The Monuments Men Page #5

Sh*t, merde!

Help! Help me!

Please!

When we first started this mission,

there was some question

as to whether we could

really call ourselves soldiers.

Were we risking as much as

these young men fighting and dying?

And I suppose it was fair to ask.

Garfield, hold onto this.

My wife gave it to me.

I don't want to get blood on it.

Jean-Claude, you hang on to it

right now.

We are no longer observers to war.

We're active participants,

subject to the same heartache

as the rest of these soldiers.

When we lost Donald Jeffries, we

earned the right to wear the uniform.

And now we've lost our second man.

From the beginning, I told you that

no piece of art was worth a man's life.

But these last months

have proved me wrong.

This is our history,

and it's not to be stolen or destroyed.

It's to be held up and admired,

as are these brave men.

And now we owe it to them

to finish the job.

Walter, head stateside,

get some R & R.

We'll meet up with you later.

If it's all the same to you,

I'd like to finish this.

That'd be fine.

All right, let's take a look

at where we are.

Stokes?

Yeah.

I got this off an SS officer.

He was stationed in Paris. It's a map.

He had a farmhouse full of stolen art.

I don't understand.

Siegen, Siegen.

We were there.

There's nothing there. Merkers.

Merkers.

They're not train routes.

Are they airfields?

No.

Bernterode, Salzburg.

Sir, that's not Salzburg.

Salz means "salt." It's a salt mine.

Kalium is "potassium."

Each town has a symbol next to it.

Bernterode is a potassium mine.

Merkers, salt mine.

Altaussee, salt mine.

Siegen...

Copper.

Ah.

There's a copper mine in Siegen.

Yesterday we found 16,000 pieces

of stolen art

buried in a German copper mine.

It seems the Nazis took better care

of paintings than they did people.

There was no sign of the Madonna

that cost Donnie his life,

but maybe we'll have better luck in

the next mine, in the town of Merkers.

Enclosed are your transfer orders.

We'll need you here, as we've lost

both Jeffries and Jean-Claude.

Safe travels.

May I offer you a coffee?

Well, I'm not sure.

I almost didn't recognize you.

My hair?

No, I've just...

I've never seen you smile.

Well, James, it's April in Paris.

Haven't you heard?

They write songs about it.

Ha, is that so?

Are you shopping for your wife?

For my wife?

Every woman loves French perfume.

Even French women?

Especially French women.

Do you write to your wife

every day?

No.

But I do write.

Are you a good husband?

I like to think so.

Paris at night

finds a lot of good husbands

out.

Well, it's war.

It's Paris, hm?

Sardines.

Crackers.

And some kind of potted meat.

Are you having a party?

No.

No, stocking up.

My orders came through last night.

Mm.

I'm heading east.

Germany?

Merkers. There's a mine there.

That's where I'll meet the men.

I was just reading

about your men.

They found art.

A lot of art.

And they returned it.

Well, what they could. We still

don't know who a lot of it belongs to.

When do you leave?

I leave in the morning.

Then we should celebrate tonight.

This is my address.

You bring the potted meat.

I'll bring the wine.

What's the attire?

Formal, of course.

Formal, of course.

That's what I thought.

You weren't kidding.

Mm. I never kid.

This is the best I have.

Why don't you pour the wine?

I brought some things.

I brought some cheese,

some brie cheese and croissants.

Very French.

I cooked a hen.

A hen?

Yes.

It should be ready soon.

Here, put this on.

You know, in France,

if you are given an invitation

to a formal party,

you dress accordingly.

It matches my eyes.

Then you may keep it.

Rosenberg. Goering. Mm-hm.

Lohse. Von Behr.

These are the key figures in the ERR.

The Staff for Special Purposes.

They started with

the Jewish collectors in 1940.

You see Stahl?

The SS farmer.

Farmer.

Here he is with Goering.

Inspecting art to be stolen

and shipped to Germany.

Most of the pieces

they would photograph, then take.

And they would send Hitler albums

filled with the stolen artwork.

And the modern masters, you know,

like Picasso, Klee,

Yes.

Max Ernst,

were just burned in the yard.

Hundreds of paintings.

And you believe these paintings

are in the mines?

No.

No, not these.

This is all I have, James.

This is my life.

I understand.

This is every piece of art

that came through the Jeu de Paume.

Now, I have kept train manifests,

receipts, letters for every single piece.

Who it belonged to, who took it,

where they took it.

I kept a colored mark here

for every piece, to match this ledger.

Jesus Christ.

I'm giving it to you.

It's your responsibility now.

I understand.

There's a castle in the Bavarian Alps,

Neuschwanstein.

You should find most of the art there.

Thank you, Claire.

And you tell them Claire Simone

says hello when you get there.

I'll do just that.

I am out of wine, but, uh, I have cognac.

I should go.

You could stay.

It's Paris, you know?

I do love my tie.

Say, fellas.

Well, hello!

- Welcome back.

- Welcome back, sir.

Good to see you.

How was vacation?

Ha. Where's Stokes?

She's not here, is she?

Who?

The Madonna.

Not here, not in Siegen.

She'll turn up.

I'm not so sure.

Donald was so proud

of what we're doing here.

He was proud to be a part of it.

There will never be

a thousand-year Reich.

No Fatherland.

No fuhrer Museum.

If Jean-Claude and Donald

had something to do with that, well,

I guess it's okay.

I just have some

unfinished business.

We'll find her.

Yeah.

He really wanted it all.

He wanted everything.

Private, what does that sign say?

Uh, "storage."

See if there are any lanterns in there.

Yes, sir.

You okay in there?

Sam?

Buried some 1200 feet

below the ground

in a salt mine in Merkers, Germany,

our Gis discovered

over 100 tons of gold bullion,

the entirety of Germany's reserve.

A crushing blow to Hitler.

Grand news indeed,

and congratulations to generals

Patton, Bradley and Eisenhower.

The Army may not care much

about art,

but they sure as sh*t

care about gold.

General Patton, what

are you gonna do with the gold?

Private, give me a hand.

Yes, sir.

I don't think you've been

properly introduced.

Sam, that's your neighbor,

Mr. Rembrandt.

You tell your grandfather

when you see him.

Nice to meet you.

Hey, got us a couple of trucks.

Do I want to know how?

A lot of files. Looks

like they were burning records.

It's a bunch of junk. An old pot.

Hey, Stokes?

Yeah?

Can you come in here for a minute?

Yeah.

What have you got?

Stop, stop.

Stop. I seem to have

stepped on a land mine

of some sort.

Why'd you do something like that?

It was a slow day.

I wouldn't move.

I'd like to at some point.

Campbell, Garfield, get in here!

What'll they do?

They're architects.

So they know explosives?

- It's that or Savitz.

- What?

Boy, it is burned

to heck in here.

Everybody just stay where they are.

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