Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation's Treasures from the Nazis (41 page)

75
The motorcade route
“Il Viaggio del Fuhrer in Italia,” produced by Istituto Luce, 1938, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXz8ombIvtU.

75
almost two hours
Il Fuhrer in Italia
(Agenzia Stefani, n.d.). Tutaev’s account in
The Consul of Florence
refers to Hitler’s “four hour tour of the Uffizi” (p. 11). This has been repeated by numerous writers since, including me. However, my research unearthed a rare publication,
Il Fuhrer in Italia
, printed shortly after his visit. It contains a detailed chronology of each day’s activities. The art tour began in the Pitti Palace, continued through the Vasari Corridor, and ended after a visit to the Uffizi Gallery. “The two statesmen spend a little less than two hours in this visit.”

75
Director of Florence’s
Kunsthistorisches Institut
Ludwig Heinrich Heydenreich, “In Memoriam—Friedrich Kriegbaum,” Mitteilungendes Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, Siebzehnter Band, Heft II, August 1953 (Düsseldorf: Verlag L. Schwann), 145, 146.

75
point out to the Führer the beauty and importance
David Tutaev,
The Consul of Florence
(London: Secker & Warburg, 1966), 11.

75
Kriegbaum, however, had recently concluded. . . . “last gift to his native city”
Giovanni Poggi, “Relazione sulla ricostruzione del Ponte a Santa Trinita,” 22 February 1951, Giovanni Poggi Papers, Archivio Storico delle Gallerie di Firenze, Florence, Serie VIII, Protezione antiaerea e danni di guerra, n.157, 12; Friedrich Kriegbaum,
“
Michelangiolo e il Ponte a S. Trinita,”
Rivista d’arte
23 (1941), 144.

76
his favorite bridge
Tutaev,
The Consul of Florence
, 11.

76
“Italy has too much art and too few babies”
“Fine Arts Section,” Keller Papers, Box 19, Folder 10.

76
“Mussolini was bored”
Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli,
Dal Diario di un borghese e altri scritti
(Milan: Il Saggiatore, 1962), 189–90.

76
Such pieces, designated
notoficati
“Works of Art Exported to Germany by the Fascists,” 10 January 1946. National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, T/209/27/2.

76
Italian authorities vigorously objected
Rodolfo Siviero,
L’Arte e il Nazismo: esodo e ritorno delle opere d’arte italiane
, 1938–1963 (Florence: Cantini, 1984), 8.

77
“an irreplaceable monument for our knowledge”
Rodolfo Siviero, ed.,
Seconda mostra nazionale delle opere d’arte recuperate in Germania
(Florence: Sansoni, 1950), 34.

77
the sculpture departed for Germany
Siviero,
L’Arte e il Nazismo
, 7–8.

77
Reichsmarschall Göring then got in on the act
“Works of Art Exported to Germany by the Fascists,” 10 January 1946, National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, T/209/27/2.

77
the contents of the German libraries
“Looting,” NARA, RG 331, 10000/145/397.

78
On September 30, a band of German soldiers
Riccardo Filangieri, “Report on the Destruction by the Germans, September 30, 1943, of the Depository of Priceless Historical Records of the Naples State Archives,”
American Archivist
7, no. 4 (October 1944), 252.

78
The fire burned the museum’s priceless collection
Works of Art in Italy: Losses and Survivals in the War, Part II
(London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1946), 81.

78
perhaps the richest collection
John L. Kirby, “The Archives of Angevin Naples—A Reconstruction,”
Journal of the Society of Archivists
vol. 3, no. 4 (1996), 191.

78
obliteration of eighty-five thousand archival documents
Kirby, “The Archives of Angevin Naples—A Reconstruction,” 191–94; Filangieri, “Report on the Destruction by the Germans, September 30, 1943, of the Depository of Priceless Historical Records of the Naples State Archives.”

78
dating from the year 1239
Christopher Norris, “The Museo Filangieri,”
The Burlington Magazine
, vol. 84, no. 492 (March 1944), 72.

78
Kesselring ordered his Intelligence Branch. . . . He deployed personnel
Douglas Cooper and Ernest DeWald, “Report on the German Kunstschutz in Italy between 1943 and 1945,” 30 June 1945, NARA, RG 239, M1944, Roll 71, 2.

