Rescuing Nazi-Looted Art

How The "Monuments Men" Helped Save Countless Treasures Plundered During World War II

(CBS)  Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day ... the 63rd anniversary of the liberation of the death camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau. Allied soldiers from many lands had to deal then with the aftermath of Nazi horrors, the Monuments Men of the U.S. Army among them. Their story is our Cover Story, reported by Rita Braver.

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You may have heard about Nazis destroying and looting art all over Europe. But you may not know that the looting - tons of works taken from both personal and public collections - was perhaps the great pillage in history, as much a part of Nazi war planning as was military conquest.

"If you have an interest in art history, you have an interest in World War II," author Robert Edsel told CBS News' Rita Braver. "If you like extraordinary treasure hunts, it's got something for everybody. There's no way you can't be interested in this story."

This is a story that haunts Edsel.

"I like to think of it as a passion," he told Braver, "some say obsession, but there is so much of this story to be revealed."

Edsel's obsession came late. A professional-level tennis player from Dallas, he went on to make a fortune in oil and gas. By age 39, he was a multi-millionaire and ready for a change of pace. He sold his business and moved to Florence.

Before that, he had not thought much about the Nazi's impact on European art. He explained to Braver how he remembers becoming interested in the topic.

"I was walking across one of the bridges in Florence one day, the Ponte Vecchio, the one bridge that wasn't destroyed during World War II by the Nazis, and it occurred to me, almost this epiphany, that how did all these great works of art survive the destructiveness of World War II? And who were the people that saved them?"

What he learned staggered him. Not Jewish and with no relatives who had been caught up in the Holocaust, he has spent millions of dollars of his own money to write a book called "Rescuing Da Vinci" - and to co-produce a documentary titled "The Rape of Europa" to tell the story.

The Nazi war on art and the ravages of modern combat caused an unprecedented upheaval of art and cultural property that is still unraveling today.

For one thing, there was the systematic way the Nazis had gone about stealing art - how, for example, Hitler's second in command, Herman Goering, would line up items for his own collection and Hitler's, making repeated visits to the Jeu de Paume museum in Paris.

"Where he could have a glass of champagne, smoke a cigar," explained Edsel, "and make these elections of works."

"And just take them!" Braver marveled.

"And just take them!" he agreed. "And load them up on his trains, load them up on planes and send them back to Germany."

But what really cut through to Edsel was that while the Nazis were stealing and sometimes destroying treasures, the U.S. was making heroic efforts to safeguard art and architecture.

"And it's a huge change in the history of warfare," Edsel said, "to try and fight a war on the one hand and mitigate damage to cultural treasures at the same time."

And when the war was over there was another extraordinary effort: to return the art the Nazis had looted.

Arriving at Munich and Wiesbaden were the collections of Adolf Hitler, Herman Goering, and art looted from across Europe.

Under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower, a small band of American men and women, including many art historians, was assigned to find and return looted art, some two hundred works in all. They became known collectively as the "monuments men."

"I was 20 years old, just turned 20," reminisced one of them, looking at a photograph, "must have been February 1946 when this photo was taken."

Henry Ettinger, a German born American, was one of the people who found and saved the art. He still marvels at what the United States did.

"We Americans for the first time in the history of civilization, adopted a policy which said that to the victor do not belong the spoils of war."

They weren't always successful. The documentary shows how villagers hijacked a train carrying the last shipment of art that Herman Goering had tried to amass.

Hundreds of paintings and sculptures were scattered in at least six different structures.

But the monuments men had huge successes, too. They found a castle full of property stolen from the Rothchilds and other French Jews.

And they discovered Hitler's personal art hoard deep in a salt mine in the Austrian Alps.

Braver asked art historian Nancy Yeide about the importance of the "monuments men."

"Oh, they were of vital importance," Yeide told her. "Not only did they save this art and rescue it, but the records they kept in the restitutions are used by art historians today to track the provenancy of paintings in our collection."

Yeide, head of curatorial records at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, is studying how Nazis went about looting and how monument men went about tracking the rightful owners of each piece.

"Yeah, this painting was actually confiscated from a private dealer, a dealer's stock, the Seligman Gallery in Paris," Yeide explained, showing Braver one work, "and then taken by Goering and kept in his personal collection throughout the war. And it was recovered by the monuments men with the rest of Goering's collection in Berchtesgaden."

Later the family sold the piece, which is how it ended up here. Other works which the Nazis has seized in Austria were returned by the monuments men and were later sold by their legitimate owners.

