Musée du Louvre - Saving Mona Lisa: the battle to protect the Louvre & its treasures during World War II

1. 
   
2. PART II INTO EXILE
   FALL 1938 to SPRING 1940
3. PART III EXODUS, ART AND OCCUPIERS
   SPRING 1940 to FALL 1942
4. PART IV NEW BORDERS, NEW BATTLES
   NOVEMBER 1942 to DECEMBER 1943
5. PART V DANGER, HOPE AND FREEDOM
   JANUARY 1944 to AUGUST 1944
6. PART VI HOMECOMING
   AUGUST 1944 to OCTOBER 1947

PRINCIPAL LOUVRE STORAGE SITES DURING WORLD WAR II,
AND THE PARTITION OF FRANCE JUNE 1940 TO NOVEMBER 1942

ITINERARY OF
THE MONA LISA

September 1938 Paris to Chambord

September 1938 Chambord to Paris

August 1939 Paris to Chambord

November 1939 Chambord to Louvigny

June 1940 Louvigny to Loc-Dieu Abbey (Martiel)

October 1940 Loc-Dieu to Montauban

March 1943 Montauban to Chteau de Montal (Saint-Jean-Lespinasse)

June 1945 Montal to Paris

Marcel Aubert Curator of the Louvres Department of Sculptures.

Germain Bazin Assistant curator of the Louvres Department of Paintings, reporting to Ren Huyghe; head of art depot at the chteau de Sourches.

Joseph Billiet Assistant director of the Muses Nationaux (French National Museums), reporting to Jacques Jaujard, director.

Jacqueline Bouchot-Saupique Art historian and professor at the cole du Louvre; also served as Jacques Jaujards assistant during the war.

Abel Bonnard Appointed Minister of National Education in April 1942, replacing Jrme Carcopino. The French Fine Arts Administration fell under his purview.

Jrme Carcopino Minister of National Education 1941 to 1942, replaced by Abel Bonnard.

Andr Chamson Until the war, assistant curator at Versailles; also a writer. Resided at the Louvre evacuation depots with his wife, Louvre archivist Lucie Mazauric.

Christiane Desroches Noblecourt Louvre staff member specializing in Egyptology.

Carle Dreyfus Curator of the Louvres Dpartement des Objets dart and first depot director at Valenay.

Hans Haug Depot director at Cheverny as of 1940.

Louis Hautecoeur Secretary General of Fine Arts from summer 1940. The French national museum systemincluding the Louvrewas under his control. He reported to the Minister of National Education. Replaced spring 1944 by Georges Hilaire.

Magdeleine Hours Louvre staff member specializing in painting restoration.

Ren Huyghe Head curator of the Louvres Department of Paintings, reporting to Jacques Jaujard. Head of various Louvre evacuation depots.

Jacques Jaujard Appointed acting director of the Muses Nationaux in December 1939 and director in September 1940. Responsible for the Louvre. Reported to the Secretary General of Fine Arts, Louis Hautecoeur.

Suzanne Kahn Jaujards assistant when the war began.

Lucie Mazauric In charge of the Louvre archives. Resided at the Louvre evacuation depots during the war; married to Andr Chamson.

Pierre Laval Vichy Prime Minister June to December 1940 and April 1942 to August 1944, reporting to Head of State Philippe Ptain.

Philippe Ptain Head of Vichy government.

Pierre Schommer One of the senior administrators of the French national museum system; head of the Chambord evacuation depot.

Charles Sterling A curator in the Louvres Department of Paintings; assigned to the evacuation depots.

Rose Valland Volunteer staff member at the Jeu de Paume Museum.

Grald Van der Kemp Louvre staff member; appointed head of the Valenay evacuation depot in autumn 1940.

Henri Verne Director of the Muses Nationaux from 1926 to 1939; succeeded by Jacques Jaujard in 1940.

Otto Abetz Appointed German ambassador to France in 1940. Ally of Joachim von Ribbentrop.

HermannBunjes Art historian assigned in 1940 to Kunstschutz art protection agency, reporting to Franz von Wolff Metternich. Ally of Hermann Gring.

Karl Epting Worked for Otto Abetz as a cultural advisor.

Joseph Goebbels Hitlers Reich Minister of Propaganda.

Hermann Gring Hitlers second-in-command and head of the Luftwaffe, the German Air Force.

Heinrich Himmler Overseer of the Gestapo, the SS and the Ahnenerbe cultural research group

Felix Kuetgens A senior member of the Kunstschutz.

Otto Kmmel Director of the Berlin State Museums and head of the project to identify certain art of German origin located in other countries.

Joachim von Ribbentrop Hitlers Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Alfred Rosenberg Official philosopher and racial theorist of the Nazi party; in summer 1940, also appointed head of the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR).

Bernhard von Tieschowitz Second-in-command at the Kunstschutz.

Count Franz von Wolff Metternich Head of the Kunstschutz, effective spring 1940.

Forces Franaises Libres (FFLFree French Forces). Resistance group led by Charles de Gaulle from his base in London.

Forces Franaises de lIntrieur (FFIFrench Forces of the Interior). Formed upon the unification of a number of Resistance groups in February 1944.

Milice Vichy-sponsored secret paramilitary force.

Muses Nationaux (French National Museums system). Umbrella organization for all French state-owned museums, including the Louvre and other museums such as Cluny, Jeu de Paume, Guimet, Muse dArt Moderne and Versailles. Later in the war, provincial museums also came within its purview. Jacques Jaujard was director of the system during the war. The Muses Nationaux was under the auspices of the Fine Arts Administration, which, in turn, was under the control of the Ministry of National Education.