Date: 23 February 2014
Location: Bob & Linda
This is the story of six men, museum directors, art historians, curators, and their amazing entry into WWII as a special force called the Monuments Men. These men, and one amazing Frenchwoman, with limited resources and often unarmed, raced against time and a rapidly disintegrating Nazi presence, to preserve the art and cultural treasures of Western Europe, which had been looted and meticulously stashed away over the preceding five years of German occupation. Our focus Sunday evening was on one member of the team in particular, Captain Robert Kelley Posey from Alabama, whose niece, Pat Hair, joined us for the evening. Posey, a member of Patton’s Third Army, and the most military-mined of the six men, made the most significant discovery in the salt mine at Altaussee. In the depths of this mine the Germans had hidden away thousands of pieces of art, including the Van Eyck brothers Ghent Altarpiece, Michelangelo’s Bruges Madonna, and Vermeer’s The Astronomer.
Pat told stories of her uncle and brought a copy of an article from Town and Country written by her uncle’s assistance, Pfc. Lincoln Kirstein, who went on after the war to help found the New York City Ballet. Pat also had photos of the Ghent Altarpiece and Bruges Madonna that she had taken while in Europe with friends.
We learned that the book’s co-author, Brett Witter, is a Grissom High graduate, who also co-wrote Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. Pat’s presence was greatly appreciated by all and a most welcome addition to our evening. We adjourned to a delicious dinner of jambalaya prepared by Linda and a goodly assortment of dishes and desserts brought by our talented group.
— Lynn