A monument to saved art
“The Monuments Men,” a World War II action film that opens in theaters Friday, depicts an international team of middle-aged art experts in uniform racing to liberate priceless art from the Nazis. If it sounds like an improbable Hollywood yarn, it isn’t. “The Monuments Men” is based on the true story of a team of approximately 20 unlikely soldiers — art historians, curators, museum directors — who landed in Western Europe after D-Day, charged with saving and preserving European art from brazen Nazi theft and Allied bombings. Many of the rescuers, such as George L. Stout ’29, had Harvard roots. All were united by a grand purpose. “They all had jobs you would dream of. Many had families. Many had kids,” said Robert M. Edsel, author of the best-selling book on which the film is based, “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History.” “They thought they...