78
Dr. Bernhard von Tieschowitz, head of the Kunstschutz based in Paris,
Bernhard von Tieschowitz, “Zusammenfassender Bericht über die Einrichtung des Kunstschutzes in Italien,” late February 1944, Deutscher Militärischer Kunstschutz Papers, Ministero degli Esteri, archive of the ex-delegation for Restitution, Siviero Archive, Rome.

78
Protecting buildings and works of art
Douglas Cooper and Ernest DeWald, “Report on the German Kunstschutz in Italy Between 1943 and 1945,” 30 June 1945, NARA, RG 239, M1944, Roll 71.

78
In an effort to begin operations quickly
Tieschowitz, “Zusammenfassender Bericht über die Einrichtung des Kunstschutzes in Italien,” Kunstschutz Papers, Siviero Archive.

Chapter 8: Gifts

81 * “Footnote to Chapter X,” excerpts from interrogations held in 1945, NARA, RG 226, Entry 190C, Box 9; Lingen,
Kesselring’s Last Battle
, 35.

81
Of the two paths
David Hapgood and David Richardson,
Monte Cassino: The Story of the Most Controversial Battle of World War II
(Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 1984), 23–24.

82
“All roads lead to Rome”
Atkinson,
The Day of Battle
, 253.

82
Becker’s enthusiasm
Hapgood and Richardson,
Monte Cassino
, 4.

83
“If we’re supposed to do all that”
Maximilian Becker, “Memoriale Becker Sullo Sgombero Di Montecassino,” Dublin, 18-2-1964, found in 
Il Bombardamento Di Montecassino—Diario Di Guerra
, Pubblicazioni Cassinesi—Montecassino (1997), 240.

84
“
Dottore!
” . . . speaking in a hushed tone
Hapgood and Richardson,
Monte Cassino
, 15.

84
187 crates of artworks
Emilio Lavagnino, “Migliaia di opere d’arte rifugiate in Vaticano,”
Strenna dei romanisti
VII (1946), 83.

84
The shipment included
Works of Art in Italy: Losses and Survivals in the War, Part II
, 80.

84
“Do you mean to Germany?”
Becker, “Memoriale Becker sullo Sgombero di Montecassino,” 260.

85
The abbey’s holdings included
Libraries Guests of the Vaticana During the Second World War
(Vatican City: Apostolic Vatican Library, 1945), 11.

85
Becker and Schlegel began by relieving
Hapgood and Richardson,
Monte Cassino
, 32.

85
By November 3
Ibid., 57.

86
chief adjutant—and an adviser—to Reichsmarschall Göring
Yeide,
Beyond the Dreams of Avarice,
260; “Mr. von B” from Becker, “Memoriale Becker sullo Sgombero di Montecassino.”

86
Becker read the letter in shock
Hapgood and Richardson,
Monte Cassino
, 54.

86
“The responsibility of the Germans”
“Unique Collection of Art Treasures Taken Away by Germans in Italy,”
New York Times
, November 10, 1943.

86
“not for himself or for Italy”
Ibid.

86
“There’s some unbelievably shitty business”
Hapgood and Richardson,
Monte Cassino
, 60.

87
“We didn’t get [the collection]”
Ibid., 68.

87
“You’re upsetting our whole applecart!”
Ibid.

87
“had not complied”
Lingen,
SS und Secret Service
, 34.

88
“easy hand policy”
Wolff, Wolff Affidavit.

88
Wolff had studied the many approaches
Ibid.

88
Shifting blame to others
Ibid.

88
“The Führer and I spoke the same language”
Lang,
Der Adjutant
, 191– 92.

88
“We were both”
Ibid.

88
“The mood of the Italian population”
Wolff, Wolff Affidavit.

88
“After I recognized this, I immediately”
Ibid.

89
“give up your Vatican Plan”
Ibid.

89
“I have to hold you responsible”
Ibid.

89
On December 8, with German cameras rolling
Andrea Carlesi,
La protezione del patrimonio artistico italiano nella RSI (1943–1945)
(Milan: Greco&Greco editori, 2012), 37–38.

89
Officials watched as each truck
Hapgood and Richardson,
Monte Cassino
, 71.

90
“say no more than three sentences”
DeWald Diary notes on Interrogations, Ernest DeWald Papers, Princeton University, Box 4.

