Monuments Men Foundation donates Nazi albums used by Hitler for Cultural Holocaust

Posted on 28th March 2012 in The monuments of world
Walt Maciborski Reporter

March 28, 2012

DALLAS—

Two albums used by Adolf Hitler to document priceless pieces of art and furniture stolen by the Nazi’s were discovered in private homes and donated to the National Archives.  This is a huge find.  These albums were in the hands of Hitler during World War II and they detail one of the biggest art heists in history.

“These albums are significant because they are the smoking gun of the Nazi’s systematic and premeditated looting of collectors in particular Jews in Paris,” said Robert Edsel, President of the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art.

The albums are filled with photographs of priceless pieces of art and furniture stolen from wealthy Jewish families and museums during the war.  Every item is meticulously catalogued and dated by the Nazi’s.  American GI’s taken the albums after the war as a kind of souvenir and put them in their attics or garage.  Now, with the help of the Dallas based Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art, the albums were recovered.  During a ceremony at Southern Methodist University, they were donated to the national archives and it’s considered a key discovery.

“It’s huge,” said Archivist of the United States David Ferriero.  “It’s more documentation.  It’s going to fill in gaps in just how widespread this whole campaign was to steal the cultural heritage of Europe.”

The monuments foundation was created by Robert Edsel in Dallas to honor the real Monuments Men and women who recovered millions of pieces of stolen art and artifacts after World War II.   And, it encourages people to see if family members may have something from the war that could hold a lot of historical value like these albums and donate them.

Hollywood star George Clooney was so impressed with the story of the Monuments Men and Edsel’s book on the subject that he is currently writing a feature length movie about their heroism.  Clooney will direct and star in the picture.  Shooting is slated to start next January. 

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National Archives Announces Discovery of Nazi Looted-Art Volumes

Posted on 27th March 2012 in The monuments of world

The National Archives announced Tuesday that two new leather-bound volumes of an infamous catalog of looted art compiled for Hitler during World War II had been discovered among the possessions of former American soldiers. The albums were compiled by a special Nazi task force, the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, to document the plundering of French museums and private collections undertaken in part for a museum Hitler planned to build in his hometown, Linz, Austria.

The two newly discovered volumes, Albums 7 and 15, were among the possessions of the families of Albert Lorenzetti, who served as a corporal in the 989th Field Artillery Battalion, and Yerke Zane Larson, a private first class in the 501st Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division. Both men, now dead, are thought to have taken the albums from the Berghof, Hitler’s home in the Bavarian Alps, in the waning days of the war.

Their families recently contacted the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art, a Dallas-based nonprofit organization that has brought attention to the efforts of Allied forces during and after the war to save and recover looted art. (George Clooney has announced plans to direct and star in a movie based on “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History,” written by Robert M. Edsel, the foundation’s president.)

In 2007 the foundation helped find two other volumes of the catalog and donated them to the National Archives. At a ceremony on Tuesday in Dallas, the organization presented Albums 7 and 15 to David S. Ferriero, the archivist of the United States.

“The Foundation often receives calls from veterans and their heirs, who don’t know the importance of items they may have picked up during their service, or aren’t aware that anyone is looking for the items,” Mr. Edsel said. “These albums are just the tip of the iceberg for hundreds of thousands of cultural items still missing since World War II.”

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Clooney’s Next Movies: WWII, Smothers Brothers

Posted on 10th January 2012 in The monuments of world

Once he’s past the movie awards season, George Clooney will start working on his next two films — “The Monuments Men,” about a special force of US and British museum curators and art historians who rescued art at the end of World War II that had been stollen by the Nazis, and a biography about the Smothers Brothers conflicts with CBS in the 1960s.

The Wrap says Clooney will write, direct and star in the big-budget “Monument’s Men” based on Robert M. Edsel’s book, “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History.” Clooney told The Wrap Saturday, while attending the Palm Springs Film Festival: “I’m excited about it. It’s a fun movie because it could be big entertainment. It’s a big budget, you can’t do it small– it’s landing in Normandy.” He’ll write the film for Sony with long-time collaborator Grant Heslov.

