Robert Edsel's Blog

As part of the 65th Anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE-Day) celebration at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas, I will be discussing my new book, The Monuments Men and presenting a completely revised presentation that focuses on General Eisenhower’s role concerning protection of the arts during World War II. Ike’s policies were implemented by the Monuments Men. In conjunction with the presentation I will be bringing with me one of the “Hitler Albums” which will be on display during the weekend. The presentation starts at 7pm in the Visitors Center Auditorium, with audience Q&A to follow. On Saturday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will be the other keynote speaker beginning at 1pm.

If you would like to attend the events, please click on the following link for more information: Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum: VE-Day 65th Anniversary

Left to Right: Generals Bradley, Patton, and Eisenhower (Photo Courtesy of National Archives)

Having heard about the extraordinary discovery of most all of Nazi Germany’s gold reserves and paper currency, along with its vast cultural wealth from Berlin’s greatest museums and libraries, in a salt mine in Merkers, Germany, Generals Eisenhower, Patton and Bradley left SHAEF headquarters in Rheims, France and made a several day visit to see it firsthand.  As the Monuments Men, led by George Stout, were urgently crating the works of art for removal from the mine, the generals descended in a rickety elevator manned by a lone German operator.

Their sense of disconnection was palpable:  billions of dollars (in today’s currency) of gold bars and bagged coins sat stacked in one chamber adjacent to some of the world’s greatest works of art. Chests filled with gold fillings pulled from the mouths of murdered victims of the Nazi genocide sat idle, not yet smelted into bars to sit atop the Reichsbank horde.  Suitcases of silverware, another reminder of property stolen along with the lives of the owners, lined several walls.

General Eisenhower at Ohrdruf Concentration Camp (Photo Courtesy of National Archives)

Later that afternoon, the generals visited Ohrdruf, the first Nazi work camp liberated by American forces. Strewn before them were the corpses of the dead and emancipated figures of those near death.  General Patton, old “Blood and Guts”, had to lean against the side of one of the bunkhouse sheds as he was sick to his stomach from the horrors and stench of what he was witnessing.

President Franklin Roosevelt attending Yalta Conference in February 1945, less than 2 months before he died. (Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

After dinner, as the generals returned to their respective tents, General Patton overheard on the BBC the announcement of President Roosevelt’s death earlier that day.  At age 63, 12 years into his presidency, having led the nation through its most perilous fiscal crisis and a world war, Roosevelt was gone. He did not live to see the fruits of his leadership – victory – which would follow 26 days later in Europe, and 125 days later in Japan.

April 12:  a day that had momentous implications for our nation, the world, and the Monuments Men.  (For a more detailed account of this story, please read The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History).

Rembrandt, "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee", 1633, Oil on canvas, inscribed on the rudder, 161.7 x 129.8 cm (Image Courtesy of Isabella Stewart Museum)

Today it has been 20 years since 13 invaluable works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, in what has been called the largest property theft in recorded history.

Vermeer, "The Concert", 1658–1660 Oil on canvas, 72.5 x 64.7 cm. (Image Courtesy of Isabella Stewart Museum)

On the night of March 18, 1990, two thieves dressed as Boston police officers gained entry to the museum, handcuffed both night guards, and proceeded to spend about 40 minutes stealing art from 3 different galleries. Among the missing works of art are Vermeer’s The Concert and Rembrandt’s Storm on the Sea of Galilee. A $5 reward is still being offered for information leading to the recovery of the works of art.

For more information on the theft, please visit the museum’s website:
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/information/theft.asp

Monuments Man George Stout (Image Courtesy of National Archives)

The Gardner Museum is one of the premiere museums in the United States, established at the turn of the 20^th century. It houses more than 2,500 works of art in an intimately designed space. Monuments Man George Stout [link to his bio] served as Director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum from 1955 to 1970.

National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (Image Courtesy of Wikipedia Images)

When visiting the National Gallery of Art in Washington, it’s hard to believe it is only 69 years old.  Its majestic appearance and rich collections suggest a museum many centuries in age.  How could all these artistic treasures be assembled so late in history?  Who had the vision to suggest that the United States finally have a national collection for the people such as those in nearly all European countries?

