May 14 , 1942:
- "Noted Jewish Viennese pianist Leopold Birkenfeld is murdered at the Chelmno death camp."
- Looted Art
Hitler's stated intention was to 'extract from these territories everything that is possible to extract.'
"Consequently, the Nazis shamelessly looted Europe's cultural treasures.
Hermann Göring, one of the biggest looters, scoured museums and private collections of wealthy deported Jews for works by famous masters.
In his villa, he proudly displayed stolen masterpieces by Titian, Raphael, Rubens, and Rembrandt. Hitler's interest in Europe's art stemmed from his plan to turn Linz, the Austrian city of his youth, into the world's cultural capital.
He envisioned displaying the world's greatest art treasures, such as the confiscated Madonna and Child by Michelangelo, in the world's biggest museum.
"The pillaging of art reached astronomical proportions.
Throughout Europe, the Nazis acquired more than 100,000 works.
In France alone they appropriated almost 22,000 objects (including 5281 paintings) from 1940 to 1944, bringing them to Germany in 29 shipments that involved 137 freight cars.
After the war, Allied officials attempted to return the treasures, a process complicated by the deaths of former Jewish owners.
Some pieces are still unclaimed, and legal intervention continues to grapple with disputed ownership claims."
May 15, 1942:
"Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, "Eldest of the Jews" in Lódz, Poland, informs the ghetto population that the deportations have come to an end.
In the two previous weeks, May 4 to 15, 10,915 people had been deported for "resettlement"--in reality, the Chelmno death camp.
But the population remained suspicious, and rumors--unfortunately accurate--soon began to spread about renewed deportations in the near future."