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>> Osgood: TODAY IS HOLOCAUST
REMEMBRANCE DAY.
THE 63rd ANNIVERSARY OF THE
LIBERATION OF THE DEATH CAMPS
AT AUSCHWITZ.
ALLIED SOLDIERS FROM MANY
LANDS HAD TO DEAL WITH THE
AFTERMATH OF NAZI HORRORS.
AMONG THEM A LITTLE KNOWN
GROUP OF U.S. SOLDIER CALLED
THE MONUMENTS MEN.
THEIR STORY IS OUR COVER STORY
REPORTED NOW BY RITA BRAVER.
>> Reporter: YOU MAY HAVE
HEARD ABOUT NAZIS DESTROYING
AND LOOTING ART ALL OVER
EUROPE.
BUT YOU MAY NOT KNOW THAT THE
LOOTING, TONS OF WORK TAKEN
FROM BOTH PERSONAL AND PUBLIC
COLLECTIONS, WAS PERHAPS THE
GREATEST PILLAGE IN HISTORY.
AS MUCH A PART OF NAZI WAR
PLANNING AS MILITARY CONQUEST.
>> IF YOU HAVE AN INTEREST IN
ART HISTORY, YOU HAVE AN
INTEREST IN WORLD WAR II, IF
YOU LIKE EXTRAORDINARY
TREASURE HUNTS, IT'S GOT
SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY.
THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN'T BE
INTERESTED IN THIS STORY.
>> Reporter: A STORY THAT
HAUNTS ROBERT EDSEL.
>> I LIKE TO THINK OF IT AS A
PASSION, SOME SAY OBSESSION.
BUT THERE'S SO MUCH OF THE
STORY TO BE REVEALED.
>> Reporter: HIS OBSESSION
CAME LATE.
A PROFESSIONAL-LEVEL TENNIS
PLAYER FROM DALLAS, HE WENT ON
TO MAKE A FORTUNE IN OIL AND
GAS.
BY AGE 39, HE WAS A
MULTI-MILLIONAIRE AND READY
FOR A CHANGE OF PACE.
HE SOLD HIS BUSINESS AND MOVED
TO FLORENCE.
BEFORE THAT, NOT BEING JEWISH
HIMSELF AND WITH NO RELATIVES
CAUGHT UP IN THE HOLOCAUST, HE
HAD NOT THOUGHT MUCH ABOUT THE
NAZIS' IMPACT ON EUROPEAN ART.
WHAT GOT YOU INTERESTED IN
THIS?
>> I WAS WALKING ACROSS ONE OF
THE BRIDGES IN FLORENCE ONE
DAY, THE ONE BRIDGE THAT
WASN'T DESTROYED DURING WORLD
WAR II BY THE NAZIS.
IT OCCURRED TO ME ALMOST AN
EPIPHANY ABOUT HOW DID ALL
THESE GREAT WORKS OF ART
SURVIVE THE DESTRUCTION OF
WORLD WAR II AND WHO WERE THE
PEOPLE THAT SAVED THEM.
>> Reporter: WHAT HE LEARNED
STAGGERED HIM.
AND NOW HE'S SPENT MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS OF HIS OWN MONEY TO
WRITE A BOOK CALLED "RESCUING
DA VINCI."
>> ADOLPH HITLER PURGED AND HE
STOLE ART HE COVETED.
>> Reporter:... AND
CO-PRODUCED A DOCUMENTARY
ENTITLED THE "*** OF EUROPA"
ALL TO TELL THE STORY.
>> TODAY EVEN AFTER MORE THAN
60 YEARS LOST ART IS STILL
BEING FOUND.
BATTLE DAMAGE IS STILL BEING
REPAIRED.
AND STOLEN MASTER PIECES ARE
STILL CAUGHT UP IN BITTER
DISPUTES.
ALL OF THIS IS THE UNFINISHED
BUSINESS OF THE GREATEST WAR
IN HISTORY.
>> Reporter: FOR ONE THING,
THERE WAS THE SYSTEM ATIC WAY
THE NAZIS WENT ABOUT STEALING
ART.
HOW, FOR EXAMPLE, HITLER'S
SECOND IN COMMAND, HERMAN
GERRING, WOULD LINE UP ITEMS
FOR HIS OWN COLLECTION AND
HITLER'S MAKING REPEATED
VISITS TO THE MUSEUM IN PARIS.
