Art theft and looting during World War II Art theft and looting during World War II Art theft and looting occurred on a massive scale during World War II. It originated with the policies of the Axis countries, primarily Nazi Germany and Japan, which systematically looted occupied territories. Near the end of the war the Soviet Union, in turn, began looting reclaimed and occupied territories. "The grand scale of looted artwork by the Nazis has resulted in the loss of many pieces being scattered across the world." (Minyard, 2007) Although the looting of "cultural heritage" of the German people and private collectors was not permitted in the 1945
German camps in occupied Poland during World War II Łódź with hundreds of subsidiary "Arbeitskommandos"; Stalag VIII-B, Stalag XXI-D, plus a network of smaller ones including district camps. Many Soviet prisoners-of-war were also brought to occupied Poland, where most of them died in slave labor camps. The POW camp in Grądy (Stalag 324) held 100,000 Soviet prisoners; 80,000 of them perished. The Germans did not recognise Soviets as POWs and several million of them died in German hands. They were fed only once a day, and the meal would consist of bread, margarine and soup. The Polish nation lost the largest portion of its pre-war population during World War