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Stolen! Saving Europe's Treasures

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Stolen! Saving Europe's Treasures LESSON PLAN (Image: National Archives and Records Administration, 531272.) STOLEN! SAVING EUROPE’S TREASURES GRADE LEVEL: 7-12 | TIME REQUIREMENT: 1-2 CLASS PERIODS INTRODUCTION + Dwight D. Eisenhower’s order on Historical Monuments, Dec. 29, 1943 [public domain] In the midst of the destruction and chaos of World War II, the greatest + Copies of Student Worksheets for class discussion art theft in history occurred. In what historians have described as an and art analysis attack on culture itself, Nazi forces stole around five million pieces of art throughout the war, roughly 20 percent of all the art in Europe at OBJECTIVES that time. In addition to targeting museums, Nazis regularly pilfered pieces from Jewish families sent to ghettos or concentration camps. Students will analyze primary source documents and Allied knowledge of the theft and destruction of famous artistic pieces engage in image analysis in this exploration of Nazi art brought forth an agreed upon need for a team to seek out and protect theft, the significant work of the Monuments Men, and the these cultural monuments. Authorized in 1943 by President Franklin place of these events in the broader narrative of World Delano Roosevelt, the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives (MFAA) War II. By working with both written and visual sources, added a new dimension to the fighting in Europe, one that sought students will conduct interdisciplinary evaluation to to protect cultural heritage through the preservation of art. Known understand and explain the importance of art, cultural collectively as the “Monuments Men,” the men and women of the identity, and the preservation of historical monuments. MFAA consisted of archivists, artists, sculptors, painters, and other experts in the arts. Limited in number and funds, the Monuments Men risked their lives to seek out and save these stolen pieces. Two COMMON CORE STANDARDS Monuments Men ultimately sacrificed their lives while on this mission. As Allied forces moved across Europe, the Monuments Men also CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1 moved, locating thousands of paintings, sculptures, and other pieces of Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of priceless cultural value hidden in castles and mines, such as a salt mine primary and secondary sources. in Altaussee, Austria. Their efforts resulted in the return of roughly four million pieces. In this lesson, students will learn the history of the CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6 failed effort of the Nazis to control the cultural heritage of an entire Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point continent and of the work of the Monuments Men to prohibit such of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or an outcome. Through analyzing examples of stolen artistic pieces, avoidance of particular facts). students will discuss the significance of art to cultural identities, and how the Monuments Men story alters perceptions of what was at stake in World War II. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.6 Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which MATERIALS details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts. Inserts + Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I + Leonardo Da Vinci, Lady with an Ermine + Johannes Vermeer, The Astronomer ONLINE RESOURCES Book ww2classroom.org + Alfred Rosenberg’s report to Hitler on Nazi looting of Jewish art, dated March 20, 1941 Harry Ettlinger Oral History 90 | LIBERATION & LEGACY STOLEN! SAVING EUROPE’S TREASURES LESSON PLAN TEACHER CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as STOLEN! SAVING EUROPE’S TREASURES in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem. NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR HISTORY HISTORICAL CONTENT ERA 3, STANDARD 3B Explain the financial, material, and human costs of the war and analyze its economic consequences for the Allies and the Axis powers. HISTORICAL THINKING STANDARD 2 Draw upon the visual, literary, and musical sources including: (a) photographs, paintings, cartoons, and architectural drawings; (b) novels, poetry, and plays; and, (c) folk, popular, and classical music, to clarify, illustrate, or elaborate upon information presented in the historical narrative. HISTORICAL THINKING STANDARD 5 Identify issues and problems in the past and analyze the interests, values, perspectives, and points of view of those involved in the situation. Evaluate the implementation of a decision by analyzing the interests it served; estimating the position, power, and priority of each player involved; assessing the ethical dimensions of the decision; and evaluating its costs and benefits from a variety of perspectives. NATIONAL ARTS STANDARDS