The Monuments Men
The Nazis stole art. These guys took it back.
Davide Lovison
1945
These monuments are not merely pretty things, not merely valued signs of man's creative power. They stand for man's struggle to relate himself to his past and to his God. - George Stout, A Proposal for Consideration during War and Rehabilitation, 1942
During World War II, Nazi Germany carried out the greatest art theft in history. Led by Nazi philosopher Alfred Rosenberg and the Reichsleiter Rosenberg Task Force (ERR), the Nazis stole over one million art pieces from across Europe. Many of the plundered “ownerless cultural goods” were destined for a proposed Führermuseum in Linz.At the urging of art conservator and Navy reservist George Stout, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt established the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA), with the aim of protecting cultural treasures from the violence of warfare and returning stolen works to their rightful owners.Composed of 345 men and women from 13 countries, the “Monuments Men” scoured European countries for looted art and artifacts, both during and after the war.General Eisenhower gave orders that his forces should assist the MFAA as much as they could without interfering with their military duties and that they should do their utmost to protect important monuments from damage.The Nazis had secreted much of their hoard in salt mines and other subterranean caches. From there and other repositories, pieces were carefully shipped out and restored to their owners, individuals where possible, and institutions. The MFAA found 1,500 hidden repositories of looted artifacts in Germany after the war, as well as items legitimately hidden for safekeeping.Two Monuments Men were killed in the line of duty in March and April 1945, respectively. The MFAA was disbanded in 1946 when the State Department took over its functions.In 2014, a major Hollywood film named Monuments Men detailed true events around a platoon of soldiers who rescued artworks stolen during WWII.
Today we are fighting in a country rich in monuments which by their creation helped and now in their old age illustrate the growth of the civilization which is ours. We are bound to respect those monuments so far as war allows. - General Eisenhower's orders to all commanders, Dec. 29, 1943
The good name of the Army depended in great measure on the respect which it showed to the art heritage of the modern world. - Lt. Col. Sir Leonard Woolley, MFAA Officer
