WWII veteran had Hitler's art book on bookshelf

AP ^ | 09 Dec 2009 | JAMIE STENGLE

[BGHater]

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.

"It was really a great feeling to be there and we knew, by that time, he was on his last leg," Pistone told The Associated Press.

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.

Pistone's album is expected to be formally returned to Germany in a ceremony at the U.S. State Department in January. Germany has 19 other albums discovered at the Berchtesgaden complex that are part of a 31-album collection of works either destined for or being considered for the Linz museum.

Pistone's 3-inch thick, 12-pound album's journey from obscurity began this fall when a friend became curious about the book sitting on Pistone's bookshelf.

The friend discovered after some Internet searching that the Dallas-based Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art was involved in 2007 in the restitution of two other albums that were part of a series documenting art stolen by the Nazis from Jewish families.

[Sacajaweau]

I’m not sure what I would do...Probably shut my mouth and burn it. Just the idea of Hitler’s hands upon it is nauseating.

[JD91]

If that happened now Murtha would have him drawn & quartered!

[a fool in paradise]

Pistone's album is expected to be formally returned to Germany in a ceremony at the U.S. State Department in January.

Because after all of these years, Germany STILL can't get enough out of the historical signicance of Hitler's "stuff".

Can we get back some of OUR plundered things from foreign countries?

Can the state department get the British travel ban lifted off of Michael Savage?

[dfwgator]

"Hitler, now there was a painter. One afternoon he did a whole apartment....TWO COATS!"

[bamahead]

Possibly of interest to your list.

[Jewbacca]

I misread this and thought this was an article about a book of paintings that Hitler did. I Binged for Hitler paintings and was surprised to find out he was a passable artist. Now I can say I know three good things about Hitler: good speaker, liked dogs, and was a passable artist.

If only he could have sold more paintings, he could have stayed out of politics.

[DPMD]

Here’s a thought. Right after we execute the three Navy SEALs now on trial, we can prosecute this guy for some war crime or other, and execute him.

As long as we’re going into the past to hunt down CIA agents for succeeding in the war on terror, why not just go all the way? And that one remaining WWI veteran. Do we know for certain he’s absolutely clean?

[Jack Hammer]

LOL. Excellent!

[Venturer]

Is it possible that this book could help in returning some art works to their original owners?

[Charles Martel]

The Berghof must have been full of such artifacts; Alton More of E Co., 506th PIR, 101st Airborne is alleged to have taken home a photo album from there, too. He died in the 1950s, though. I wonder what became of the album?

[SunkenCiv]

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	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks bamahead for the ping. Pistone's album is expected to be formally returned to Germany in a ceremony at the U.S. State Department in January. Germany has 19 other albums discovered at the Berchtesgaden complex that are part of a 31-album collection of works either destined for or being considered for the Linz museum. Thanks BGHater for posting the topic. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
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