Lesson 3 Our Heritage, Our Treasure
Rescuing Cultural Treasures
During World War II, there was a group of people who risked everything to protect priceless works of art from ruin.
In 1943, around 345 people from 14 different Allied nations* came together to form the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) program.
They were not trained soldiers but scholars and experts of various kinds, such as professors, historians, and architects.
These brave men and women volunteered to protect Europe’s cultural heritage and became known as the “Monuments Men.”
From Preventing Destruction to Saving Treasures
When the MFAA was first formed, its main goal was to prevent the destruction of cultural landmarks.
The Monuments Men persuaded the Allied forces not to bomb areas with museums, churches, or other culturally significant buildings.
They also visited areas that had already been destroyed to restore damaged architecture and works of art.
It wasn’t long before their role expanded.
During the war, the Nazis had been stealing works of art and other cultural treasures from countries across Europe.
They hid these treasures in places like castles, mines, and caves.
When the Monuments Men learned about this, they started looking for the stolen treasures.
Their search has since been called “the greatest treasure hunt in history.”
When Germany began to lose the war, the stolen objects came under threat.
Hitler ordered his forces to destroy everything that could be useful to the Allied armies before they retreated from an area.
Some Nazi leaders believed that this included not just military and industrial equipment but everything of value—even the stolen works of art
A Race against the Clock of Altaussee
One of the largest collections of stolen items was hidden in the salt mines of Altaussee, Austria.
Upon discovering its location, some of the Monuments Men rushed to the mines.
They hoped to recover everything before it was too late.
Meanwhile, the Nazi leader who was in charge of the area tried to destroy everything by setting off large explosives inside the mines.
This could have been disastrous.
Luckily, some local miners found the explosives in the mines and came up with a plan to protect their livelihood.
They secretly removed the large explosives and put smaller ones at the entrances.
Once they went off, the Nazi leader believed that everything was destroyed.
However, while the small explosions sealed off the entrances, they left the rest of the mines and the works of art unharmed.
When the Monuments Men arrived and squeezed their way into the mines, they must have been amazed to see what was inside.
There were thousands of priceless objects, including paintings, statues, books, furniture, and more.
The Monuments Men thought it would take about one year to transport everything they found to a safe location.
However, because control of the area was going to change at the end of the war, they would have access to the mines for just two months.
With insufficient packing supplies and only a few trucks, the transporting mission seemed impossible.
Not only that, but food was in short supply.
Even without eating proper meals, they worked up to twenty hours a day.
They used coats and gas masks as packing materials and did everything they could to accomplish this vital mission in time.
In the end, the Monuments Men succeeded in rescuing thousands of stolen works of art, including important pieces such as Jan van Eyck’s Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Johannes Vermeer’s The Astronomer, and Michelangelo’s Madonna of Bruges.
The Continuing Impact of the Monuments Men
The efforts of the Monuments Men did not end with the war.
For several years, they continued the work of recovering cultural treasures and identifying where they had been stolen from.
In the end, the Monuments Men returned more than five million works of art and objects of cultural importance to their places of origin.
Not everything that was stolen by the Nazis has been found, but what the Monuments Men accomplished is truly amazing.
Without this determined group, the search for stolen works of art might never have begun.
In addition, countless historical and cultural landmarks would have been lost forever due to the destruction of war.
It is worth remembering the Monuments Men’s contribution to the preservation of cultural heritage.
Thanks to their efforts, many incredible cultural sites and works of art have survived and can still be appreciated to this day.
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