Toonmili, hey there eye roller,
This is not a story of art vs. life. The mission was premised on the notion that the war was almost over. The generals' directions to their soldiers were do your best not to hurt churches, monuments, etc. You'll understand better once you see the movie or, better than just the movie, read the book.
All the Allies were in on saving all sorts of creations of meaning to civilizations: churches, monuments, the "stuff" taken from the Jewish families (minorahs, sterling silver tableware, jewelry) and, of course, the paintings.
The Monuments Men also found all the gold taken from the countries Germany invaded and conquered; it was returned to those countries.
Some of the places the stuff was hidden were booby trapped.
As the war was winding down and Germans were retreating, it was easy to find people to give info on where the stuff was. As you were intimating, in fact, there were people hurt saving this stuff, but the risks weren't that great in that the places they were lurking about were already taken back by the Allies.
It is a very, very interesting story about the end of the war.
Worldwide, 55 million died. It was odd that you said words to the effect that you could/would only care about war if you knew the people or their families. Huh? Where's your empathy?
This was the most horrendous event of the 20th century. By far. The war should never be forgotten and should be taught with historic accuracy. The textbooks in some countries are already getting out of whack.
^^^
Health care security - ahhhhh - nothing is better!
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