VISUAL ART ANALYSIS 4 Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures. VISUAL ART ANALYSIS 5 Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others. VISUAL ART ANALYSIS 6 Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines. PROCEDURES 1. Begin with an informal discussion on the overarching questions of the lesson: What is the value of art/artistic pieces? How does art reflect or represent societies and culture? Have the students discuss these questions collectively as a class or in small groups, depending on class size. 2. Move the discussion to the context of art theft and World War II, introducing the history of Nazi art plunder and the extent of theft that occurred throughout the war. Ask the students why they think the Nazis devoted so much attention to stealing and collecting pieces of art. Have the students read and discuss the included selections from Alfred Rosenberg’s report to Adolf Hitler on the plunder of Jewish art. Students can share their analysis through a verbal discussion or through written responses to questions on the included source analysis worksheet. 3. Pass out the inserts showing examples of stolen pieces of art. In either small group or full-class discussion on the images, depending on the size of the class, ask the students to analyze the images. What does each image represent? Why would the Nazis consider such an image valuable? How might such a piece of art be culturally significant? LIBERATION & LEGACY STOLEN! SAVING EUROPE’S TREASURES LESSON PLAN | 91 TEACHER 4. After completing the analysis of these stolen pieces of art, introduce the class to the history of the Monuments Men and the formation of the MFAA. Have them read and discuss Dwight D. Eisenhower’s report on the importance of recovering and protecting such pieces. Why does Eisenhower describe European pieces of art as significant to American culture? Ask the students to discuss Eisenhower’s remarks on “military necessity.” Why did the US government see the capture, protection, and return of art as so important they devoted military resources and risked human lives to achieve this? Why was the recovery of such pieces considered a “military necessity”? 5. Conclude the lesson by asking the students to discuss collectively why the theft of and race to protect art became a significant aspect of the broader narrative of World War II? What does this history tell us about the society Nazis aimed to create and the necessity of the success of the Allies? ASSESSMENT You will be able to assess students’ ability to analyze both written primary documents and visual art sources and draw conclusions of how these events add to understandings of attacks on culture that occurred throughout World War II. Through answers given in written format on the Student Worksheet and the answers they give to discussion questions in the class, this exercise will bring forth the depth of students’ understanding of this interdisciplinary analysis. EXTENSION/ENRICHMENT 1. Have students conduct research on the Degenerate Art Exhibition organized by the Nazi Party in 1937. Ask students to explore what constituted “degenerate” art in the eyes of Nazis and why, and have students analyze how art became a means for Nazis to control cultural identities. 2. Have students look at additional cases in which art became a target of theft during conflict and war. Ask students to compare that example to what they learned in this lesson on the Monuments Men, and how the different context may have affected perceptions of stolen art. 92 | LIBERATION & LEGACY STOLEN! SAVING EUROPE’S TREASURES LESSON PLAN SELECTIONS FROM, “REPORT TO THE FÜHRER BY ALFRED ROSENBERG, HEAD OF THE MAIN NAZI LOOTING ORGANIZATION, KNOWN AS THE ERR [EINSATZSTAB REICHSLEITER ROSENBERG]” Quoted in Robert M. Edsel, The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History (New York: Center Street, 2009), 42-43. I report the arrival of the principal shipment of ownerless Jewish ‘cultural property’ [Kulturgut] in the salvage location Neuschwanstein [Castle] by special train on Saturday the 15th of this month. It was secured by my staff for Special Purposes [Einsatzstab] in Paris. The especial train, arranged for by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, comprised 25 express baggage cars filled with the most valuable paintings, furniture, Gobelins, works of artistic craftsmanship and ornaments. The shipment consisted chiefly of the most important parts of the collections… My Staff for Special Purposes started the confiscatory action in Paris during October 1940 on the basis of your order, my Führer. With the help of the Security Service (SD) and the Secret Field Police [Geheime Feldpolizei] all storage—and hiding—places of art possessions belonging to the fugitive Jewish emigrants were systematically ascertained. These possessions were then collected in the locations provided for by the Louvre in Paris.
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