WWII Veteran Had Hitler's Art Book On Bookshelf

Great find!

DALLAS – After fighting his way across Europe during World War II, John Pistone was among the U.S. soldiers who entered Adolf Hitler's home nestled in the Bavarian Alps as the war came to a close.

Making his way through the Berghof, Hitler's home near Berchtesgaden, Germany, Pistone noticed a table with shelves underneath. Exhilarated by the certainty of victory over the Nazis, Pistone took an album filled with photographs of paintings as a souvenir.

Sixty-four years after Pistone brought the album home to Ohio, the 87-year-old has learned its full significance: It's part of a series compiled for Hitler featuring art he wanted for his "Fuhrermuseum," a planned museum in Linz, Austria, Hitler's hometown.

Not only has a piece of historical importance been realized, it's an added plus for the Monuments Men Foundation and for those historical societies that are actively working to locate and preserve lost works of art.

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WWII veteran had Hitler's art book on bookshelf

That is an awesome find.

Makes you wonder what else is out there in somebody's grandparent's attic...

I was just about to post a thread on this story.

Good clever you! Oh well. cool story huh?

More from the article:

Monument Men Foundation

founder, Robert Edsel, who while living in Italy for a time after selling his oil and gas business became interested in what was done to protect art in World War II, traveled to Ohio this fall to examine Pistone's album. Seeing it convinced him that Pistone had one of the missing albums of the series on the planned museum.

Stamped on the album's spine is "Gemaldegalerie Linz" — Gemaldegalerie means picture gallery in German — and the Roman numerals for 13. It still has a sticker from the book's binder in Dresden.

Birgit Schwarz, a German art historian from Vienna who has written books about Hitler and art, including a book called "Hitler's Museum" describing the albums in the series, is convinced the album is authentic. She said she recognized paintings in the album along with the volume number and title.

Edsel believes that the book is evidence of a "crime scene" as it contains works that were intended for Hitler's museum but were stolen or confiscated (some bought)...

Originally posted by Signals
That is an awesome find.

Makes you wonder what else is out there in somebody's grandparent's attic...

Well, something similar was found in my Great Grandmother's Attic after she passed on. There is a thread about here on ATS.

Morality Question on Hitler Memorabilia

He should get a lot of money for it.. I wouldn't give up my spoils of war just because it is claimed to b a part of history.. lets face it.. Everything Hitler owned can be considered a piece of history.

This reminds me of the WW2 mini series " Band of Brothers". One of the troops obtained Hitlers personal photo album.

reply to post by fraterormus
Thank you for posting your thread.
I look forward to reading it.

Originally posted by Topsy_Cret
This reminds me of the WW2 mini series " Band of Brothers". One of the troops obtained Hitlers personal photo album.

Yeah BoB talks about the entire scene where they enter the Eagle's Nest...people took wine, art, books, ledgers, and silver

Pretty wild...I would hold onto it myself

And yeah I guess the morality of owning Hitler memorabilia is in question but I don't find a WWII Vetern who owns' Hitler's ledger or art book to be immoral...just MHO of course

-Kyo