Rape of Europa

2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. @ JCC. Additional Film Screening! Rape of Europa

Directed by Bonni Cohen, Richard Berge and Nicole Newnham (USA, 2006) * 117 minutes * English

With special guest Harry Ettlinger, Monuments Men US War Veteran, in person.

The Rape of Europa will be opening in theaters in the spring across the country. This film tells the epic story of Europe's art treasures that were stolen by the Nazis during the Third Reich and were rescued by the US Army's Monuments Men Division. The Festival has been able to arrange for Harry Ettlinger, one of the few surviving Monuments Men to come to Tucson to speak after each screening. Harry escaped Germany after witnessing the rise of Hitler, came to the United States and was drafted into the US Army. Because of his fluency in German he was assigned to the Monuments Men Division. He recently joined three other surviving Monuments Men at the White House where their foundation received the National Humanities Medal. We hope you will be able to join us to see this stirring documentary and have the opportunity to hear Harry Ettlinger.

The Rape of Europa tells the epic story of the systematic theft, deliberate destruction and miraculous survival of Europes art treasures during the Third Reich and the Second World War. For twelve long years, the Nazis looted and destroyed art on a scale unprecedented in history. But young art professionals as well as ordinary heroes fought back with an extraordinary effort to safeguard, rescue and return the millions of lost, hidden and stolen treasures. The Rape of Europa begins and ends with the story of artist Gustav Klimts famed gold portrait, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, stolen from Viennese Jews in 1938 and now the most expensive painting ever sold. Today, more than sixty years later, the legacy of this tragic history continues to play out as families of looted collectors recover major works of art, conservators repair battle damage, and nations fight over the fate of ill-gotten spoils of war.

Narrated by Joan Allen narrates this is a breathtaking chronicle about the battle over the very survival of centuries of western culture.

Tickets are $8/Adults and $6/students, seniors and JCC members and are available at the JCC, by calling 299-3000 x200, or online at www.tucsonjewishfilmfestival.org.