Author Robert Edsel discusses the life of a Jewish World War II Veteran born in Germany

Harry Ettlinger is a German born Jew who was the last boy to celebrate his bar mitzvah in Karlsruhe, Germany before Kristallnacht. Robert Edsel tells the story of how Harry escaped Germany and eventually became a Monuments Man in the U.S. Army.

The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History. In what is perhaps the last major story of World War II that hasnt yet been told, a little-known Allied division was given the mission to find and protect European art treasures looted by Hitler and the Nazis. The stolen art included works by Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Van Eyck, and Vermeer. In a race against time, each man working on his own, the Monuments Men built their own treasure maps from scraps and hints. These unlikely heroes, mostly middle-aged family men, went from quiet lives into the epicenter of war, risking and some losing their lives. Included in this group of men was a woman who courageously worked to preserve the cultural heritage of France under the threat of death by the Nazis. Like other members of the Greatest Generation, the Monuments Men embody the heroic spirit that enabled the best of humanity to defeat the worst. This is their story.

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News & Politics

Tags:

• Kristallnacht
• Veterans Day
• art
• Nazis
• treasure hunt
• Hitler