Join The Hunt
The Monuments Men found and restituted almost 5 million art and cultural objects—paintings, drawings, sculpture and religious objects—many stolen by Hitler and the Nazis.
But their mission was not completed. Hundreds of thousands of works of art and important cultural documents remain missing even today.
Saving Cultural Treasures
...from the destructiveness of war, and theft by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis
Countries that suffered from the Nazi plunder have created databases of the art still missing. While these databases provide invaluable information, a comprehensive cross-referencing database has never been created.
Our “Join the Hunt” lists are the first of their kind, providing the public with essential information about major works of art and documents missing since the war. The selection process involved extensive searches of international lost art databases focusing on works of art for which there was an image, and which we believe survived the war. It is not a comprehensive list; no list could be.
We also provide a platform to allow anybody who’s looking for property stolen during WWII to use our visibility to advertise a cultural object gone missing during the war that they are looking for. We hope to match the missing objects to the current owners and, ultimately, illuminate their path home.
We also provide a platform to allow anybody who’s looking for property stolen during WWII to use our visibility to advertise a cultural object gone missing during the war that they are looking for. We hope to match the missing objects to the current owners and, ultimately, illuminate their path home.
Methodology
The selection process of works of art on this list involved extensive searches of lost art data bases and discussions with heirs looking for lost collections. It focuses on works of art for which there was an image, and which we believe survived the war. It is not a comprehensive list; no list could be. The Monuments Men Foundation will regularly be adding to this list. It will consider all submissions meeting this criteria. The decision to add any submissions is at the sole discretion of the Foundation. Submittals, containing an image and information similar to the above entries, should be forwarded to: WWIIart @ monumentsmenfoundation.org.
The Foundation operates in the footsteps of the Monuments Men and therefore, it does not pay rewards nor finder’s fees. However, it considers each case on a stand-alone bases and will, at times, consider appropriate to request a consultancy fee to be paid. It is also not interested in prosecuting people who come forward to do the right thing; quite the contrary, it wants to recognize and honor anyone who is determined to return some missing object to its rightful owner. We respect the desire of those wishing to assist anonymously and will maintain all such information in confidence.