Chasing Money by Michael Balter

Author:Michael Balter [Balter, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mission Point Press
Published: 2023-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Wednesday Evening

The Baron’s Wife

Albert continued the story, talking quickly, intent on cramming our heads with as much information as possible about a painting we’d known nothing about only an hour earlier.

“In 1940, Hermann Goering issued a special directive outlining how looted art would be distributed among the Nazi hierarchy. The first priority went to Hitler, and the second went to Goering. Third to the Nazi Institute of Art, and the fourth priority to German museums. This pecking order then kicked off a battle between Hitler and Goering. Goering wanted the Great Three for himself. Hitler, who was too busy destroying humanity to keep a watchful eye over them, was forced to deposit the masterpieces with Hans Frank, his attorney and the Governor-General of Poland.

“Frank was a repulsive man. After the Germans occupied Poland, he moved into the Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow as the country’s top Nazi. While the war raged and everyone in Europe lived on rations, Frank luxuriated in splendor. He appointed his private suite with plush furnishings seized from wealthy Polish Jews on their way to concentration camps like Treblinka, Belzec, and Auschwitz. The ‘Butcher of Poland’ lived like a Renaissance Pope and considered the Great Three his prized trophies. He hung the Raphael and Rembrandt in his offices and the Leonardo in his private bathroom because his son hated it.

“He enjoyed his lavish lifestyle for only a few years until the Russians counter-attacked in 1944 and began to press through Poland on their way to Berlin.” Albert pointed a finger in the air. “Here’s when certain events become critical for you to understand what happened to the painting.”

He took a slight pause. “Much of the war’s looted artworks were recovered by American soldiers called Monuments Men or by Russian soldiers called Trophy Brigades. Fortunately, the Leonardo and the Rembrandt, two of the Great Three, were found after the war in Hans Frank’s Bavarian home by Americans, not Russians. Both paintings were eventually returned to the Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, where they are today. But the Raphael was never recovered. There’s never been an explanation for its disappearance, only conjecture.” He stopped briefly to refill his glass.

“Its vanishing is an irritating loose end in our social conscience, a mystery that grows over time, rooting itself in our culture, like the identity of Jack the Ripper or the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa.”

“It’s a lingering question for you and people like you,” insisted Bo. “I’ve never lost a minute of sleep over it.”

“Actually, Bo,” I said, coming to Albert’s defense, “he might have a point. Let’s look at something.” I pulled the baron’s laptop closer, opened the browser, and typed “Raphael, Portrait of a Young Man.” A second later, Google listed its findings.

“Look,” I said, turning the display towards Bo. “There are over two hundred thousand search engine results. It’s not trivial. The discovery of the Raphael would be huge news across the world. We’re talking front-page New York Times, above-the-fold kind of news. Websites and art magazines would cover the story from London to Paris to Moscow to Tokyo.

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