>> HE COULD HAVE A GLASS OF
CHAMPAGNE, SMOKE A CIGAR AND
MAKE THESE SELECTIONS OF WORKS
FOR HIS OWN COLLECTION AND
JUST TAKE THEM AND LOAD THEM
UP ON HIS TRAINS, LOAD THEM UP
ON THE PLANES AND SEND THEM
BACK TO GERMANY.
>> Reporter: BUT WHAT REALLY
CUT THROUGH TO EDSEL WAS THAT
WHILE THE NAZIS WERE
STEALING-- AND SOMETIMES
DESTROYING-- TREASURES, THE
U.S. WAS MAKING HEROIC EFFORTS
TO SAFEGUARD ART AND
ARCHITECTURE.
EVEN CREATING SPECIAL MAPS TO
SHOW THE STRUCTURES TO AVOID.
>> WE'VE BEEN HITTING TARGETS
AROUND FLORENCE FOR A LONG
TIME BUT WE HAVEN'T HIT ONE
CITY BECAUSE APPROXIMATELY 10%
OF THE WORLD'S ART TREASURES
ARE LOCATED RIGHT HERE IN
FLORENCE.
>> IT'S A HUGE CHANGE IN THE
HISTORY OF WARFARE.
TO TRY AND FIGHT A WAR ON THE
ONE HAND AND MITIGATE DAMAGE
TO CULTURAL TREASURES AT THE
SAME TIME.
>> Reporter: AND WHEN THE WAR
WAS OVER, THERE WAS ANOTHER
EXTRAORDINARY EFFORT: TO
RETURN THE ART THE NAZIS HAD
LOOTED.
UNDER THE COMMAND OF GENERAL
DWIGHT EISENHOWER, A SMALL
BAND OF AMERICAN MEN AND WOMEN,
INCLUDING MANY ART HISTORIANS,
WAS ASSIGNED TO FIND AND
RETURN LOOTED ART.
SOME 200 IN ALL, THEY BECAME
KNOWN COLLECTIVELY AS THE
MONUMENTS MEN.
>> 20 YEARS OLD, JUST TURNED
20.
IT MUST HAVE BEEN FEBRUARY OR
MARCH OF 1946 THIS PICTURE WAS
TAKEN.
>> Reporter: A GERMAN-BORN
AMERICAN WAS ONE OF THOSE
PEOPLE WHO FOUND AND SAVED THE
ART.
HERE HE'S HOLDING A MASTER
PIECE HE UNCOVERED.
>> I'M LOOKING AT THE PICTURE
OF... A SELF-PORTRAIT OF
REMBRANDT ALONG WITH
LIEUTENANT FORD.
>> Reporter: HE STILL MARVELS
AT WHAT THE UNITED STATES DID.
>> WE AMERICANS, FOR THE FIRST
TIME IN THE HISTORY OF
CIVILIZATION, ADAPTED A POLICY
WHICH SAID TO THE VICTORS, DO
NOT BELONG THE SPOILS OF WAR.
>> Reporter: THEY WEREN'T
ALWAYS SUCCESSFUL.
THE DOCUMENTARY SHOWS HOW
VILLAGERS HIJACKED A TRAIN
CARRYING THE LAST SHIPMENT OF
ART THAT HERMAN GERRING HAD
TRIED TO AMASS.
>> HUNDREDS OF PAINTINGS AND
SCULPTURES WERE SCATTERED IN
AT LEAST SIX DIFFERENT
STRUCTURES.
>> Reporter: BUT THE MONUMENTS
MEN HAD HUGE SUCCESSES TOO.
>> A GREAT PART OF THE ART
TREASURE STOLEN BY NAZIS.
>> Reporter: THEY FOUND A
CASTLE FULL OF PROPERTY STOLEN
FROM THE ROTH CHILDS AND OTHER
FRENCH JEWS.
AND THEY DISCOVERED HITLER'S
PERSONAL ART HORDE DEEP IN A
SALT MINE IN THE AUSTRIAN
ALPS.
FOR ART HISTORIANS LIKE
YOURSELF, WHAT WAS THE
IMPORTANCE OF THE GROUP THAT
CAME TO BE KNOWN AS THE
MONUMENTS MEN?
>> OH, VITAL IMPORTANCE.
