With the arrival of Hollywood's " Monuments Men " movie we were intrigued about this story and did a little digging. Founded in 1943, the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program under the Civil Affairs and Military Government departments of the Allied forces was established to protect cultural property in war zones during and post World War II.

With the arrival of Hollywood's "Monuments Men" movie we were intrigued about this story and did a little digging. Founded in 1943, the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program under the Civil Affairs and Military Government departments of the Allied forces was established to protect cultural property in war zones during and post World War II. Made up of about 350 service members, their mission was to safeguard historic and cultural monuments from war damage, and Allied, Russian, and Nazi looting.