Eisenhower, Bradley and Patton Inspect Nazi Stolen Art Treasures, 1945

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This photo was taken by a U.S. Army Signal Corps photographer on 12 April 1945 as Allied forces captured parts of the German homeland and made discoveries about what had been going on during the Nazi reign. Among these astounding discoveries was a series of repositories of stolen valuables including magnificent art works taken from all over Europe and the Soviet Union. Seen here are General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, accompanied by Gen. Omar N. Bradley, and Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., examining a few paintings stored with thousands of other stolen items in a salt mine. The photo was taken with flash in the dimly lighted tunnel. The Signal Corps ID number is visible on the lower right.

Nazi collectors, most prominently Hermann Goering, were involved in an elaborate exchange of Impressionist paintings, regarded by the Nazis as decadent, for Old Masters, particularly Dutch and German. Much of the art was discovered in the spring of 1945 in a series of salt mines in Bavaria, where the cool temperature and dry air underground was perfectly suited to the storage of canvases.

Today in WW II: 8 Feb 1940 Germans establish the first large Jewish ghetto in Poland in the city of Lodz. More ↓

8 Feb 1941 US House of Representatives passes the Lend-Lease Act [265 to 165].
8 Feb 1942 Battle of Sarimbun Beach begins, the first stage of the Japanese assault on Singapore.
8 Feb 1942 Japanese Offensive in Burma begins [8 Feb-2 May].
8 Feb 1945 Battle of the Reichswald: British and Canadian forces under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery begin Operation Veritable [8 Feb-11 Mar].
Visit the Olive-Drab.com World War II Timeline for day-by-day events 1939-1945! See also WW2 Books.