NOT ONLY DID THEY SAVE THIS
ART AND RESCUE IT, BUT THE
RECORDS THEY KEPT IN THE
RESTITUTIONS ARE USED BY ART
HISTORIANS TODAY TO TRACK THE
PAINTINGS IN OUR COLLECTION.
>> Reporter: SO THE NATIONAL
GALLERY HAS ALWAYS KIND OF
KNOWN THE HISTORY OF THESE
PAINTINGS?
>> YES, ACTUALLY WE'VE ALWAYS
RESEARCHED....
>> Reporter: NANCY, HEAD OF
RECORDS AT THE NATIONAL
GALLERY OF ART IN WASHINGTON,
IS STUDYING HOW THE NAZIS WENT
ABOUT LOOTING AND HOW THE
MONUMENTS MEN WENT ABOUT
TRACKING THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS
OF EACH PIECE.
>> THE PAINTING BEHIND YOU IS
ONE THAT WAS TAKEN BY THE
NAZIS FROM A PRIVATE FAMILY?
>> THIS PAINTING WAS ACTUALLY
CONFISCATED FROM A PRIVATE
DEALER.
A DEALER FROM PARIS.
THEN IT WAS TAKEN BY GERRING
AND KEPT IN HIS PERSONAL
COLLECTION THROUGHOUT THE WAR.
IT WAS RECOVERED BY THE
MONUMENTS MEN WITH THE REST OF
GERRING'S COLLECTION.
>> Reporter: LATER THE FAMILY
SOLD THE PIECE WHICH IS HOW IT
ENDED UP HERE.
THESE WORKS TOO WERE RETURNED
BY THE MONUMENTS MEN AND SOLD
BY THEIR LEGITIMATE OWNERS.
THE NAZIS HAD SEIZED THEM IN
AUSTRIA.
THERE'S SUCH AN IRONY THERE.
YOU HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THE
MIDDLE OF COMMITTING GENOCIDE
AND YET HERE THEY ARE FANCYING
THEMSELVES CONNOISSEURS OF
ART?
>> YES, IT IS VERY IRONIC.
THE VERY PEOPLE THEY WEREER
RAD IKTING, THEY WERE TAKING
THEIR ART AND KEEPING TRACK OF
WHOM THEY TOOK THE ART FROM.
>> Reporter: UNCOVERING THE
STORY OF HOW AMERICANS HELPED
RETURN SOME OF THAT ART EARNED
ROBERT EDSEL THE 2007 NATIONAL
HUMANITIES AWARD.
>> I DREAMED OF A DAY WHEN
THESE UNSUNG HEROES WOULD, AS
A GROUP, FINALLY RECEIVE THE
RECOGNITION OF THE UNITED
STATES.
( APPLAUSE )
>> Reporter: AND LAST SPRING,
RESOLUTIONS WERE PASSED IN
BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS TO
RECOGNIZE THE WORK OF THE
MONUMENTS MEN.
>> THEY WERE OVERLOOKED AFTER
THE WAR.
I THINK THAT THESE CONGRESS
PEOPLE AND SENATORS FULLY
EMBRACED THE STORY AS I WENT
AROUND AND TOLD THEM.
IN FACT IN THE SENATE I
LITERALLY SPENT FOUR DAYS IN
WASHINGTON GOING TO EVERY
SINGLE SENATE OFFICE TO TAKE A
COPY OF MY BOOK TO EACH ONE OF
THESE SENATORS TO TRY AND
PERSONALLY EXPLAIN TO THEM WHO
THEY WERE, WHY IT'S IMPORTANT,
WHY I'VE COMMITTED SO MUCH OF
MY LIFE TO TELL THE STORY.
>> Reporter: FOR THE 12 LIVING
MONUMENTS MEN, INCLUDING HARRY,
CAME TO WASHINGTON TO
REMINISCE ABOUT A TIME AND
PLACE WHERE GOOD REALLY DID
TRIUMPH OVER EVIL.
>> LET US ANNOUNCE AGAIN AND
AGAIN AND AGAIN TO THE PEOPLE
OF THE WORLD THAT THEIR
CULTURE WILL BE CHERISHED AS
LONG AS THEY RESPECT THE
CULTURE OF OTHERS.
GOD BLESS YOU.
GOD BLESS AMERICA.
( APPLAUSE )