The Monuments Men Read online

  COPYRIGHT

  Every documented quotation in The Monuments Men has been referenced in the chapter notes. Most of the dialogue that appears without a chapter note has been culled from research by the authors in order to provide a sense of immediacy within a historically accurate context. While the actual words may not be direct quotes, the facts are documented.

  Copyright © 2009 by Robert M. Edsel

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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  First eBook Edition: September 2009

  ISBN: 978-1-59995-265-9

  CONTENTS

  Copyright

  Author’s Note

  Main Characters

  I: The Mission

  1: Out of Germany

  2: Hitler’s Dream

  3: The Call to Arms

  4: A Dull and Empty World

  5: Leptis Magna

  6: The First Campaign

  7: Monte Cassino

  8: Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives

  9: The Task

  II: Northern Europe

  10: Winning Respect

  11: A Meeting in the Field

  12: Michelangelo’s Madonna

  13: The Cathedral and the Masterpiece

  14: Van Eyck’s Mystic Lamb

  15: James Rorimer Visits the Louvre

  16: Entering Germany

  17: A Field Trip

  18: Tapestry

  19: Christmas Wishes

  20: The Madonna of La Gleize

  21: The Train

  22: The Bulge

  23: Champagne

  III: Germany

  24: A German Jew in the U.S. Army

  25: Coming Through the Battle

  26: The New Monuments Man

  27: George Stout with His Maps

  28: Art on the Move

  29: Two Turning Points

  30: Hitler’s Nero Decree

  31: First Army Across the Rhine

  32: Treasure Map

  33: Frustration

  34: Inside the Mountain

  35: Lost

  36: A Week to Remember

  IV: The Void

  37: Salt

  38: Horror

  39: The Gauleiter

  40: The Battered Mine

  41: Last Birthday

  42: Plans

  43: The Noose

  44: Discoveries

  45: The Noose Tightens

  46: The Race

  47: Final Days

  48: The Translator

  49: The Sound of Music

  50: End of the Road

  V: The Aftermath

  51: Understanding Altaussee

  52: Evacuation

  53: The Journey Home

  54: Heroes of Civilization

  Cast of Characters

  Notes

  Bibliography

  Acknowledgments

  What Is Your Connection to the Story?

  To my mother Norma, aunt Marilyn, and son Diego—

  The memory of my father and uncle, A. Ray Edsel and Ron B. Wright, both veterans—

  And the Monuments Men and women, whose heroic efforts preserved so much of the beauty we enjoy today

  Whatever these paintings may have been to men who looked at them a generation back—today they are not only works of art. Today they are the symbols of the human spirit, and of the world the freedom of the human spirit made…. To accept this work today is to assert the purpose of the people of America that the freedom of the human spirit and human mind which has produced the world’s great art and all its science—shall not be utterly destroyed.

  —President Franklin D. Roosevelt, dedication ceremony of the National Gallery of Art, March 17, 1941

  It used to be called plundering. But today things have become more humane. In spite of that, I intend to plunder, and to do it thoroughly.

  —Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, speaking to a conference of Reich Commissioners for the Occupied Territories and the Military Commanders, Berlin, August 6, 1942

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Most of us are aware that World War II was the most destructive war in history. We know of the horrific loss of life; we’ve seen images of the devastated European cities. Yet how many among us have walked through a majestic museum such as the Louvre, enjoyed the solitude of a towering cathedral such as Chartres, or gazed upon a sublime painting such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, and wondered, “How did so many monuments and great works of art survive this war? Who were the people that saved them?”

  The major events of World War II—Pearl Harbor, D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge—have become as much a part of our collective conscience as the names of the books and films—Band of Brothers, The Greatest Generation, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List—and the writers, directors, and actors—Ambrose, Brokaw, Spielberg, Hanks—who brought these epic events and the heroism of that time to life for us once again.

  But what if I told you there was a major story about World War II that hasn’t been told, a significant story at the heart of the entire war effort, involving the most unlikely group of heroes you’ve never heard of? What if I told you there was a group of men on the front lines who quite literally saved the world as we know it; a group that didn’t carry machine guns or drive tanks, who weren’t official statesmen; men who not only had the vision to understand the grave threat to the greatest cultural and artistic achievements of civilization, but then joined the front lines to do something about it?

  These unknown heroes were known as the “Monuments Men,” a group of soldiers who served in the Western Allied military effort from 1943 until 1951. Their initial responsibility was to mitigate combat damage, primarily to structures—churches, museums, and other important monuments. As the war progressed and the German border was breached, their focus shifted to locating movable works of art and other cultural items stolen or otherwise missing. During their occupation of Europe, Hitler and the Nazis pulled off the “greatest theft in history,” seizing and transporting more than five million cultural objects to the Third Reich. The Western Allied effort, spearheaded by the Monuments Men, thus became the “greatest treasure hunt in history,” with all the unimaginable and bizarre stories that only war can produce. It was also a race against time, for hidden in the most incredible locations, some of which have inspired modern-day popular icons like Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at Disneyland and The Sound of Music, were tens of thousands of the world’s greatest artistic masterpieces, many stolen by the Nazis, including priceless paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Jan Vermeer, and Rembrandt, and sculptures by Michelangelo and Donatello. And some of the Nazi fanatics holding them were intent on making sure that if the Third Reich couldn’t have them, the rest of the world wouldn’t either.