Clooney, Heslov and their Smokehouse Pictures also have bought rights to David Bianculli’s 2009 book, “Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of ‘The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour’ “ about the short-lived (1967-69) TV show.  It’s a topic Clooney should do well with, given his passion for freedom of speech from his Oscar-nominated Edward R. Murrow movie (“Good Night, And Good Luck”), and his sense of TV history from remaking “Fail-Safe” for CBS and “Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind”  about “Gong Show” host Chuck Barris… not to mention growing up on the set of his dad’s variety TV shows here in the late ’60s and early ’70s.

Clooney’s “The Ides of March” is up for four Golden Globes Awards Sunday (8-11 p.m., Channel 5, NBC). His “The Decendants” is up for five Golden Globes.

Posted in: Local Events, Television

Tags: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Smothers Brothers, The Monuments Men

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Clooney Announces Next Picture

Posted on 10th January 2012 in The monuments of world

George Clooney has just announced his latest film for Sony Pictures, The Monuments Men, a true story centered around Nazis, stolen artwork and the front lines of war.

According to the LA Times’ 24 Frames, the actor-director plans to team-up with producing partner Grant Heslov to adapt the 2009 novel by Robert Edsel. Clooney is also set to direct and co-star.

The film follows 11 civilian art historians who land at Normandy during World War II to recover precious works of art looted by Adolf Hitler. Although none of them are trained in combat, most of them face live fire to retrieve the coveted pieces from the Nazi regime.

“It’s an amazing story, and Grant and I are already thinking about how great the casting can be,” Clooney said in a statement. “Hitler was an art fanatic, and he stashed masterpieces everywhere. He hid 27 Rembrants in a coffin.”

Clooney was originally tagged to produce a movie based on the Smothers Brothers, but it now sounds like he has opted to move forward on Monuments Men instead.

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Clooney to write, direct and star in ‘Monuments Men’

Posted on 10th January 2012 in The monuments of world

George Clooney will co-write, direct and star in ‘The Monuments Men’. — AFP picture

LOS ANGELES, Jan 10 — George Clooney’s next project will be The Monuments Men, a big budget film about art and war, which he will co-write, direct and star in, the actor revealed at the Palm Springs Film Festival on January 7, where he accepted an award for The Ides of March and The Descendants.

Monuments is a suspense during World War II, following a group of art experts, museum directors, curators and historians who scoured Europe retrieving artworks confiscated by Nazis.

Based on the book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, by Robert M. Edsel, the book follows the unarmed operation behind enemy lines.

“I’m not opposed to doing a commercial film, I’m just opposed to doing a commercial film that doesn’t feel organic to me,” Clooney told Hollywood website The Wrap. “We thought, ‘Let’s do something that seems fun and actually have something to say.’“

Clooney will co-write the screenplay with producer Grant Heslov, who he teamed up with for other social/political-themed films, including Ides of March, Good Night and Good Luck, and Men Who Stare at Goats, a caper about the US military in the Middle East. — afprelaxnews.com

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Clooney working on WWII movie

Posted on 10th January 2012 in The monuments of world

George Clooney is set to take on the Nazis in a new movie about the art experts who rescued masterpieces stolen by Adolf Hitler in World War II.

Clooney will co-write, direct and star in The Monuments Men, about a group of art historians and curators who were picked by the US government to retrieve pieces looted from European museums by Nazi thieves.

Clooney has yet to decide which role will be his – but he insists it will be a “fun” project because he’s got a big budget to spend on the shoot.

He says “Hitler was an art fanatic, and he stashed masterpieces everywhere. He hid 27 Rembrandts in a coffin…I’m excited about it.”

“It’s a fun movie because it could be big entertainment. It’s a big budget, you can’t do it small – it’s landing in Normandy,” Clooney has told the blog The Wrap.

Clooney’s movie is based on the book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M Edsel.

