December 19, 2023 • 7 mins
Beauty intrigues everyone, but a desire for control, massive ego, and hatred drive some to steal beauty belonging to others. That was Hitler’s motivation as he rampaged through Europe attempting to steal art, architecture, and even a spectacular race car.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Imagine everything you treasure being targeted for destruction by vicious forces,
but you curate beauty, so instead of handing it over,
you completely dismantle what you love to hide it away
for safekeeping. I'm Patti Steele, trying to save art, architecture,
and automobiles from the Nazis. Next on the backstory, we're
(00:25):
back with the backstory. Well, we know what the Nazis
did to the people they hated and to the entire
political structure of Europe in the nineteen thirties and during
World War II into the nineteen forties, but we don't
hear as much about their desire to destroy basically any
artistic beauty they couldn't take credit for. That included a
(00:45):
spectacular two hundred and fifty year old amber room in
a Russian palace, private art collection stolen from wealthy Jewish families,
and one specific race car that's considered one of the
most powerful and oddly go corgeous cars ever built. Back
in the early seventeen hundreds, Peter the Great Emperor of
(01:05):
Russia had a room installed in his palace that was
made entirely of thirteen thousand pounds of carved amber, and
it was filled with gold leaf as well. It was
considered the eighth Wonder of the World. More than two
hundred years later, the Nazis wanted it in Germany, so
they completely dismantled it panel by panel to transport it.
(01:28):
For a time it was on display in a German castle,
but as the war was coming to an end, the
Nazis dismantled it again and hid it. But someone else
found it and removed it. And that is where the
trail ends. That room, valued at half a billion dollars,
has never been found. Then there are the countless works
(01:49):
of art. Some say the Nazis stole as much as
twenty percent of art ever made, and as many as
one hundred thousand still undreturned pieces were stolen from private
collections like the Rothschilds. That super wealthy Jewish banking family
had over five thousand pieces of art stripped from them
by the Nazis, including antique weaponry, musical instruments, sculptures, and
(02:14):
of course paintings, plus tens, if not hundreds of thousands
of books. Hitler personally got rothschild owned works by Vermier Rembrandt,
and one that was a famous watercolor painting by Van Go,
which sold just a few years ago for over thirty
five million dollars. The Austrian government allowed the Rothschilds to
(02:35):
escape Nazi control, but only if they would leave behind
their priceless artwork. It wasn't until nineteen ninety nine, fifty
years later or more, that a small percentage of the
famous collection was recovered by the Austrian government and returned
to the family. And then there's a legendary race car,
(02:57):
the Delahye one forty five. This thing was built by
Lucy O'Reilly Schell, the first female American Grand Prix driver.
The car was driven in French Grand Prix races in
nineteen thirty eight against the car that was the pride
of Hitler's plan to dominate pretty much all international competition,
the Mercedes Benz Silver Arrow. Now, the Mercedes was able
(03:21):
to produce six hundred horse power, but the Della Hay
wasn't just any race car. Despite far fewer horsepower, the
four point five liter V twelve was an engineering masterpiece.
The French saw it as a symbol of their excellence.
It dominated beating the Nazi drivers in their spectacular Mercedes
(03:41):
Silver Arrow. But Hitler was convinced it wasn't the car
that won the race, but the driver, Rene Dreyfus, and
he told his racing team they had to hire Dreyfus. Well,
that was when somebody on the Nazi team got the
job to tell Hitler that Dreyfus was Jewish. Hitler was
outraged that a French car driven by a Jewish driver
(04:03):
could have beaten his Mercedes Benz Silver Arrow. He was
obsessed with domination and he ordered his troops to find
the Delahaye one forty five and destroy it as he
invaded France. He wanted this symbol of French and Jewish
defiance just completely wiped off the face of the earth.
But he didn't reckon with the car's owner, Lucy O'Reilly Schell.
(04:26):
She loved this car, and she decides to act in
a gutsy defiant move. She has the Delahaye completely dismantled.
The parts were buried underground in a French hillside to
save it from the Nazis. It was like a deadly
game of hide and seek, but the Nazis never found it.
(04:48):
The war finally ends, decades pass but the Delahay one
forty five was still mostly lying in pieces like a
priceless puzzle. It wasn't until the nineteen eighties that auto
experts began putting the Delahay back together. In nineteen eighty seven,
billionaire philanthropist Peter Mullen, who founded several renowned car museums,
(05:10):
bought the Dellahy one forty five and separately, its original
magnesium engine, and had it finally restored to its original specs. Now,
think about the moment when that engine silenced, since the
onset of World War II roars back to life gives
it the chills, right, It was kind of a resurrection
(05:32):
and at the same time another symbol of Hitler's defeat.
Until his death just a few months ago, Peter Mullen
drove the car regularly and even occasionally raised it despite
its multi multi million dollar value, because, as he put it,
these cars are absolutely works of art. But a car
is meant to be driven, and a race car is
(05:54):
meant to be raced. Now in KSE, you're wondering what
that della Hey one forty five is. Well, it's definitely priceless,
since there are no others to compare it to. But
within the past year or so, a nineteen fifty five
Mercedes Silver Arrow Race car sold it auction for one
hundred and forty million dollars, so you can start from
(06:16):
there now. This is a story of art defiance and
a bit of rebirth. The paintings, sculptures, and other treasures
hidden from the Nazis are a testament to the determination
of those folks not afraid to resist. I'm Patty steel
(06:43):
The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks, the Elvis
Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser.
