History is littered with heroic deeds by women. And Rose Valland, a French art spy, earns her place among these heroines. She was an art historian who became a spy to save thousands of paintings from theft by the Nazis. She was one of the brave people who worked with several art restorers to recover several masterpieces.
Rose Valland: The Monument Woman
Rose Valland was born in Saint-Etienne-de-Saint-Geoirs in 1898. In the course of her life, she received two degrees from Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyon and Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She also earned degrees in art history from Sorbonne and Ecole du Louvre in Paris.
Despite her successful résumé, she first worked as an unpaid volunteer at the Jeu de Paume Museum from 1932 to 1936. And it was not until 1941 that she took charge of the museum as a paid attache before being promoted to assistant.
The Nazis took possession of the Jeu de Paume Museum in October 1940. Hitler was obsessed with setting up his museum, the Fuhrermuseum. He wanted to only display “superior Aryan art” and destroy any “degenerate art,” especially those created by Jews and Bolsheviks.
When the Germans captured the museum during the 1940-1944 Occupation of Paris, they removed all French personnel from the museum. They didn’t want anyone to witness their art plunder. But Rose Valland, an unassuming and “average” woman, wasn’t fired.
The brave woman spying under Nazi officials’ noses
When everyone was ordered to leave except for Rose Valland, the then-director Jacques Jaujard asked her to report on the Nazi’s activities.
Rose Valland then cleverly spied on Nazi conversations, recording all the train routes of stolen art. Her unassuming personality and ability to hide the fact that she knew German helped her get vital information. She then passed her notes onto Jaujard.
Hitler and his second-in-command, Hermann Goering, were aggressive art collectors. And they stole art under the guise of legality. But first, the Nazis would deprive the French people of their rights and nationality. Once they were relegated to second-rate citizens, their art collections were considered “abandoned.”
Hitler then appointed himself as “the protector” of these artworks and sent them to his museum or Goering’s castle. The Jeu de Paume became the collection point of these stolen artworks. Finally, the art pieces would be transported to the Third Reich in Germany.
But in all their loot, Hitler and Goering forgot about this courageous heroine. For four years, she recorded meticulous notes of their activities. She wrote down what was stolen, the owner, and the destination of the stolen item.
She also had to hide her contempt for Goering. She later described him as a person with a “combined sumptuosity with avarice.” In those four years, Goering visited Jeu de Paume 20 times to select “his” art pieces personally.
The destruction of paintings by the Nazis
Once the Nazis occupied Paris, they started burning “degenerate art” paintings and books. Several Jewish art paintings that were not worthy of the Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce (ERR) were destroyed. Art pieces that did not meet Hitler’s criteria were either set on fire or defaced with knives.
Rose Valland later described these artworks as “slaughtered art pieces.” In Paris, the Nazis also set aside three rooms at the Louvre to keep stolen art pieces. “I saw paintings that were thrown in the Louvre like in a garbage dump,” she later recalled.
Among the destroyed paintings included works by Picasso, Klee, and Miro, among many others. In addition, almost 600 paintings were set on fire.
Rose Valland and the Monument Men
When the Allies liberated Paris, the Monument Men were tasked with rescuing thousands of pieces of looted artworks. Lieutenant James J. Rorimer was the officer leading the group in Paris.
Rose Valland provided Rorimer with an art map. It helped prevent the destruction of artworks by showing the Allies where several masterpieces were stored. They also had details of owners and the names and photos of Nazi officials involved. With her help, the Monument Men were able to recover and return all these masterpieces to their rightful owners.
Conclusion
Rose Valland received several awards and is still one of the most decorated women in France. In his draft, James Rorimer said about Rose Valland: “One person above all others enabled us to track down the official Nazi art looters and engaged intelligently in that aspect.”
She may have been forgotten, but Rose Valland is among the most courageous women in history.
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