Oral History Interview Excerpts: Monuments Men

George Leslie Stout (1897-1978) was a museum director and prominent art conservator in Massachusetts. Stout was one of the first U.S. soldiers to be assigned to the MFAA Section and played a prominent role in the recovery of art work stolen by the Nazis. He was appointed Lieutenant Commander of the MFAA unit and supervised the inventorying and removal of looted artwork hidden in the salt mines of Merkers and Ransbach in Thuringia, Germany and in other repositories in France and the Netherlands. In this audio clip Stout speaks of his experience as a MFAA officer, especially the poor storage conditions in the salt mines.

Otto Wittmann (1911-2001) was a curator and director of the Toledo Museum of Art from 1959-1976. During World War II, Wittmann served as a Major with the Air Force but was later transferred to the Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU) in Washington, D.C. under the Office of Strategic Services. As an ALIU official, Wittmann assisted with looted art recovery in Paris and Munich, investigated transactions in Sweden and Switzerland, and worked with the collection centers in France. In this excerpt, Wittmann talks about his work restituting art looted by the Nazis.

Samson Lane Faison Jr. (1907-2006) was an art history professor at Williams College, Massachusetts. During World War II, Faison enlisted and served in the Naval Air Force. From 1945 to 1946, Faison was a member of the Office of Strategic Services Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU), finding and recovering art stolen by the Nazis. In this audio clip, Faison discusses his exploits as a Monuments Men, starting with the phone call asking him to join the ALIU and later working as the director of the Munich Central Collecting Point, one of several locations established by the U.S. State Department to gather the recovered art for repatriation.

Stanton L. Catlin (1915-1997) was assistant director of Yale University Art Gallery and later the gallery director and professor at Syracuse University. Before the World War II, Catlin was introduced to Rose Valland, who was the assistant to the director of the Jeu de Paume Museum. During World War II, Valland spied on the Nazis who used the Jeu de Paume Museum as a storage location for looted art before transporting the artwork by train to various German repositories scattered throughout Germany and Austria. In this audio excerpt, Catlin talks about Valland's contributions to the recovery of artwork plundered by the Nazis.

Walker Kirtland Hancock (1901-1998) was a prominent sculptor who taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1929 to 1967. Hancock was drafted into the Army in 1942 and initially trained as a medic. After being transferred to military intelligence at the Pentagon, Hancock requested to join the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives (MFAA) section of the U.S. Army where he felt he could do the most good In this audio clip, Hancock talks about locating and recovering looted art repositories found in the salt mines.