Secrets of the Dead

I first met Dr. Bruno Lohse in June 1998, and I remember every single detail.

You know, after all, it's not every day you meet an old Nazi.

We arranged to have lunch together, and he said he would pick me up from the Central Institute for Art History, in the heart of Munich.

It had been an old Nazi building.

And I remember thinking this was actually appropriate.

And as the moment drew nearer, I think my heart started to beat even more and more quickly.

And then I do recall this extraordinary moment when a massive Mercedes pulled up.

In front, there was a driver.

He appeared to be a kind of chauffeur.

The back door swung open and there he was... the last Nazi art plunderer still alive.

He motioned for me to get in the car, and off we went.

He had a, a presence.

He had a, an aura, if you will.

I knew that Lohse was a member of the SS.

I also knew that he was a real player in the post-war art world, especially in America.

But I didn't realize that our relationship would continue for years and years and that, you know, it would take me to another world... To his apartment, filled with valuable artworks.

To a Swiss bank, that concealed stolen pictures.

[speaking German] And even to the contemporary art world, where Nazi looted art is still traded... [gavel slams] ... and still concealed.

It's the greatest art scandal of the 20th century.

But one doesn't trifle with Lohse without consequences.

I had no idea what I was getting into.