

A RATHER BELEAGUERED FIGURE CALLED FRITZ HUBER.

AND HE WAS ASKING HIM ABOUT BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL WEAPONS

THAT THE AMERICANS WERE WORRIED THAT HITLER MAY HAVE CONCEALED

IN CERTAIN WAYS THAT COULD BE USED AT THE END OF THE WAR.

THEY WEREN'T GETTING ANYWHERE IN THE INTERROGATION.

AND THEN HUBER JUST ASKED HIM

WHETHER HE WAS INTERESTED IN OLD ART

AND NOT REALIZING, MAYBE, THAT HORN WAS A PROFESSOR OF HISTORY,

A MEDIEVALIST AT HARVARD.

AND HE THEN STARTED TO DESCRIBE ARTIFACTS

WHICH HORN SUDDENLY REALIZED WAS THE IMPERIAL REGALIA,

INCLUDING THE SPEAR OF DESTINY.

AND IT WAS BURIED UNDERNEATH NUREMBERG CASTLE

IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED BUNKER.

Narrator: THE AMERICAN FORCES CAPTURED NUREMBERG

IN APRIL 1945,

AND HORN SENT A REPORT DETAILING

WHERE THEY COULD FIND THE NAZIS' SECRET BUNKER.

BUT BEFORE THE U.S. SOLDIERS

COULD ENTER THE ALADDIN'S CAVE OF TREASURES,

THE IMPERIAL REGALIA WERE REMOVED

BY THREE CLEVER NAZI SOLDIERS WHO WERE ONE STEP AHEAD.

Clemens: TOWARDS THE END OF THE WAR,

IT BECAME CLEAR THAT RATHER SOONER THAN LATER,

NUREMBERG WOULD BE CONQUERED BY THE AMERICANS.

THEY WERE COMING QUITE CLOSE.

THE THREE MEN IN CHARGE OF THE BUNKER

WANTED TO SAVE THE REGALIA FROM THE,

AS THEY PUT IT, CULTURALIST AMERICANS.

SO THEY CONSPIRED TO REMOVE THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECES --

CROWN, SCEPTER, ORB, AND SWORD.

♪

Narrator: BY JULY 1945, GERMANY WAS DEFEATED

AND HORN HAD TRANSFERRED FROM INTELLIGENCE

INTO THE MONUMENTS, FINE ARTS, AND ARCHIVES PROGRAM.

THIS GROUP, BETTER KNOWN AS THE MONUMENTS MEN,

WAS ESTABLISHED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TO TRACK DOWN ART

AND CULTURAL ITEMS STOLEN BY THE NAZIS.

AND THEY HAD BEEN SENT TO THE NUREMBERG BUNKER

TO TRACK DOWN THE IMPERIAL REGALIA

DETAILED IN HORN'S REPORT.

♪

THE MONUMENTS MEN FIND THE BUNKER.

THEY DO AN INVENTORY, AND EARLY ON, THEY NOTICE,

HUH, THE FOUR MOST IMPORTANT PIECES WERE MISSING.

AND THEY START LOOKING FOR THEM, FOR THOSE THREE GUYS.

THEY FIND TWO OF THOSE GUYS,

AND THEY INTERROGATE THEM FOR SEVERAL HOURS.

AND AT FIRST, THEY KEEP THEIR MOUTHS SHUT.

AND AT ONE POINT, ONE OF THEM GIVES UP THE LOCATION,

SHOWS THE REAL REGALIA TO THE AMERICANS,

SUPPOSEDLY, AFTER THEY PROMISED HIM THE REGALIA

WOULD NOT BE TAKEN TO THE U.S.

BUT WOULD BE GIVEN BACK TO VIENNA.

SO, IT'S INTERESTING THAT THEY CHOSE FOUR OBJECTS,

BUT THEY DIDN'T TAKE THE HOLY LANCE.

NO. IT SHOWS YOU WHAT WAS CONSIDERED IMPORTANT.

THEY CHOSE WHAT THEY CONSIDERED IMPORTANT --

THE SYMBOLS OF POWER, NOT THE RELICS.

♪

Narrator: SO, HOW MUCH ART AND RELICS

WERE EVENTUALLY RETURNED BY THE MONUMENTS MEN?

AND ARE THERE ANY PIECES STILL HIDDEN TODAY?

♪

Narrator: DURING WORLD WAR II, THE NAZIS STOLE VALUABLE PIECES

OF ART AND PRICELESS HOLY RELICS FROM ACROSS EUROPE.

♪

BUT THANKS TO THE EFFORTS OF THE UNITED STATES'

MONUMENTS, FINE ARTS, AND ARCHIVES PROGRAM,

OR MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE MONUMENTS MEN,

LOST MASTERPIECES, SUCH AS THE GHENT ALTARPIECE

AND THE IMPERIAL REGALIA OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS,

WERE RECOVERED AMID THE CHAOS AND DEVASTATION

THAT FOLLOWED GERMANY'S EVENTUAL DEFEAT.

♪

WHILE MANY LOOTED WORKS SURFACED FROM THE NAZIS'

HIDDEN NETWORK OF CAVES AND BUNKERS,

A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF OTHER PIECES HAVE VANISHED FOREVER.

♪

Selwood: THE LEGACY OF THE NAZIS HAVING SPENT SO MUCH TIME

PLUNDERING AND LOOTING CULTURAL ARTIFACTS, RELICS, ART,

IS STILL WITH US.

