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While history books tell the story of the Nazis' destruction of human life, little is written about their attempt to destroy and steal the culture and art of Europe. Even less is known about those who worked to save the treasures. Named the Monuments Men, the largely unknown group of several hundred men and women worked during and after World War II to save nearly one-fifth of Europe's artwork and artifacts from destruction and theft. . . . Lindsay unpacked thousands of works, he said. . . . Perhaps his most memorable find, he said, was a sculpture stolen by the Germans in 1912. A large box marked "the colored queen" was delivered, and speculation about what the crate held abounded. He was ordered to open it by superiors fearing the contents had been pilfered.
'You had to be suspicious all the time,' Lindsay said. 'Everybody had sticky fingers.' Lindsay obeyed orders and opened the wooden crate, and there, buried under black tar paper and white spun glass, was pure beauty. 'There she was,' he said, 'that face looking up at me.' It was a statue of Queen Nefertiti.
While history books tell the story of the Nazis' destruction of human life, little is written about their attempt to destroy and steal the culture and art of Europe. Even less is known about those who worked to save the treasures. Named the Monuments Men, the largely unknown group of several hundred men and women worked during and after World War II to save nearly one-fifth of Europe's artwork and artifacts from destruction and theft. . . . Lindsay unpacked thousands of works, he said. . . . Perhaps his most memorable find, he said, was a sculpture stolen by the Germans in 1912. A large box marked "the colored queen" was delivered, and speculation about what the crate held abounded. He was ordered to open it by superiors fearing the contents had been pilfered.
'You had to be suspicious all the time,' Lindsay said. 'Everybody had sticky fingers.' Lindsay obeyed orders and opened the wooden crate, and there, buried under black tar paper and white spun glass, was pure beauty. 'There she was,' he said, 'that face looking up at me.' It was a statue of Queen Nefertiti.
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