National Gallery of Art West Side in the 1940s (Image Courtesy of Wikipedia Images)

In fact, hard as it is to believe, much of the success of the National Gallery of Art is due to the generosity of one man:  Andrew W. Mellon. Mellon was a successful financier before serving as the Secretary of the Treasury from 1921-1932 and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1932-1933. He began collecting art, mostly old master painters and sculpture, during World War l.  By the late 1920s he had developed a vision that would become the National Gallery of Art, a collection of the world’s greatest works of art for the benefit of its citizens.   However, while he continued to add to his extraordinary collection, his plans for the museum and the donations he would make that would assure its construction were kept secret.

Andrew Mellon (Image Courtesy of National Gallery of Art)

In 1930, with the world firmly in the grip of the Depression, Mellon seized on one of the greatest buying opportunities in the history of collecting: a series of purchases from Russia’s greatest museum, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, a once in a lifetime event driven by orders from Soviet Premier Stalin to museum officials to raise cash by selling art. This despicable decision by Stalin was received with shock by museum officials, but fear of the repercussions outweighed any alternative.  In the course of a year Mellon purchased 21 paintings, the likes of which would never have been available but for these extraordinary circumstances, including Raphael’s Alba Madonna and Jan van Eyck’s The Annunciation.  It was the coup of Mellon’s collecting career.

The Opening Ceremony at the National Gallery of Art presided by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Image Courtesy of National Gallery of Art)

In 1936 Mellon wrote President Roosevelt and formally offered to build the National Gallery of Art building and donate his collection to the nation.  Ultimately 121 paintings and 21 pieces of sculpture from Mellon’s collection were gifted.  Not only did he provide $15 million to build the building, but he also stipulated that it would not bear his name.  This was not only an extraordinary act of selflessness but also a strategically wise decision because Mellon knew he had to enlist the support of his peers to also promise their respective collections to the National Gallery of Art.  Putting his name on the building was something he understood would make that task difficult if not impossible. By excluding his name from the building Mellon was empowered to persuade others, including Samuel H. Kress, Chester Dale, and Joseph P. Widener, to donate or commit their collections to the nation.  In the coming years these great collectors and many others made gifts of collections and funds, a tradition that continues to this day.

Leonardo da Vinci, "Ginevra de Benci", 1476, Oil on Wood, 38.8 cm × 36.7 cm (15.3 in × 14.4 in) (Image Courtesy of Wikipedia Images)

Mellon also established a trust, donating $10 million, to fund the Gallery during those early years.  This was just the beginning of almost a century of philanthropy by the Mellon family as Mellon’s son, Paul, and daughter, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, continued their father’s support with generous financial donations as well as works of art.  In fact, the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in an American collection, Ginevra de’ Benci, is at the National Gallery of Art, made possible by the Ailsa Mellon Bruce fund.

Robert M. Edsel speaking at The National Gallery of Art in January 2010. (Photo Courtesy of Robert M. Edsel Collection)

The National Gallery of Art is one of our nation’s greatest cultural centers and is full of visitors every day of the year but for the two it is closed. The facilities are state of the art and beautiful to admire. Anyone wanting to see one of the world’s great collections of art need not travel further than Washington, D.C. For those seeking a great example of selfless giving, study Andrew Mellon and his role in making this once lofty vision a reality.

(Photo Courtesy of Kings College, Cambridge)

Today we honor the anniversary of British Monuments Man Ronald Balfour’s death. He was one of two Monuments Men killed in action while working to preserve the cultural heritage of Europe. While writing The Monuments Men, we researched his papers at King’s College, Cambridge. As usual, his papers were not only filled with reports and biographical information, but also touching personal letters and memories of him from professional associates and loved ones.

Amongst these things we found a draft of a lecture he had prepared for soldiers on the importance of protecting cultural property in times of war. We don’t know if the lecture was ever given, but his words perfectly and eloquently summarize the mission of the Monuments Men.

“We do not want to destroy unnecessarily what men spent so much time and care and skill in making…[for] these examples of craftsmanship tell us so much about our ancestors…If these things are lost or broken or destroyed, we lose a valuable part of our knowledge about our forefathers. No age lives entirely alone; every civilization is formed not merely by its own achievements but by what it has inherited from the past. If these things are destroyed, we have lost a part of our past, and we shall be the poorer for it.”

