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About

Rose Valland

1897-1978

Captain

Source: Archives des Musées Nationaux, France

The unassuming heroine of French culture during World War II, Rose Valland was an employee of the Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris who secretly recorded the movements of art and objects stolen by the Nazis in France.

Valland earned two fine arts degrees from the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, and also studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She received art history degrees from both the École du Louvre and the Sorbonne University in Paris. Despite her extensive education, she began work at the Jeu de Paume as an unpaid volunteer, with the title "chargé de mission." Valland eventually became assistant of the museum and began receiving a salary in 1941.

In October 1940, during the Occupation of Paris, the Nazis took over the Jeu de Paume Museum and began using it as the headquarters for the ERR (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg). There they

stored paintings and other works of art stolen from private French collections, mostly those of Jewish collectors. Jacques Jaujard, Director of the Musées Nationaux, immediately instructed Valland to remain at work at the museum and spy on the Germans. It was initially agreed that she and a few assistants would be allowed to work in the Jeu de Paume to maintain Louvre records, but the Nazis soon reneged and instead allowed only Valland to remain. She therefore became one of the few French witnesses to the Nazi looting machine.

Valland kept a low profile at the building, due to her simple and quiet demeanor, and because the Nazis did not realize that she spoke German. Under the pretense of her duties maintaining the building, Valland was in reality tracking the shipments of ERR loot dispatched from Paris to locations throughout the Reich. In addition to intelligence she gathered on her own, Valland obtained information from loyal drivers, guards, and packers – passing precious knowledge on to Jaujard and the French Résistance. Hers was a dangerous and even life-threatening job, and she kept her knowledge closely guarded.

After the Allied invasion of France in June 1944, Valland finally confided the details of Nazi looting to Monuments Man James Rorimer in December of that year, who could do little to act on the information until Allied Forces established military strongholds in Germany.

One of the greatest discoveries of ERR loot was at the castle of Neuschwanstein, where Valland’s documentation proved to be very helpful to Monuments officers by showing exactly what artworks belonged to whom, thus expediting the restitution process tremendously.

The French Commission de Récupération Artistique (Commission on Art Recovery) was formed in 1944, with Valland and Jaujardas prominent members. Well after the war’s end, Valland worked to locate and return artworks. She described her experiences in the book, Le Front de L’Art, which also inspired the1964 film,The Train, starring Burt Lancaster.

She received the Legion of Honor, the Medal of the Résistance, and was made Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government for her heroic efforts. The United States awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in1948, and she received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany as well. Valland was one of the most decorated women in France, but it wasn’t until 1953, after twenty years of service to the French museums, that she was finally awarded the title of "curator."

Valland’s accomplishments were virtually unrecognized in France during her lifetime, and she died in 1980 in relative anonymity. She is buried in her home village of Saint-Etienne-de-Saint-Geoirs where the Association de la Mémoire de Rose Valland has been founded to honor her life and work.

Source: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Lesson Plans

  • 1

    Eisenhower, Hitler & The Monuments Men

    Adolf Hitler is stealing, General Dwight D. Eisenhower is protecting. These historic documents let students explore the value of cultural heritage from both sides of the war.

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  • 2

    Is Art Worth a Life?

    Giving up one’s life to save a work of art provokes strong debate. Place students in the role of a Monuments Man or Woman and have them discuss what they would do to protect art in times of war. What is worth protecting?

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  • 3

    Priceless Art, Personal Objects, Countless Lives

    The Jeu de Paume Museum was a collecting point for Nazi art looting in France. Learn what was held within its walls, where it came from, and where it went.

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  • 4

    The Monuments Men Were a Long Time Ago. Why Does This Matter?

    What can we learn from the Monuments Men as the world’s cultural heritage continues to be threatened?

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