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The Orpheus Clock

The Search for My Family's Art Treasures Stolen by the Nazis

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About this listen

Simon Goodman's grandparents came from German-Jewish banking dynasties and perished in concentration camps. His father rarely spoke of their family history or heritage. But, when he passed away and Simon received his father's old papers, a story began to emerge. The Gutmanns, as they were known then, rose from a small Bohemian hamlet to become one of Germany's most powerful banking families. They also amassed a magnificent, world-class art collection that included works by Degas, Renoir, Botticelli, Guardi, and many, many others. But the Nazi regime snatched from them everything they had worked to build: their remarkable art, their immense wealth, their prominent social standing, and their very lives. With the help of his family, Simon initiated the first Nazi looting case to be settled in the United States.

©2015 Simon Goodman (P)2015 Dreamscape Media, LLC 20th Century Art Military Modern War Imperialism Banking Holocaust

Critic reviews

"With a novelist’s narrative gifts, Goodman movingly portrays his family’s victimization by the Nazis and the post-war repercussions of those events.... Goodman produces much more than another Holocaust book." ( Publishers Weekly)
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This books tells of an aspect of the Jewish persecution by the Nazis which is often overlooked. The strenuous efforts of the Nazis to 'legalise' their art theft is astounding as is their documentation of the process. Equally astounding is the cover up by subsequent owners. The perseverance and success of the Goodman family is hunting down so many of the stolen treasures is very impressive.

Altogether a fascinating book which is well written and very well read.

Fascinating story

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Loved the narrator . Found the book spell binding, at times haunting and hugely informative about the art market. Wonderful

Spellbinding and at times Haunting

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