Our writer Jay Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday
and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with
comments and even stories, suggest questions on Instagram at real
Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for
(07:05):
listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of
history you didn't know you needed to know.
Imagine everything you treasure being targeted for destruction by vicious forces,
but you curate beauty, so instead of handing it over,
you completely dismantle what you love to hide it away
for safekeeping. I'm Patti Steele, trying to save art, architecture,
and automobiles from the Nazis. Next on the backstory, we're
(00:25):
back with the backstory. Well, we know what the Nazis
did to the people they hated and to the entire
political structure of Europe in the nineteen thirties and during
World War II into the nineteen forties, but we don't
hear as much about their desire to destroy basically any
artistic beauty they couldn't take credit for. That included a
(00:45):
spectacular two hundred and fifty year old amber room in
a Russian palace, private art collection stolen from wealthy Jewish families,
and one specific race car that's considered one of the
most powerful and oddly go corgeous cars ever built. Back
in the early seventeen hundreds, Peter the Great Emperor of
(01:05):
Russia had a room installed in his palace that was
made entirely of thirteen thousand pounds of carved amber, and
it was filled with gold leaf as well. It was
considered the eighth Wonder of the World. More than two
hundred years later, the Nazis wanted it in Germany, so
they completely dismantled it panel by panel to transport it.
(01:28):
For a time it was on display in a German castle,
but as the war was coming to an end, the
Nazis dismantled it again and hid it. But someone else
found it and removed it. And that is where the
trail ends. That room, valued at half a billion dollars,
has never been found. Then there are the countless works
(01:49):
of art. Some say the Nazis stole as much as
twenty percent of art ever made, and as many as
one hundred thousand still undreturned pieces were stolen from private
collections like the Rothschilds. That super wealthy Jewish banking family
had over five thousand pieces of art stripped from them
by the Nazis, including antique weaponry, musical instruments, sculptures, and
(02:14):
of course paintings, plus tens, if not hundreds of thousands
of books. Hitler personally got rothschild owned works by Vermier Rembrandt,
and one that was a famous watercolor painting by Van Go,
which sold just a few years ago for over thirty
five million dollars. The Austrian government allowed the Rothschilds to
(02:35):
escape Nazi control, but only if they would leave behind
their priceless artwork. It wasn't until nineteen ninety nine, fifty
years later or more, that a small percentage of the
famous collection was recovered by the Austrian government and returned
to the family. And then there's a legendary race car,
(02:57):
the Delahye one forty five. This thing was built by
Lucy O'Reilly Schell, the first female American Grand Prix driver.
The car was driven in French Grand Prix races in
nineteen thirty eight against the car that was the pride
of Hitler's plan to dominate pretty much all international competition,
the Mercedes Benz Silver Arrow. Now, the Mercedes was able
(03:21):
to produce six hundred horse power, but the Della Hay
wasn't just any race car. Despite far fewer horsepower, the
four point five liter V twelve was an engineering masterpiece.
The French saw it as a symbol of their excellence.
It dominated beating the Nazi drivers in their spectacular Mercedes
(03:41):
Silver Arrow. But Hitler was convinced it wasn't the car
that won the race, but the driver, Rene Dreyfus, and
he told his racing team they had to hire Dreyfus. Well,
that was when somebody on the Nazi team got the
job to tell Hitler that Dreyfus was Jewish. Hitler was
outraged that a French car driven by a Jewish driver
(04:03):
could have beaten his Mercedes Benz Silver Arrow. He was
obsessed with domination and he ordered his troops to find
the Delahaye one forty five and destroy it as he
invaded France. He wanted this symbol of French and Jewish
defiance just completely wiped off the face of the earth.
But he didn't reckon with the car's owner, Lucy O'Reilly Schell.
(04:26):
She loved this car, and she decides to act in
a gutsy defiant move. She has the Delahaye completely dismantled.
The parts were buried underground in a French hillside to
save it from the Nazis. It was like a deadly
game of hide and seek, but the Nazis never found it.
(04:48):
The war finally ends, decades pass but the Delahay one
forty five was still mostly lying in pieces like a
priceless puzzle. It wasn't until the nineteen eighties that auto
experts began putting the Delahay back together. In nineteen eighty seven,
billionaire philanthropist Peter Mullen, who founded several renowned car museums,
(05:10):
bought the Dellahy one forty five and separately, its original
magnesium engine, and had it finally restored to its original specs. Now,
think about the moment when that engine silenced, since the
onset of World War II roars back to life gives
it the chills, right, It was kind of a resurrection
(05:32):
and at the same time another symbol of Hitler's defeat.
Until his death just a few months ago, Peter Mullen
drove the car regularly and even occasionally raised it despite
its multi multi million dollar value, because, as he put it,
these cars are absolutely works of art. But a car
is meant to be driven, and a race car is
(05:54):
meant to be raced. Now in KSE, you're wondering what
that della Hey one forty five is. Well, it's definitely priceless,
since there are no others to compare it to. But
within the past year or so, a nineteen fifty five
Mercedes Silver Arrow Race car sold it auction for one
hundred and forty million dollars, so you can start from
(06:16):
there now. This is a story of art defiance and
a bit of rebirth. The paintings, sculptures, and other treasures
hidden from the Nazis are a testament to the determination
of those folks not afraid to resist. I'm Patty steel
(06:43):
The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks, the Elvis
Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser.
Our writer Jay Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday
and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with
comments and even stories, suggest questions on Instagram at real
Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for
(07:05):
listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of
history you didn't know you needed to know.
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