Iowa Files: The Monuments Men & the Saving of Culture

The Monuments Men (& Women) had a seemingly impossible job- save some of the worlds’ most precious cultural artifacts and art from the Nazis, who treated Europe as their private looting grounds.At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. The Fuehrer had begun cataloguing the art he planned to collect as well as the art he would destroy: “degenerate” works he despised.

In a race against time, behind enemy lines, often unarmed, a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others, called the Monuments Men, risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture.

Presenter Ruth Ehler’s grandfather, Ralph Hammett, was one of thse men. Ruth will recount stories of the amazing and frantic work that saved and returned treasures to their rightful owners and institutions.

This joint library-Historical Society event is free and open to the public thanks to the support of West Des Moines Historical Society Members and the West Des Moines Library Friends Foundation. 

All Iowa Files programs will be live streamed on the West Des Moines Historical Society’s Facebook Page and all videos will be closed captioned. They will also be uploaded to their YouTube channel after the event takes place.