Heroes and heroines come in many forms. They risk their lives on the battlefield or by putting themselves in harm’s way for a greater cause. Here is the untold story of Rose Valland, an art historian and the curator of the Jeu de Paume museum in World War II Paris. She was the savior to thousands of art masterpieces looted by the Nazis.
When the Nazis seized the museum as their headquarters for stolen art, Valland was told to stay put. She watched the battle to liberate the city through the museum’s windows. She knew she was in a unique position to work her own espionage. Right under German eyes, she could save these works of art from ending up in Hitler’s planned museum or be destroyed. Paintings by the greatest artists in Western art could have been lost forever.