You may read Balfour’s full biography here: http://monumentsmen.com/bio.php?id=11

Elliott Dlin, the longtime director of Dallas’ Holocaust Museum. (Photo Courtesy of Dallas Morning News)

Everyone who has accomplished anything of importance has benefited by a key break from someone else.  Perhaps it was the opening of a door to see someone otherwise unavailable, or help with solving a seemingly irresolvable problem.  Oftentimes it’s something as simple as receiving an encouraging word.  This has certainly been true for the Monuments Men Foundation!

One of the people who played an important role in our work and was a constant supporter of mine was Elliot Dlin, an instrumental figure in the Jewish community and longtime director of the Dallas Holocaust Museum.  This week, Elliot died at the far too young age of 57.

I met Elliot at a booksigning for my first book, Rescuing Da Vinci, in 2006.  This large man, who possessed the charming and genuine smile of a happy boy, came bounding up to me, bypassing the line of people in the most kind and enthusiastic of ways, and said….”I’m Elliot Dlin and I can’t wait to show you some of the documents and letters your work has brought to mind!!!” His passion and and energy for not only his work, but LIFE, were hallmarks of his engaging personality.

Over the next three years I saw Elliot 3-4 times per year, sometimes at events, and on other occasions when I visited the Dallas Holocaust Museum.  Each time he would greet me with his warm smile and tell me how happy he was to see me – and I always knew he meant it.  This fine man and dedicated public servant followed our work closely and took time to relay his pride in our achievements.  He was a giver, a sharer, someone who wanted those around him to succeed.

In late 2006 Elliot contacted me, even before the Foundation was officially formed, to seek my assistance with several calls he had received from someone who claimed to have important Nazi documents.  Elliot selflessly turned this over to the Foundation to handle.  Over the course of the following year the Foundation not only determined the importance of the discovery, but ultimately acquired and then donated these documents to the National Archives.  It was a great success for the Foundation and the Dallas Holocaust Museum, and a significant benefit for our nation. No one was more pleased than Elliot and appropriately so:  but for his call to us, we might never have known about the lead.

We mourn the loss of this good man and extend to his family, and all those who knew and loved him, our most sincere condolences.

Elliot Dlin at the 2008 Hope for Humanities Dinner and Award Banquet. (Photo Courtesy of Dallas Holocaust Museum)

Ken Lindsay (1919 - 2009) (Photo Courtesy of Agon Arts & Entertainment)

A year ago today, the world lost a great man – Monuments Man Ken Lindsay. His legacy still lives on at the Monuments Men Foundation.

Ken Lindsay was as polite and kind a person as he was passionate and articulate about art. When I first met him and his lovely wife Christine, I was so captivated to hear him recount his experiences as a soldier and Monuments Man that I laid my pen down and just listened. The twinkle in his eyes belied his age, for his words were clear, precise and empowered with youthful energy.

(Photo Courtesy of Robert M. Edsel Collection)

Like many MFAA personnel, Lindsay did not initially join the military as a Monuments officer, rather he was drafted and first served with signal intelligence at SHAEF headquarters. He marched through France with the U.S. 3rd Army and was later appointed to the Wiesbaden Collecting Point under the directorship of Monuments officer Capt. Walter Farmer. Because Lindsay was not an officer, he was not among the signatories to the “Wiesbaden Manifesto,” a document which expressed opposition to the removal of German-owned artworks to the United States for safekeeping. However, he did strongly agree with its sentiment.

One of his most memorable experiences at Wiesbaden was the uncrating of the ancient Egyptian Bust of Queen Nefertiti (seen in the photo on the left), which had been evacuated for safekeeping from the Berlin museums towards the end of the war. Lindsay recalled the moment the bust was removed from its protective casing: “Within an instant, every man in there fell hopelessly in love with her – that face – absolutely beautiful.”

Ken Lindsay reading (Photo Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration)

After the war, Lindsay was a professor of art history at Williams College, Williamstown, MA. He left in 1951 to become professor and later chair of the art history department at Harpur College, Binghamton University (SUNY) until 1990. During his retirement, Dr. Lindsay remained busy. He wrote an article about the Wiesbaden Manifesto and the controversial decision to transfer German-owned artworks to the United States, entitled “Official Art Seizure Under the Military Cloak,” in the journal Art, Antiquity, and Law (vol. 3, no. 2, June 1998).