"There's such an irony there," Braver observed. "You have people who are in the middle of committing genocide and yet, here they are, fancying themselves connoisseurs of art?"

"Yes, it is, actually, very ironic, Yeide agreed. "The very people they were eradicating, they were taking their art and keeping track of whom they take the art from."

Uncovering the story of how Americans helped return some of that art earned Robert Edsel the 2007 National Humanities Award and last spring, resolutions were passed in both houses of Congress to recognize the work of the monuments men.

"They were overlooked after the war," Edsel said, "but these Congress people and senators fully embraced the story as I went around and told them."

Four of the 12 living monuments men, including Harry Ettinger, were there in Washington that day to reminisce about a time and place where good really did triumph over evil.


Learn more about the Monuments Men at Laurel Publishing's Web Site, www.rescuingdavinci.com, and check out screenings of the documentary "The Rape of Europa."

[workhousepr]

NAZI LOOTED PAINTINGS DISCOVERED AT SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY
Future Home of the George W. Bush Presidential Library

www.monumentsmenfoundation.org

[armcandy101]

Downtowner, you should email the monuments men foundation and have them investigate the art. [e-mail]. I saw a piece on them a few months back on C-SPAN and they got some documents back that had been stolen and donated them to the national archives.

[mcvet]

You will find that MCVet, FeelFree and other of their ilk thrive on these sites. They can stay in their own little world where Big Brother is after them and they can testify all day long on these blogs, while in their real lives they are probably a low life piece of sh**, and not a finr upstanding citizen contributing to any worthwhile cause.


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Posted by retmilspouse at 04:51 PM : Jan 27, 2008
+ report abuse

Oop''s Wrong Swastika Hugger! Say were did you get your magic swastika? Klan Rally? Nazi Youth? Where ever you got it, you should take it back, it DOESN''T work! I love how these fascist ALWAYS try to make folks who won''t go along with the party or addopt the party line, beneth them.. unworthy to comment on the situation! I work for a steel company in Franklin Park Il for over 30 years until problems from Vietnam forced me to retire. I have a wonderful Wife of 35 years and a son, who''s now a police officer in CA. The issue to me is LYING and Killing our troops.. Anyone who has walked into combat and had their friend and brother fall at their side does not EVER want them to face that because of LIES! Yes I hate George W. Bush and I hate those who put him there.. why? Because he''s a cold blooded killer. He lied to us and the families of all those kids who died. That''s a very good reason to hate and we all should. Sieg Heil Bush!

[downtowner97]

There is an Imax film that shows at the visitor''s center of Hearst Castle which attempts to rewrite the history of the Hearst Family. Here''s the ugly reality: George Hearst conned his way into the Comstock Load of silver in Nevada. The film shows him staking a claim honestly like anyone else. His son, William Randolph amassed a fortune by selling newspapers full of news he invented, so as to be sure his stories were exclusives. WR Hearst started the Spanish American War which led to the genocide of over a million Filipinos at the hands of US soldiers. He purchased all the art for his castle by ordering it specifically from the Nazis as they crossed Europe.

The living members of the Hearst family are largely innocent, not feeling they could get away with what their predecessors did. They make their money from cattle, newspapers and magazines.

[downtowner97]

Hearst Castle is an oasis in an otherwise very dry place. The ponds, pools and fountains should attract a large number and wide variety of birds from all over the area. The eaves of the buildings should be full of swallows like the buildings of the visitor''s center and maintenance buildings. Deer should be getting through the open gates in front of and behind the hundreds of vehicles that come and go all day and eating the plants, fruit and flowers. Squirrels should be coming through the fences in droves and undermining the walks and patios. You will find, though, that there is no evidence of life other than the human kind within the perimeter of the inner fence.

[downtowner97]

I worked at Hearst Castle for two seasons. Hearst Castle and the associated collections are owned by the State of California. William Randolph Hearst gave the castle and collection to the State of California to get his family out of paying taxes on the extravagant collection. The Hearst family is still welcome to visit the castle, and retains an airstrip, a car, and a guest house for the purpose of visits. There are two scandalous facts about the castle known only to people who work there.

Those two facts are that the collections were bought from the Nazis during WW2, and that any animal, regardless of its status with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, is poisoned if it gets within the the inner fence around the castle. Huge stockpiles of Malathion, stricknine and other poisons are kept there, and there is a full time biologist on staff who insures the poisons are being dispensed properly, and that the dead animals are removed prior to being seen by tour groups.

[stddating]

I really don''''t think that''''s going to work for you this time around. His points are very valid because I, like most Vets, have gone to the site listing all the lies. They are lies and there''''s no doubt of that.

