The Nazi plunder is a reference to the actions of Nazi's in WWII. During the war, Nazi Germany was politically charged and many officials became greedy. Members of the military, and general citizens, also became greedy, often taking advantage of weaker citizens in Nazi Germany and in other countries.
The Nazi plunder describes the theft of expensive art, and other loot, from many European countries. Nazi Germany included citizens that were fearful and under the command of the Nazi party. Members of the party were sometimes instructed on proper procedure for looting, and the manner in which to remain unrecognized.
On some occasions, that included killing any witnesses to the looting. The looting went on for years, until the war was finally ended. The looting often included many items that had cultural or personal significance to the victims of theft. There is currently an effort, worldwide, to reunite items that are still unaccounted for, with the families of the rightful owners.
Some of the items that were looted, were traded or sold, to fund the Nazis cause in Nazi Germany. The Nazis also looted certain structures in order to take specific items, such as books on freemasonry or simply the property of Jewish families and the families of masons. Looting was so common that many families attempted to hide their valuables, or personal items. Unfortunately, many of those families were never able to retrieve those belongings due to death or the inability to return to a certain area because of a real fear of death.
The Nazi plunder continued for years and the loot was often brought to a museum in Paris where is was distributed between Hitler and Goring. They allegedly had at least twenty thousand pieces at the museum. Of those, the items that were not desired by Hitler or Goring, were offered to other Nazis. In total, officials from Nazi Germany are said to have collected hundreds of thousands of objects that were looted from families during the war. Prominent families were often targeted because it was well known that they had collections of value.
Some of the looting perpetrated by Nazi Germany, was rather systematic. Specific families were often targeted for the Nazi plunder because of their wealth and for various other reasons. The Nazi plunder has partially been recovered, but much of the valuable art work remains unaccounted for. Organizations work together with museums, in case they should ever come across a piece of the looted art. There are continued efforts to return the items to the families of the rightful owners.