THESE OBJECTS STILL SURFACE TODAY ON THE BLACK MARKET,

IN AUCTION HOUSES, IN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS,

AND THERE ARE STILL LISTS OF THE VAST NUMBER OF THEM

THAT REMAIN MISSING.

♪

Narrator: ALMOST 80 YEARS AFTER THEIR THEFT,

INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS AROUND THE WORLD

ARE STILL ON A QUEST TO RECOVER THESE LOST WORKS.

♪

IN THE POLISH CITY OF KRAKOW

IS A COLLECTION OF RESTORED PAINTINGS

THAT REFLECT THE FATE OF SO MANY OF THESE STOLEN NAZI TREASURES.

♪

JOURNALIST AND EXPLORER JOANNA LAMPARSKA

VISITS ST. MARY'S BASILICA TO LEARN THE FATE

OF THE CYCLE OF "SAINT CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA"

FROM ART-CONSERVATION EXPERT KATARZYNA PAKULA.

THESE ARE KULMBACH PAINTINGS. YES.

ORIGINALLY, IT WAS EIGHT PANEL PAINTINGS

MADE BY HANS SUSS VON KULMBACH WHO WAS A PAINTER,

RENAISSANCE PAINTER FROM NUREMBERG.

AND THEY HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO KRAKOW

IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF POLISH CULTURE.

IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE 16th CENTURY.

♪

THE EIGHT PAINTINGS THAT MADE UP THIS MEDIEVAL MASTERPIECE

WERE TAKEN BY THE NAZIS DURING WORLD WAR II,

BUT WERE RECOVERED AND RETURNED AT ITS END.

♪

UNFORTUNATELY, AFTER THE WAR, OUT OF EIGHT PAINTINGS,

FROM ONE OTHER PIECE, SIX PAINTINGS CAME BACK.

SO STILL TWO ARE MISSING.

AND SOME ARE SUPPOSEDLY SEARCHING

AND THE POLISH MINISTER OF CULTURE

AND HOPING THAT THEY ARE STILL EXISTING.

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO LOSE ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL PIECES OF ART?

IT IS A GREAT LOSS.

IT IS A GREAT LOSS, OF COURSE, FOR THE CHURCH

AND FOR THE CULTURAL FROM THE EMOTIONAL POINT OF VIEW.

IT IS PRICELESS, AND THEY ARE UNIQUE,

AND THEY ARE OF THE BEST QUALITY

WE KNOW OF THE WORKS OF HANS VON KULMBACH.

Walters: I THINK IT'S A HUGE TRAGEDY THAT SO MUCH OF THIS RELIGIOUS ART,

ICONOGRAPHY, AND TREASURE IS STILL MISSING, EVEN TODAY.

NOW, SOME OF IT CLEARLY WAS SIMPLY DESTROYED

YOU KNOW, MAYBE IN ALLIED BOMBING RAIDS,

YOU KNOW, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY EVEN MORE TRAGIC IN A WAY.

AND THEN YOU'VE NOW, TODAY,

GOT PEOPLE TRYING TO FIND THIS TREASURE.

YOU'VE GOT PEOPLE WHOSE ENTIRE LIFE'S WORK IS TO TRY

AND, MAYBE, FIND ONE WORK OF ART.

♪

Bellinger: WHILE WE DO HAVE A SENSE OF CERTAIN SPECIFIC ITEMS

THAT WE ARE SEARCHING FOR, AND THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE

ALL THE TIME TRYING TO RECOVER THEM,

WE REALLY DON'T KNOW THE TRUE MAGNITUDE OF WHAT'S MISSING

AND DON'T EVEN KNOW, IN SOME RESPECTS,

WHAT WE SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR.

Janulis: MANY OF THESE ARTWORKS

THAT ARE CONSIDERED STILL MISSING

ARE ACTUALLY BEING ACTIVELY TRADED THROUGH

BLACK-MARKET NETWORKS,

AND IT'S BECOME EVEN EASIER TO DO SO NOW

WITH THE INTERNET AND THE DEEP WEB.

AND THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO FETISHIZE

SOME OF THESE ARTIFACTS AND TRADING THEM AS COMMODITIES.

AND THAT GOES ON EVERY DAY.

Hoffman: THERE ARE MANY EXISTING COMMISSIONS IN EUROPE

AND IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA

TO TRY TO REPATRIATE A LOT OF THESE PIECES AS THEY'RE FOUND.

SOME OF THEM EVENTUALLY WOUND UP IN STATE AND LOCAL MUSEUMS

AND HAVE BEEN RELOCATED TO THE FAMILIES

FROM WHENCE THEY WERE STOLEN.

BUT MANY OF THEM STILL RESIDE, PROBABLY, IN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

OR REMAIN UNDERGROUND, MAYBE NEVER TO BE FOUND.

♪

Picknett: MANY PEOPLE ARE STILL OBSESSED

WITH FINDING THE MISSING ART,

INCLUDING, OF COURSE, THE PEOPLE'S FAMILIES

WHO ORIGINALLY OWNED SOME OF THESE BECAUSE A LOT OF THE ART

WAS ORIGINALLY OWNED BY JEWISH FAMILIES

WHO SIMPLY HAD IT REMOVED FROM THEM.

Hoffman: AT LEAST 600,000 OF THEM

WERE STOLEN FROM JEWISH FAMILIES

AND SOME 100,000 OF THEM STILL REMAIN AT LARGE.

♪