enacto enacto this ienactornicious part of what the 're doi the so you see the inventory numbers rothchildn, david aioorman, david ai, ai with. so you see each of thesehe families, the name of the artist and the name of the work of art and insi album asi heseum a heseum a heseum ablese photographs of theotogra of art o tat hav o toat h at h h so in this c this is is rothchild 437. d the painting of a portrait of f f maand markaband rkaband rkaban about at this is the fatstis the album foundation fou found all in the pund ssion ofhed american soldiers or heirs tdiers or h pick these things up innn different un differffer this painting is one painting photographs you have with wormer in it d although the albumshe albumwere found about three and about habout away from a castle,e, i if thworks of art stolen byofhe sto sto gnat cys sto gnnd that gnnd gn wormers an woldiers arere tearing down the steps ado the ste ste ste s s they're carryin'is painting. s's a resoa's ncidenab and it was informative becauseveveour goodveriends at the narionalthrionalrionalonal archive have arsuch a goo jo ving t

so in this case this is rothchild 437. the painting of a portrait of a woman and the remarkable thing about that this is the first album that the foundation has found all in the possession of american soldiers or heirs that pick these things up in different units. this painting is one of the photographs you have with wormer in it and although the albums were found about three and a half hours away from a castle, the castle is where 21,000 of these works of art stolen by the gnat cyst were found that wormers and his soldiers are tearing down the steps and they're carrying this painting. so it's a remarkable coincidence and it was informative because our good friends at the national archive have done such a good job preserving these documents didn't know there were these additional out there. the 39 albums that the monuments officers found were the primary prosecution exhibit at the nuremberg trials for the portion of the trials pertaining to the theft. so this is part of the crime scene and no one could see it as such then.

if i can help you in any way -- >> do you know a corrector named rothchild? he had one of the greatest art collections in the world. >> he's french, new >> jewish. >> no, i don't know him. >> does your wife speak english? >> no, no. >> the back of this cezanne says rothchild. >> it was a gift. >> and the renoir, too? >> (laughs) >> hile hitler! >> hile hitler! >> heil hitler. >> rose: you're proud of that scene? >> i love that scene. >> because you're looking at it with a great sense of -- because of the way it's ed ted as well as the way it's not? >> any time you do a scene with that many people around the table it's hard not to make it procedural and this is about what was said. it's an interesting story, though, because that character in the beginning of the movie, which is a true story, his name is bruges, i think, he was there with s, he was very dangerous and a terrible man. he did -- >> that was a brother or not? >> no, we made that up. but me did escape back into germany. one of the guys, one of the monuments men broke a tooth, went to a dentist, the

it was in the collection of louy rothchild. >> reporter: but another story would play high above europebombers had maps of targets to hit, but they had more than 700 maps like these drawn up by a team working in the reference library in new york. >> these maps are literally to make sure that these buildings didn't get destroyed, didn't get bombed. >> that's exactly. they were distributed so the bombing pilots would not hit the leaning tower of pisa. >> without these, the leaning tower of pisa may have been reduced to rubble. >> the fact that the leaning tower and the beautiful cathedral are still standing is something of a miracle. >> a miracle made possible by a war-time decision to safeguard rather than destroy. >> i believe it's the only time that a country at war bent over backwards to preserve the cultural treasures of the enemy. >> reporter: for harry, being an monuments man is a source of patriotism. >> for a brief period of time in civilization a country adopted the policy not to take things but to return it to their rightful owner. i as an american was very proud to do that. >>

but that means rothchild object number 94. >> reporter: what about this print in here? the recovery of so many treasures for ettlinger was also personal. it was one of your grandfather's prints and you were able to retrieve it. >> that's right. >> reporter: he was able to find his own family's art collection. what are you most proud of about that time that you served with the monuments men? >> i'm proud to as an american that we adopted this policy of saving culture. >> reporter: a monumental achievement by unlikely heroes who saved some of the world's most extraordinary art. rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. >>> thank goodness. and that is our broadcast for this wednesday evening. brian will be back with you tomorrow night from sochi. i'm ann curry, and for all of us here at nbc news, thank you and good night. >>> it's dry now but the rain is on the way. i'm raj mathai. >> i'm jessica aguirre. a live look outside the live camera network. dark clouds in san francisco, oakland and san jose, the start of two powerful storms headed to the bay area. if you're not seeing rai

the painting to find the nazi inventory code. >> you see the initials bor 58 and that stands for rothchildver europe from castles to salt mines. >> they would return to the original owners. >> without them -- >> without them, these paintings would not be on the wall today. >> but thousands were including this portrait by raffaele were never recovered. >> i think the treasure hunt is just beginning. >> at auction, the painting sold for $1.5 million, but the saving of yaoeuropean culture of the monuments men, priceless. >> an incredible but true story. >> without art you lose your history, and i thought that is a movie worth seeing, and you will get it when you go. >>> the most unforgettable moments of the week. we got them for you coming up next on cbs this morning. >> we've got more ahead on "cbs this morning." >>> that was great show. i was especially interested in what we learned about men and women and differences in health. that does it for us. be sure to watch the cbs evenlingevening goes on the road to learn the principles of reading and writing. we leave you with the week that was.

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to know them, so where was laura born, and tell us a letter rothchild the. >> well, west texas. you know, it is the kind of place where you can see it from miles away. it's kind of like oz. very wide and flat and very much a father was a builder, and your mother was a homemaker. mother came from texas strong female stock. her mother had managed to dairy farm. i think that it was very much a place of -- a piece of who she was indifference sense of strength and love the land in the prairie and do for yourself so. i remember when i went there the first time, people always talk about crying. when she moved from western pennsylvania having been educated commander asman came back and say we're going to move up and make a fortune in oil. she said what's it like and he said, well, there is town nearby called no trees. and her friend janet kneele who wound up in introducing her to george bush says u.s. during ulfilas supermarket one day and there was a tumbleweed the size of a volkswagen beetle and from a for doreen shed no idea how to get enter else. very harsh and forbidding in that wa