Saving Art and Saving Souls

For the first time in history, the victors came not to plunder but preserve. While still battling the Nazis across Europe, American forces dedicated significant effort to protect and meticulously record treasures of incalculable value, from gold and currency to many of Western Civilization’s most meaningful works of art, such as the Ghent Altarpiece. And when the war was won, what did America do with these valuables? We gave them back to the rightful owners.

This effort, which historian and author Robert Edsel referred to as a campaign to “salvage Western Civilization”, was the feature of a conversation at the Gettysburg Film Festival among Edsel, Susan Eisenhower (historian, scholar, and grand-daughter of General and President Eisenhower), and Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer. Known most prominently through the film The Monuments Men, which was based off of Edsel’s book, America’s World War II cultural preservation initiatives were at once smart military strategy and exceptional humanitarian endeavors.

Army 250 discussed Monuments Men back in November 2024.

The Monuments Men, or Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program as it was officially called, had support at the highest levels. Although Edsel noted the concept was initially the brainchild of art experts such as Paul Sachs, the director of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard, General Eisenhower issued directives that made commanders and troops responsible for protecting cultural sites and materials “so far as war allows". Edsel underscored that the push for this effort came, at first, to counter Nazi propaganda that was telling Europeans the Americans were looting and destroying cultural artifacts (the very thing the Nazis themselves had done and continued to do wherever they occupied territory). The Monuments Men enabled America to demonstrate its commitment to preserving Europe’s cultural artifacts and sites.

One of the orders from General Eisenhower instructing commanders to preserve cultural sites and artifacts. Source: National Archives.

The propaganda benefits of the program does not, however, take away anything from the historic humanitarian contribution it made to Europe and the world. Never before had anything like this been done. As both Edsel and Susan Eisenhower underscored, Ike believed deeply in the foundational role art plays in enabling individuals and civilizations to grow and flourish. This sentiment is evident in remarks he gave at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1946 when accepting an Honorary Life Fellowship. You can listen to the remarks and see notes he prepared for the event, a few lines of which underscore his philosophy towards art:

“But I do know that, for democracy at least, there always stands beyond the materialism and destructiveness of war the ideals for which it is fought. Thus, the awful test of war is primarily a testing of the spirt, and so it is possible for the fighting man to experience, in war, a definite spiritual growth. But for simpler reasons than these, I believe that many of our veterans have gained renewed interest in art and the world of the artist.”

This “testing of the spirit” was brought home at the festival by award-winning singer-songwriter Judy Collins, whole led us in singing “Amazing Grace”. Collins has previously talked about the song as conveying “hope and healing” and that it “has a feeling about surviving terrible things. But it gives you a moment of hope.” As Europe and the world emerged from the ravages of World War II, the thousands of artifacts preserved by the Monuments Men and Women proved a wellspring of hope, connecting hundreds of millions to stories about their past and enabling them to envision a better future.

Army 250 is a passion project celebrating the Army’s 250th birthday in 2025. If you enjoyed this piece, please share it with your networks. If you are a new reader, please subscribe below.

---

Additional Resources:

1. Check out the Monuments Men and Women Foundation here.

---