WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.170 align:middle line:10% - How you doing, man? 00:00:01.170 --> 00:00:01.970 align:middle line:10% You like the statue? 00:00:01.970 --> 00:00:03.180 align:middle line:10% Yeah, it's one of my favorites. 00:00:03.180 --> 00:00:06.110 align:middle line:84% It's called the Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin. 00:00:06.110 --> 00:00:10.110 align:middle line:84% You know that one of these original bronze sculptures 00:00:10.110 --> 00:00:13.500 align:middle line:84% of Burghers of Calais was actually stolen by the Germans 00:00:13.500 --> 00:00:14.790 align:middle line:84% in World War II and then recovered? 00:00:14.790 --> 00:00:16.390 align:middle line:84% - No, I did not know that. - Yeah. 00:00:16.390 --> 00:00:17.190 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:00:17.190 --> 00:00:18.630 align:middle line:84% Have you ever heard of the Monuments Men? 00:00:18.630 --> 00:00:19.950 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:00:19.950 --> 00:00:22.590 align:middle line:84% XAVIER CARNEGIE: As World War II raged and the Nazis advanced 00:00:22.590 --> 00:00:28.590 align:middle line:84% across Western Europe, Hitler's army caused untold destruction. 00:00:28.590 --> 00:00:32.940 align:middle line:84% At the same time, it oversaw the greatest art theft in history, 00:00:32.940 --> 00:00:36.150 align:middle line:84% systematically looting priceless works of art from Europe's 00:00:36.150 --> 00:00:38.580 align:middle line:90% occupied territories. 00:00:38.580 --> 00:00:40.320 align:middle line:84% Alarmed by the plunder, the Allies 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:42.240 align:middle line:84% created a special unit to safeguard 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:44.820 align:middle line:90% Europe's historic treasures. 00:00:44.820 --> 00:00:47.520 align:middle line:10% The Monuments Men were on the front lines 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:49.650 align:middle line:10% of cultural preservation in the midst 00:00:49.650 --> 00:00:51.958 align:middle line:10% of unimaginable destruction. 00:00:51.958 --> 00:00:54.650 align:middle line:10% 00:00:54.650 --> 00:00:58.430 align:middle line:10% We've invited Pruit, an art lover and history buff, 00:00:58.430 --> 00:01:01.430 align:middle line:10% to meet director Kate Haw. 00:01:01.430 --> 00:01:03.620 align:middle line:84% KATE HAW: Don't know if you've ever heard of Rose Valland. 00:01:03.620 --> 00:01:04.640 align:middle line:90% PRUIT ALLEN: Mm-mm. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:06.780 align:middle line:84% KATE HAW: Does she look like the hero of a spy story to you? 00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:08.046 align:middle line:90% PRUIT ALLEN: No. 00:01:08.046 --> 00:01:11.750 align:middle line:84% XAVIER CARNEGIE: Rose Valland worked at the Jeu de Paume. 00:01:11.750 --> 00:01:14.360 align:middle line:84% She was the only French citizen the Nazis 00:01:14.360 --> 00:01:18.110 align:middle line:84% allowed to stay at the museum during the occupation. 00:01:18.110 --> 00:01:20.420 align:middle line:84% They thought Valland was harmless, 00:01:20.420 --> 00:01:23.030 align:middle line:90% but little did they know. 00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:26.120 align:middle line:84% KATE HAW: She took copious notes and photographs, 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:31.190 align:middle line:84% and recorded where all of the works of art were being hidden. 00:01:31.190 --> 00:01:34.130 align:middle line:84% She was very unassuming, and that 00:01:34.130 --> 00:01:36.230 align:middle line:90% probably worked in her favor. 00:01:36.230 --> 00:01:39.240 align:middle line:84% And they didn't know that she understood German. 00:01:39.240 --> 00:01:40.400 align:middle line:84% XAVIER CARNEGIE: Valland secretly 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:42.860 align:middle line:84% tracked details regarding art shipments 00:01:42.860 --> 00:01:46.010 align:middle line:84% being sent to Nazi repositories in Germany. 