Photo Courtesy of CNN

As they say in westerns, “where’s the sheriff when you need one?”

I previously wrote about the damage to Haiti’s great national cathedral (blog dated February 9) and pointed out the hope that restoring it can bring to the citizens of this devastated country.  These cultural symbols with which they have lived for decades bring hope and inspiration; they’re destruction conveys the opposite message.  But in Haiti, like in war torn Europe at the end of World War II, the damage to culture went far beyond buildings and structures to include paintings, sculpture…in fact, most every form art takes.  This was the overwhelming challenge faced by the Monuments Men and women in the days after the war.

Christiane Amanpour, one of the truly gifted journalists of our time, due in no small part to her years of travel and fascinating family of origin, “gets it” in my view on this and so many other subjects.  Art matters; culture matters.  They are priceless parts of our existence; when they are damaged or our ability to enjoy them restricted as was the case in Nazi Germany, our lives are greatly diminished in ways few appreciate until those horrible moments are presented.  Christiane has prepared a great piece about the cost to Haiti in terms of its loss of cultural heritage due to the damage of works of art from the earthquake. The link is http://www.cnn.com/haitilostart.html

We must always state how much we mourn those who are no longer in Haiti, the tragic victims of this epic natural disaster.  But our focus must now shift to those who have survived, and those who have a chance to recover.  As time passes, these symbols of hope—the cultural heritage of a nation—will become increasingly important to the people of Haiti, perhaps less due to a desire to enjoy them initially and more so knowing that until the day when the rebuilding has begun, their cultural patrimony is safe.  Compliments to Christiane Amanpour for her insights and program.

The National Cathedral of Haiti devastated by the recent earthquake. (Photo Courtesy of Polaris Images)

I’ve often said that perhaps the most redeeming aspect of the historic work of the Monuments Men is one of hope…that in the face of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man, and amidst the great human suffering and devastation to homes, towns, and ways of life as a consequence of World War II, a small group of volunteers emerged to risk their lives and everything they had accomplished to rescue and preserve the cultural legacy of civilization for future generations.  This story is certainly filled with heroism, valor, and harrowing close calls in which western civilization’s most beloved works of art and monuments were in jeopardy of being destroyed.   But the story is also one of hope that the lessons of the Monuments Men during World War II would enable future generations to be better prepared to deal with similar situations.

In Haiti, a natural disaster of war-like scope has devastated the nation and its people and suspended the normal functioning of their society.  The deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, and more importantly all ongoing efforts to save the lives of others while creating a stable safe living environment must be the paramount concern.  This will be years in the doing; no quick fix exists.  Haiti’s long history of poverty and decades of kleptocratic leadership have created that reality despite noble efforts, and some signs of progress, these past few years.   Because of the protracted time that rebuilding even a modicum portion of the infrastructure will require, hope—and all its symbols—will have an added significance.

Hope buys time…hope buys patience…hope can provide a reason to fight for life just one more day until improvement comes, no matter how slight. Hope can bring a sense of confidence about there being tomorrows.  And in my judgment, the people of Haiti need hope as desperately as they need medicine, doctors, and financial aid.  What then can be done that would bring a disproportionate benefit to the aid dollars and individual acts of mercy?  Let us for a moment look to the past as a guide.

Rouen Cathedral damaged by bombing in 1944 (Photo Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration)

The thousands of discoveries during World War ll made by the Monuments Men of hidden paintings, stained glass, pieces of sculpture, and other art objects too often overshadows their initial assignment which was to protect monuments, i.e., churches, libraries, museums, and other important historical structures, hence the nickname “Monuments Men.”   The Monuments Men were not responsible for restoring these buildings, but they did oftentimes implement crucial temporary repairs that mitigated damage and enabled restoration at a later date.  They also made key determinations about which structures were damaged beyond repair and those that, while severely damaged, could in fact be rebuilt using as much of the original materials and structure as possible.

Many examples of the results of their work and other people of good will exist, but two that are prominent and serve to illustrate the point are the great cathedral in Rouen, and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin.  The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen was severely damaged in April 1944 by Western Allied bombing, and again during the D-Day invasion two months later.  It was repaired after the war and remains one of Europe’s great gothic cathedrals, dating back to 1202!  The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, built in honor of Germany’s Emperor (1858-1888), was nearly destroyed in a Western Allied air raid on November 23, 1943.  As late as May 24th, 1953, the church was still unrepaired with parishioners attending services in the ruins of the structure.  Repairs to the church didn’t begin until 1959 and required 4 years to finish.