  In the end, 350 or so men and women from thirteen nations served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section (MFAA)—a remarkably small number in a fighting force numbering into the millions. However, there were only sixty or so Monuments Men serving in Europe by the end of combat (May 8, 1945), most of whom were American or British. Monuments-laden Italy had just twenty-two Monuments officers. Within the first seve
ral months after D-Day (June 6, 1944), fewer than a dozen Monuments Men were on the ground in Normandy. Another twenty-five were gradually added until the end of hostilities, with the awesome responsibility of covering all of northern Europe. It seemed an impossible assignment.

  My original plan for this book was to tell the story of the Monuments Men’s activities throughout Europe, concentrating on events from June 1944 to May 1945 through the experiences of just eight Monuments Men who served on the front lines—plus two key figures, including one woman—using their field journals, diaries, wartime reports, and most importantly their letters home to wives, children, and family members during combat. Because of the vastness of the story and my determination to faithfully convey it, the final manuscript became so lengthy that it regrettably became necessary to exclude from this book the Monuments Men’s activities in Italy. I have used northern Europe—mainly France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria—as a crucible for understanding the Monuments effort.

  Monuments officers Deane Keller and Frederick Hartt, both American, and John Bryan Ward-Perkins, who was British, and others experienced incredible events during their difficult work in Italy. Our research unearthed insightful and moving letters home that detailed the sometimes overwhelming responsibility they faced to protect this irreplaceable cradle of civilization. I will be including these heroes’ memorable experiences in Italy, using many of their own words, in a subsequent book.

  I have taken the liberty of creating dialogue for continuity, but in no instance does it concern matters of substance and in all cases it is based on extensive documentation. I have at all times tried not only to understand and communicate the facts, but also the personalities and perspectives of the people involved, as well as their perception of events at the very instant they occurred. With the advantage of hindsight, these can be quite different from our opinions; thus one of the great challenges of history. Any errors in judgment are mine alone.

  At its heart, The Monuments Men is a personal story: a story about people. Allow me then one personal story. On November 1, 2006, I flew to Williamstown, Massachusetts, to meet and interview Monuments Man S. Lane Faison Jr., who also served in the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), precursor to the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). Lane arrived in Germany in the summer of 1945 and promptly went to Altaussee, Austria, to assist with the interrogations of key Nazi officials who had been detained by Western Allied forces. His particular assignment was to find out as much as possible about Hitler’s art collection and his plans for the Führermuseum. After the war, Lane was an educator of art at Williams College for almost thirty years, training and sharing his gifted insights with students, both the strivers and the achievers. His professional legacy lives on through his students, in particular the leaders of many of the United States’ leading museums: Thomas Krens (Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1988–2008), James Wood (J. Paul Getty Trust, 2004–present), Michael Govan (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2006–present), Jack Lane (Dallas Museum of Art, 1999–2007), Earl A. “Rusty” Powell III (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1992–present), and the legendary Kirk Varnedoe (Museum of Modern Art, 1986–2001).

  Although ninety-eight years old, Lane was in seemingly good health. Still, I was warned in advance by Gordon, one of his four sons, that “Pop hasn’t been staying awake for periods much longer than thirty minutes, so don’t be disappointed if you don’t learn very much from your conversation.” And what a conversation it was, lasting almost three hours as Lane flipped through my first book, Rescuing Da Vinci, a photographic tribute to the work of the Monuments Men, stopping periodically to stare intently at images that seemed to transport him back in time. Over and again, as his memory was jogged, the twinkle in his eye appeared, and his arms moved enthusiastically with the telling of each amazing story until we both needed to stop. Gordon was in disbelief, a sentiment each of his brothers later echoed.

  As I rose to say goodbye, I walked to the side of his recliner and extended my hand to thank him. Lane reached out and firmly clasped it with both of his hands, pulled me close, and said, “I’ve been waiting to meet you all my life.” Ten days later, a week shy of his ninety-ninth birthday, he died. It was Veterans Day.

  MAIN CHARACTERS

  Major Ronald Edmund Balfour, First Canadian Army. Age in 1944: 40. Born: Oxfordshire, England. Balfour, an art history expert at Cambridge University, was what the British called a “gentleman scholar”: a bachelor dedicated to the intellectual life without ambition for accolades or position. A dedicated Protestant, he began his life as a history scholar, then switched to ecclesiastic studies. His prized possession was his immense personal library.

  Private Harry Ettlinger, U.S. Seventh Army. Age: 18. Born: Karlsruhe, Germany (immigrated to Newark, New Jersey). A German Jew, Ettlinger fled Nazi persecution in 1938 with his family. Drafted by the army after graduating from high school in Newark in 1944, Private Ettlinger spent much of his tour of duty lost in the army bureaucracy before finally finding his niche in early May 1945.