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George Clooney To Star In, Direct WWII Drama

Posted on 9th January 2012 in The monuments of world

By Breeanna Hare, CNN

POSTED: 1:11 pm EST January 9, 2012
UPDATED: 1:18 pm EST January 9, 2012

(CNN) – George Clooney turned in two lauded performances last year with “The Ides of March” and “The Descendants,” but he shows no signs of slowing down.The actor announced at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Saturday that he has another movie in the works called “The Monuments Men” that will have him pulling double duty as the co-star and the director, the L.A. Times reports.”The Monuments Men” is adapted from the Robert Edsel’s book of the same name, and focuses on the art historians who entered battle during World War II as they tracked down prized artwork taken by Hitler.”Hitler was an art fanatic, and he stashed masterpieces everywhere,” Clooney said Saturday. “He hid 27 Rembrandts in a coffin.”What attracted the actor/director to the project was the story’s mix of intrigue and romance.”It’s an amazing story, and (producer) Grant (Heslov) and I are already thinking about how great the casting can be,” Clooney said Saturday. “And there’s also a great love story.”Clooney didn’t mention what part he would play, but he did say that “The Monuments Men” is now his top priority.

Copyright CNN 2011

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George Clooney's Next Project? Nazis

Posted on 9th January 2012 in The monuments of world

EXCLUSIVE

George Clooney has started to work on his next project, writing, directing and starring in a big-budget movie about the men who chased down the stolen art of Europe during World War II, he told TheWrap on Saturday.

“The Monuments Men,” which Clooney is co-writing with his producing partner Grant Heslov, will tell the story of a hand-picked group of art experts chosen by the U.S. government to retrieve artwork stolen by the Nazis.

“I’m excited about it,” Clooney told TheWrap at the Palm Springs Film Festival on Saturday. “It’s a fun movie because it could be big entertainment. It’s a big budget, you can’t do it small — it’s landing in Normandy.”

The movie will be based on the book “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History,” by Robert M. Edsel.

Also read: ‘Descendants’: George Clooney as a Cuckold? Heck, Yes!

Clooney said he will co-write, direct and star in the movie, which has been set up at Sony. It will have several meaty roles for actors, though Clooney said it was too early to think about who might fill those roles.

“Grant and I have been trying to find a project,” Clooney said.

“I’m not opposed to doing a commercial film, I’m just opposed to doing a commercial film that doesn’t feel organic to me. So if we’re going to do a commercial film we thought, ‘Let’s do something that seems fun and actually have something to say.’”

“Monuments” is an intrigue-filled tale of art theft and espionage in Europe during World War Two. (Photo of U.S. soldiers retrieving artwork in Austria in 1945, Getty Images.) Hitler systematically emptied the museums and private collections of Europe during World War II.

The book tells the tale of a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art historians – called the Monuments Men – who risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of this culture.

Also read: George Clooney Starring in Prop 8 Play From Dustin Lance Black 

The book specifically follows the 11-month period between D-Day and V-E Day. The group worked behind enemy lines and were often unarmed.

Clooney and Heslov often make movies about political or socially-oriented subjects. Last year they made “Ides of March” together, about a corrupt political campaign, and they also co-produced “Good Night and Good Luck,” an examination of the limits of freedom of the press, as well as the Middle East war caper, “The Men Who Stare at Goats.”

Clooney was in Palm Springs to be honored at a festival gala.

This post originally appeared at TheWrap.

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George Clooney Will Direct and Star in ‘The Monuments Men,’ About Art Historians Rescuing Works From Nazis

Posted on 9th January 2012 in The monuments of world

George Clooney and his writing and producing partner Grant Heslov have an eye for slightly unconventional takes on classic film genres, and for Clooney’s next directorial effort they’re turning to an old standard: the World War II action film. But, in keeping with their general apporach to finding and telling stories, this one is just a bit different.

The Monuments Men is based on a true story about “art historians who landed at Normandy to rescue art looted by Adolf Hitler.”

The LA Times reports that Clooney announced the project over the weekend, and that he and Heslov will adapt the book of the same title by Robert Edsel. Clooney will direct and co-star with Sony financing and distributing. This movie is his first priority, he said, so that Smothers Brothers biopic will have to wait a bit.

The Monument Men follows eleven civilian art experts and historians, with no combat training, who faced live battlefield conditions. At least one of them falls for Rose Valland, “a member of the French resistance who diligently tracked the location of (and sometimes hid on her own) stolen art.” More info on the real men who inspired the story can be found at the Monuments Men website.

Here’s a recap of the book:

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 Momuments Men, risked their lives scouring Europe to prevent the destruction of thousands of years of culture. Focusing on the eleven-month period between D-Day and V-E Day, this fascinating account follows six Monuments Men and their impossible mission to save the world’s great art from the Nazis.

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