The National Cathedral of Haiti before the earthquake (Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia Images)

And After (Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia Images)

Haiti’s great church, the National Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, was severely damaged by the earthquake.  Built between 1884 and 1914, the Cathédrale de Port-au-Prince is a Roman Catholic Church of hugely symbolic importance to Haitians, more than 90% of whom are Catholic. It is, along with the presidential palace, the most identifiable structure in the nation.  (To put this into perspective, imagine the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. being destroyed, or St. Patrick’s in New York City.)  While the roof collapsed, much of the structure’s walls remain standing, in fact eerily similar to the scenes of destruction to the Rouen and Berlin churches.  Those churches were rebuilt:  the National Cathedral in Port-au-Prince should be also.

Imagine the impact on these shattered Haitian lives to see this revered structure rebuilt and done so in a way to withstand future earthquakes? And not rebuilt for them, but rebuilt BY THEM combining their physical participation with the technological assistance of experts in such matters, and the funding and support of kindred organizations such as the Vatican, the World Monuments Fund, and others.  The symbol of hope and reassurance to the people of Haiti that there WILL be a tomorrow would be immense and inspirational.  With guidance and assistance from those in the United States, including our government, it would send a message to the world that the leaders of this nation understand the importance of respect for the preservation of cultural property in a way our actions in the aftermath of the looting of the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad in 2003 did just the opposite. This was the very essence of why the Monuments Men were created, the core objective of their mission.  It worked in war torn Europe after the deaths of 60 million people.  Why then should it not work in Haiti?

New Orleans is the place to be….Saints mania abounds, and rightfully so!!!  But there’s another exciting event which has brought me here today:  the opening of the first exhibition by the Monuments Men Foundation!  And what more fitting location could there be:  the stunning National World War II Museum!  On display are two irreplaceable historic documents which are the smoking guns of Hitler and the Nazi’s greatest theft in history:  the Gemaldegalerie Linz Album XIII, and the ERR Album 6, both of which were removed from Hitler’s home in Berchtesgaden, known as the Berghof, by U.S. Army soldiers.

This is the first time these documents have been together since being in Hitler’s possession, and the only opportunity the public will ever have to see them together.  The ERR Album 6 contains photographs of paintings stolen by Alfred Rosenberg and his notorious Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg unit from the great collectors in France including families such as the Rothschilds, Seligmanns, David-Weill, and others.  It was presented to Hitler along with as many as 100 albums in that series.  Until the Monuments Men Foundation located Album 6, it was believed there were just 39 of these albums which, interestingly, were the chief prosecution exhibit at the Nuremberg Trials for the portion pertaining to Nazi theft of cultural property.

This 90 day exhibition marks the second leg of the journey home to Berlin for the Gemaldegalerie Linz Album XIII.  It began a week ago when I presented it to Germany’s Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Klaus Scharioth, at the United States State Department (for related story click here).  This Album, one of 31 such albums created of which only 19 were believed to have survived the war, is extremely important because it contains photographs of the works of art personally selected by Hitler for the museum he intended on building in his hometown of Linz, commonly referred to as the Führermuseum.  Album XIII is particularly significant because it contains works by German 19th century painters so beloved by Hitler.  Not only was this and the other still missing 11 albums thought to have been destroyed, but scholars believed their last known location was the Wolfsschanze or Wolf’s Lair, Hitler’s headquarters on the eastern front.  That this album was located at Berchtesgaden was quite a revelation and makes it increasingly likely others will eventually be found.

The Monuments Men Foundation believes that many of the missing albums from both series survived the war and will surface in the months and years ahead.  These documents are only the most recent examples of the millions of still missing works of art and other objects from the World War II period.  We encourage anyone with information about a missing object, or concern about some item in their possession, to contact the Monuments Men Foundation.

And an enormous “thanks” goes to all our friends at the National World War II Museum who have done such an outstanding job installing the exhibit and supporting this important display.  For all those who haven’t been to the Museum, it is truly one of the most amazing, interactive and fascinating museums in the world. For more information on the National World War II Museum visit http://www.nationalww2museum.org/.