00:01:46.010 --> 00:01:48.770 align:middle line:84% In August of 1944, an American soldier 00:01:48.770 --> 00:01:50.750 align:middle line:84% named James Rorimer came to Paris 00:01:50.750 --> 00:01:53.160 align:middle line:84% to help with the liberation of the city. 00:01:53.160 --> 00:01:55.760 align:middle line:84% XAVIER CARNEGIE: Second Lieutenant James Rorimer 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:58.670 align:middle line:84% was one of the Monuments Men tasked with finding 00:01:58.670 --> 00:02:00.380 align:middle line:90% Europe's stolen art. 00:02:00.380 --> 00:02:03.950 align:middle line:84% He met Rosa Valland at the Jeu de Paume Museum 00:02:03.950 --> 00:02:05.950 align:middle line:90% during his search. 00:02:05.950 --> 00:02:08.690 align:middle line:10% Rorimer suspected Valland could lead the Allies 00:02:08.690 --> 00:02:10.850 align:middle line:10% to the hidden works, but they both had 00:02:10.850 --> 00:02:13.650 align:middle line:10% to learn to trust each other. 00:02:13.650 --> 00:02:16.560 align:middle line:10% KATE HAW: These are James Rorimer's memoirs. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.770 align:middle line:10% And in it, he recounts how long it took 00:02:19.770 --> 00:02:22.020 align:middle line:10% to gain Rose Valland's trust. 00:02:22.020 --> 00:02:23.790 align:middle line:10% He knew that she had information that 00:02:23.790 --> 00:02:25.650 align:middle line:10% would be very valuable to the Monuments Men 00:02:25.650 --> 00:02:27.275 align:middle line:10% in recovering these works of art. 00:02:27.275 --> 00:02:30.180 align:middle line:84% XAVIER CARNEGIE: But he didn't know how valuable. 00:02:30.180 --> 00:02:33.510 align:middle line:84% Valland had risked everything to steal a crucial piece 00:02:33.510 --> 00:02:35.940 align:middle line:84% of evidence from the personal scrapbook 00:02:35.940 --> 00:02:39.580 align:middle line:90% of a Nazi chief of staff. 00:02:39.580 --> 00:02:43.560 align:middle line:84% KATE HAW: She gave him this photo of Neuschwanstein Castle. 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:46.110 align:middle line:84% She's written on the back of it, and it says 00:02:46.110 --> 00:02:47.520 align:middle line:90% here the deposits in Füssen. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:49.800 align:middle line:84% This is the town near the castle. 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:52.920 align:middle line:84% So at that point, Rorimer knows he's got to get to this work 00:02:52.920 --> 00:02:54.520 align:middle line:90% as fast as he can. 00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:56.430 align:middle line:10% XAVIER CARNEGIE: When the Monuments Men reached 00:02:56.430 --> 00:02:58.830 align:middle line:10% Neuschwanstein, they discovered over 00:02:58.830 --> 00:03:02.580 align:middle line:10% 20,000 pieces of priceless art, jewelry, 00:03:02.580 --> 00:03:04.800 align:middle line:10% and furniture hidden inside. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:09.630 align:middle line:10% It took them months just to clear everything out. 00:03:09.630 --> 00:03:12.960 align:middle line:84% In 1945, Rose Valland joined the Monuments Men 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:15.730 align:middle line:84% in Germany to help ensure the proper restitution 00:03:15.730 --> 00:03:16.530 align:middle line:90% of the artwork. 00:03:16.530 --> 00:03:19.380 align:middle line:90% 00:03:19.380 --> 00:03:22.860 align:middle line:84% And although many artworks are still missing today, 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:26.280 align:middle line:84% they eventually succeeded in returning more than 5 million 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:28.980 align:middle line:84% objects to their rightful owners, 00:03:28.980 --> 00:03:32.940 align:middle line:84% thanks to the brave determination of Rose Valland 00:03:32.940 --> 00:03:36.510 align:middle line:84% and others like her to defy the Nazi regime 00:03:36.510 --> 00:03:40.970 align:middle line:84% and help save Europe's cultural heritage.