The Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section—better known as the “Monuments Men”—was a special unit tasked with preserving Europe’s cultural heritage during World War II. This small, handpicked collection of art historians, museum curators and scholars originally ventured to the front lines to help prevent historically important buildings and other landmarks from becoming casualties of war. One of their most important tasks was ensuring that culturally significant structures were not unintentionally destroyed during the Allied push into Europe. Members of the unit designed special maps instructing pilots on which areas to avoid on their bombing runs, and took steps to preserve and restore landmarks that had already been damaged.
Near the end of the war, the unit’s focus changed to tracking down and recovering priceless paintings and sculptures looted by the Nazis. As Hitler’s regime crumbled, the Monuments Men uncovered thousands of artworks secreted away in castles and salt mines and worked to return them to their rightful owners. Among others, the unit rescued masterpieces by luminaries such as Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Vermeer and Botticelli.
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