  Captain Walker Hancock, U.S. First Army. Age: 43. Born: St. Louis, Missouri. Hancock was a renowned sculptor who had won the prestigious Prix de Rome before the war and designed the Army Air Medal in 1942. Warmhearted and optimistic, he wrote often to his great love, Saima Natti, whom he had married only two weeks before shipping to Europe for duty. His most common refrain was his joy in his work and his dreams of a house and studio where they could live and work together in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

  Captain Walter “Hutch” Huchthausen, U.S. Ninth Army. Age: 40. Born: Perry, Oklahoma. Hutch, a boyishly handsome bachelor, was a practicing architect and design professor at the University of Minnesota. Stationed primarily in the German city of Aachen, he was responsible for much of the northwest portion of Germany.

  Jacques Jaujard, director of French National Museums. Age: 49. Born: Asnières, France. As the director of the French National Museums, Jaujard was responsible for the safety of the French state art collections during the Nazi occupation from 1940 to 1944. He was a boss, mentor, and confidant of the other great hero of the French cultural establishment, Rose Valland.

  Private First Class Lincoln Kirstein, U.S. Third Army. Age: 37. Born: Rochester, New York. Kirstein was a cultural impresario and patron of the arts. Brilliant but prone to mood swings and depression, a founder of the legendary New York City Ballet, he is widely considered one of the most important cultural figures of his generation. Nonetheless, he was one of the lowest-ranking members of the MFAA, serving as the very capable assistant to Captain Robert Posey.

  Captain Robert Posey, U.S. Third Army. Age: 40. Born: Morris, Alabama. Raised in poverty on an Alabama farm, Posey graduated from Auburn University with a degree in architecture thanks to funding from the army’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). The loner of the MFAA, he was deeply proud of Third Army and its legendary commander, General George S. Patton Jr. He wrote frequently to his wife, Alice, and often picked up cards and souvenirs for his young son Dennis, whom he called “Woogie.”

  Second Lieutenant James J. Rorimer, Comm Zone and U.S. Seventh Army. Age: 39. Born: Cleveland, Ohio. Rorimer was a wunderkind of the museum world, rising to curator of the Metropolitan Museum at a young age. A specialist in medieval art, he was instrumental in the founding of the Met’s medieval collections branch, the Cloisters, with the help of the great patron John D. Rockefeller Jr. Assigned to Paris, his bulldog determination, willingness to buck the system, and love of all things French endeared him to Rose Valland. Their relationship would be vitally important in the race to discover the Nazi treasure troves. Married to a fellow employee of the Metropolitan, Katherine, his daughter Anne was born while he was on active duty; he was not able to see her for more than two years.

  Lieutenant George Stout, U.S. First Army and U.S. Twelfth Army Group. Age: 47. Born: Winterset, Iowa. A towering figure in the then obscure field of art conservation, Stout was one of the first people in America to understand the Nazi threat
to the cultural patrimony of Europe and pushed the museum community and the army toward establishing a professional art conservation corps. As a field officer, he was the go-to expert for all the other Monuments Men in northern Europe and their indispensable role model and friend. Dapper and well-mannered, with a fastidiousness and thoroughness that shone in the field, Stout, a veteran of World War I, left behind a wife, Margie, and a young son. His oldest son served in the U.S. Navy.

  Rose Valland, Temporary Custodian of the Jeu de Paume. Age: 46. Born: Saint-Etienne-de-Saint-Geoirs, France. Rose Valland, a woman of modest means raised in the countryside of France, was the unlikely hero of the French cultural world. She was a longtime unpaid volunteer at the Jeu de Paume museum, adjacent to the Louvre, when the Nazi occupation of Paris began. An unassuming but determined single woman with a forgettable bland style and manner, she ingratiated herself with the Nazis at the Jeu de Paume and, unbeknownst to them, spied on their activities for the four years of their occupation. After the liberation of Paris, the extent and importance of her secret information, which she fiercely guarded, had a pivotal impact on the discovery of looted works of art from France.

  SECTION I

  The Mission

  1938–1944

  This is a long road we have to travel. The men that can do things are going to be sought out just as surely as the sun rises in the morning. Fake reputations, habits of glib and clever speech, and glittering surface performance are going to be discovered and kicked overboard. Solid, sound leadership… and ironclad determination to face discouragement, risk, and increasing work without flinching, will always characterize the man who has a sure-enough, bang-up fighting unit. Added to this he must have a darn strong tinge of imagination—I am continuously astounded by the utter lack of imaginative thinking…. Finally, the man has to be able to forget himself and personal fortunes. I’ve relieved two seniors here because they got to worrying about “injustice,” “unfairness,” “prestige,” and—oh, what the hell!

  —Supreme Commander General Dwight David Eisenhower in a letter to General Vernon Prichard, August 27, 1942

  “I think we got some work done, back at the start, because nobody knew us, nobody bothered us—and we had no money.”