#############################################################
We both almost gave up hope due to herpes/hpv, but just posted our

success story to pozgroup.com, where we met each other.Stop feeling

dejected,don''t let your hopes fade away.Love is bigger than the H

virus!

[excoachken]

In my opinion, Jimmy Carter was certainly the most intelligent and caring president we have had since 1952, when I first started to closely watch politics. his efforts got us the closest to a lasting mid-east peace because he understood the conflict best and worked to come up with a fair and just agreement. He also, refused to bribe Iran with weapons and aircraft replacement parts(even though Reagan did) and that is what cost him a second term. Those weapons were later used against some of our own troops.

[joyous88]

conservatives are criminals

[joyous88]

liberalameri, right on de!

[joyous88]

THIS IS NEWS? THIS IS CURRENT? THIS IS RELEVENT?

THIS IS THE MSM TRYING TO KEEP YOUR EYE OFF THE BALL.

JUST REMEMBER THAT THE CRIMINAL EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS
THRU THE FAITH BASED BRIBE AND THE MINDLESS CHRISTIAN VOTE

BROUGHT YOU G.W. BUSH AND THE WAR IN IRAQ

[skyk-2009]

Peace an Love
liberalameri, don''''t be foolish. Help someone today. Your comments reveal your troubled mind.
Peace and Love


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Posted by nwihoosier at 07:37 PM : Jan 27, 2008
+ report abuse

How''s that? They appear to me to be the posting of a concerned Citizen. If you aren''t concerned I would have to ask why?

[skyk-2009]

You will find that MCVet, FeelFree and other of their ilk thrive on these sites. They can stay in their own little world where Big Brother is after them and they can testify all day long on these blogs, while in their real lives they are probably a low life piece of sh**, and not a finr upstanding citizen contributing to any worthwhile cause.


Posted by retmilspouse at 04:51 PM : Jan 27, 2008

You do know that you PROVE Sarges point don''t you? You simply attack him and never address the issue''s he raises. I really don''t think that''s going to work for you this time around. His points are very valid because I, like most Vets, have gone to the site listing all the lies. They are lies and there''s no doubt of that. They were also told to the American People for a reason and that to there is no doubt of. It''s not going to get any easier for you Neocons in the coming months either... that list is just to good and contains all the information to a fault.

[nwihoosier]

Peace an Love
liberalameri, don''t be foolish. Help someone today. Your comments reveal your troubled mind.
Peace and Love

[micma-2009]

retmilspouse


Speaking of a low life, you can''t debate MCVet on the factual basis of his posts so you just attack him?

[armcandy101]

downtowner97, Where do you get your information about Hearst? Why doesn''t the FBI go in and take the artwork back?

[retmilspouse]

Posted by michaelt302 at 04:01 PM : Jan 27, 2008

You will find that MCVet, FeelFree and other of their ilk thrive on these sites. They can stay in their own little world where Big Brother is after them and they can testify all day long on these blogs, while in their real lives they are probably a low life piece of sh**, and not a finr upstanding citizen contributing to any worthwhile cause.

[feelfree1]

Re: "They found a castle full of property stolen from the Rothchilds and other French Jews."

Ah yes. The WWII Nazis were defeated decades ago, while the Rothchilds'' global piracy and extortion ring lives on.

[mcvet]

McVet, you''''re a man so clearly consumed with hate for one person you have ceased to be rational.
Just the fact that YOU sign each of your posts with a Nazi salute says it all. Yeah, a couple equally crazy haters on these forums may agree with you, but you know as well as I do 90% of Americans would find you to be off your rocker, and borderline dangerous. And you know it, and that knowledge of your isolation just makes you angrier. You''''re no different from a caged rabid animal.


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Posted by michaelt302 at 04:01 PM : Jan 27, 2008
+ report abuse

What does MY motivation to speak out have to do with anything. You FASCIST, and the entire world calls you that not just me, always attack the person speaking up against your insanity... NEVER do you address the issues raise. Now I made myself PERFECTLY clear and YES I hate the piece of HUMAN TRASH you call a President, what vet wouldn''t? He KILLED 4000 of our best when there was NO reason to do so. I also, have a list of 935 LIES the jerk told the American People care to tell me ONE just ONE of them that is the truth!! SIEG HEIL BUSH!!

[feelfree1]

Re: "(CBS) Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day ... the 63rd anniversary of the liberation of the death camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau."

Some in the Jewish community have milked this issue for far too long, and the world is growing weary. They behave as though they were the only victims of WWII.

Time to move on.