NATIONAL WORLD WAR ll MUSEUM EXHIBITION OF THE HITLER ALBUMS OPENS!
January 29th, 2010 | 9:57 am
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/.