90
On January 4
Emilio Lavagnino, “Diario di un salvataggio artistico,”
La Nuova Antologia
, August (1974), 518–19.

90
Central Inspector of the General Direction
Chiara Lombardo,
Pasquale Rotondi
:
quando il lavoro è un’arte—Storia di un Soprintendente solo e senza soldi custode dei tesori italiani durante la seconda guerra mondiale
(Caserta: Vozza, 2008), 99.

90
Everything proceeded smoothly
Lavagnino, “Diario di un salvataggio artistico,” 518; Ernest DeWald, “Works of Art Formerly Stored at Montecassino and Later Transferred to the Vatican,” 20 July 1944, NARA, RG 331, 10000/145/400.

90
But their destination had been Berlin
Report of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas
, 75.

SECTION II: STRUGGLE

91
“What happens when this dense fabric”
Frederick Hartt,
Florentine Art Under Fire
(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949), 3.

Chapter 9: The First Test

93
“the first official ground”
DeWald Diary, Dec. 23–Jan. 9, 1944, Ernest DeWald Papers, Princeton University, Box 2.

93
“brought with him no copies”
“Travel Orders and Attachment of Captain Deane Keller,” 7 February 1944, NARA, RG 331, 10000/145/160.

94
“I could write you fifty pages”. . . . “I am quartered”
Letter to Kathy, 6 February 1944, Keller Papers, Box 7, Folder 44.

94
“I carried my”. . . . “I feel I am on”
Letter to Kathy, 7 February 1944, Keller Papers, Box 7, Folder 44.

94
“I have been here before”
Letter to Kathy, 6 February 1944, Keller Papers, Box 7, Folder 44.

94
“We had a trip”
Letter to Kathy, 7 February 1944, Keller Papers, Box 7, Folder 44.

94
“light-hearted” Neapolitans
Keller, “American Impressions of Italians and Italian Customs,” NARA, RG 331, 10000/145/1.

94
twenty thousand civilians
Renata Picone, “Danni bellici e restauro a Napoli, il complesso del Palazzo Reale tra bombardamenti e occupazione militare,” in Lorenzo de Stefani, ed.,
Guerra monumenti ricostruzione: Architetture e centri storici italiani nel secondo conflitto mondiale
(Venice: Marsilio Editori, 2011), 368.

94
105 Allied bombing raids
Carlo de Frede,
Il decumano maggiore da Castelcapuano a San Pietro a Maiella. Cronache napoletane dei secoli passati
(Naples: Liguori, 2005), 126.

94
“great cavernous excavations”
Coles and Weinberg,
Civil Affairs
, 326.

94
“terror, dirt, [and a] sense of impotence”
Lucia Monda, “Napoli durante la II guerra mondiale ovvero: i 100 bombardamenti di Napoli,”
Napoli durante la II guerra mondiale
. Essay for conference I.S.S.E.S Istituto di Studi Storici Economici e Sociali, 5 March 2005, 4.

94
“churches are the war’s innocent victims”
Salvatore Scarpitta Papers, Private Collection.

95
typhus epidemic
Coles and Weinberg,
Civil Affairs
, 325–26.

95
“At the hospital today”
Letter to Kathy, 18 December 1944, Keller Papers, Box 7, Folder 51.

95
“I’ll do what I can”
Letter to Kathy, 1 March 1944, Keller Papers, Box 7, Folder 45.

96
“You must understand that the Italians”
Keller, “American Impressions of Italians and Italian Customs,” NARA, RG 331, 10000/145, 1.

96
“There is a quiet seriousness”
Letter to Parents, 19 July 1944, Keller Papers, Box 5, Folder 25.

97
“The big work lies ahead”
Letter to Kathy, 29 February 1944, Keller Papers, Box 7, Folder 44.

97
U.S. Fifth Army spent. . . . The town of Cassino
Atkinson,
The Day of Battle
, 328, 337.

97
“one of the strongest natural defensive positions”
Harold Alexander,
The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis: 1940–1945
, ed. John North (London: Cassell & Company, 1962), 121.

97
ten thousand additional casualties
Fred Majdalany,
Cassino: Portrait of a Battle
(London: Cassell & Co., 2000), 90.

98
“All the way up this mountain ridge”
Young Oak Kim (most-decorated Korean American World War II veteran), interview courtesy of Actual Films, 2002.

98
“The centre of resistance is Monte Cassino.”
Majdalany,
Cassino: Portrait of a Battle
, 86.