2012 / I learned of the remarkable Nazi practice of systematically pillaging occupied Paris. Immediately after families' deportation from their homes, workers were sent to inventory their possessions, which were quickly removed by French moving companies. The Germans commandeered three locations for storing these goods: Levitan (formerly a Jewish-owned department store), Bassano, and Austerlitz. (Works of art were taken to separate locations.) Nothing was left behind: furniture, toys, linens, even lightbulbs. At Levitan, Jewish prisoners sorted and repaired the goods—sometimes they would come across items they recognized from their own homes, or from the homes of friends or family. German officers "shopped" at Levitan for their wives and loved ones, and chosen items were sent back to Germany. By July of 1944, almost 27,000 railroad cars filled with Jewish goods had been shipped out of France.