Robert Edsel's Blog

I have been asked to write a guest entry for the blog.  Before I began working here, I did not know much about the Monuments Men.  I knew they saved art during WWII, but that was all I knew.  They were a pretty incredible group of people.  From Ettlinger to Valland, there are some great people with some incredible stories.   I wonder what Rose Valland was thinking when she decided to keep notes on these works of art.  Did she know that it would lead to finding them later?  Did she think they were for her own personal records and memories?  I wonder, what was the initial spark that forced her to begin to document what was going on with the art pieces?  Minus the actual combat part, their work must have been fascinating.  I wish I was getting a paycheck to discover the stolen art hidden by the Nazi’s.  Talk about thinking outside the box, wow!

Though there are many different inspirational stories between the Monuments Men, there is one unifying theme.  They all felt the need to serve a purpose greater than themselves.  In today’s society, for the most part, all people care about is themselves and their latest bell or whistle.  I don’t think our society cares how many innocent people we kill on a daily basis, much less saving the cultural treasures in the Middle East.  A childhood buddy of mine was in the first platoon into Saddam’s main house and they did some terrible stuff to that house including the relics and treasures there.  I can only imagine what has happened to other cultural treasures in one of the oldest regions in the world.  If more people knew about The Monuments Men and their mission, we could have a special unit deployed in the Middle East focused on saving the cultural treasures of the region.  Maybe the people in charge of our nation’s foreign policy do not want to save the cultural treasures.  Maybe they do not want to preserve the culture from that region.  No W.M.D.’s and oil isn’t cheap, one has to wonder, what are we doing there?

I’m grateful that someone had the foresight to see the importance of saving the cultural treasures for future generations before they were destroyed.  In the times of World War II, people were more educated and understood the importance in saving cultural treasures for future generations.  Nationwide, our public school systems cut back funding for the arts before any other subjects.  Today, MTV and all the rest of the filth on television, teaches our children that cultural treasures are pieces of jewelry that Paris Hilton wore.  When you see how little importance our nation puts on the arts and culture, it’s not hard to see why this has not become a bigger issue.  It is going to take the masses getting educated, rising up and demanding that we save the cultural treasures in the Middle East before anything will change.  So I’m here doing my small part, helping Mr. Edsel and the Monuments Men Foundation in raising awareness and educating people about The Monuments Men and their mission.

Yesterday was Rose Valland’s birthday. She was born in the tiny town of Saint Etienne de Saint Geoirs, France on November 1, 1898. She had a modest upbringing, and went on to pursue numerous fine arts degrees and eventually got a job at the Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris as an unpaid volunteer. No one could have guessed that she would be the one to save thousands of works of art stolen from France by the Nazis.

Rose Valland risked her life countless times while working in the “snake pit” of the Jeu de Paume, which had become the headquarters for the ERR, the primary Nazi looting organization during World War II. For four years she kept track of paintings and other treasures stolen from private Jewish collections in France that were brought to the museum before being sent to Germany. She watched as Hermann Göring and Alfred Rosenberg came in and drank champagne while making their selections, then secretly told Jacques Jaujard, director of the French National Museums, all that had transpired. After the war, it was her records that led the Monuments Men directly to the Nazi repositories so that they were able to rescue and restitute the cultural heritage of France.

But despite all this, Rose Valland remains a relatively unknown heroine of World War II. Not just in the United States but in France as well. When she is written about, she is often described as “homely” or “timid” or “unassuming”. While this may be partially true, I believe she was also an incredibly strong woman, who had more courage than most of us can dream of. She was patriotic and brave, and had a “ferocious determination”. And most importantly, she deserves to be remembered and honored for her heroic actions during World War II.  It is my hope that The Monuments Men not only shares her story with a broad audience for the first time, but also helps people understand what a remarkable woman Rose Valland really was.

Courtesy of MSNBC and the Morning Joe" Show

This morning I appeared as a guest on the “Morning Joe” show, hosted by Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski (whose mother was an artist!), and Willie Geist, to discuss my new book, The Monuments Men.  Seated beside me was one of the great historians of our time, and a personal heroine of mine, Doris Kearns Goodwin!  Time passes very quickly on live national television so I had to speak very rapidly….and what a great experience it was!

When I commented that one of the exciting experiences for me in writing The Monuments Men was to provide a character—Rose Valland, the greatest heroine of the war in my opinion—that women can now relate to as a path to develop an interest in World War ll, Doris Kearns Goodwin swung her arms in jubulation and cheered ‘A Woman!’. For all she knows about World War ll and history in general, she commented to me how amazing it was that the story of the Monuments Men was one that was long overdue being told.

One of the most meaningful experiences of researching and writing about living history is having the chance to share it with someone else who knows the process.  When Doris Kearns Goodwin immediately commented to me that writing the story of  these great unknown heroes of World War ll must have been deeply moving for them and their families, it spoke volumes about her years of experience listening to people.

One final comment:  Doris Kearns Goodwin closed the program by saying “It’s just a reminder that Hitler really was the greatest threat to western civilization I think it’s ever experienced, and I mean not only killing all the people, not only all the treasures, but civilization and these symbols of it that would have been gone because of this one person and that terrible ideology.” And that in my view validates just how big the story of The Monuments Men truly is.

I am so appreciative that Joe, Mika and Willie invited me on their show and provided me with this wonderful opportunity to share these heroes’ story.

If you’d like to view the clip, you can visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/vp/33411966#33411966.