On this day in 1945, Dutch forger Han van Meegeren was arrested for treason—initially accused of selling a priceless Vermeer to the Nazis. The work in question, ‘Christ with the Woman Taken in Adultery’, had been purchased by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring for 1.65 million Dutch guilders, believing it to be a genuine Vermeer. Tracked down by Monuments Man Capt. Harry Anderson at Fischhorn Castle in Austria, the painting became a pivotal piece of evidence in one of the most bizarre postwar trials. To avoid a death sentence, Van Meegeren confessed to forging several “Vermeers”—a claim verified by Belgian Monuments Man Paul Coremans and a team of experts known as the Coremans Commission. In an ironic twist, Göring was informed of the forgery in 1946 by Monuments Man H. Stewart Leonard during an interrogation. According to Leonard, Göring looked as though “for the first time he had discovered there was evil in the world.” _____ Image 1 | Monuments Man Captain Harry Anderson (right) holding Christ With the Woman Taken in Adultery. National Archives and Records Administration (111-SC-374666) US National Archives Image 2 | Monuments Man Captain Harry Anderson and an Allied official display Christ With the Woman Taken in Adultery after its recovery from Göring’s collection #MonumentsMen #ArtHistory #WWIIHistory #HanVanMeegeren #VermeerForgery #CulturalHeritage #StolenArt #NaziLootedArt #80YearsOn (fb)

This Memorial Day marks 80 years of remembrance at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, where over 10,000 American service members are buried or commemorated—including Monuments Man Captain Walter J. Huchthausen, the only American Monuments Man killed in action during WWII. Captain Huchthausen’s grave has been lovingly tended for eight decades by Dutch citizens, part of a remarkable tradition of adoption that began in 1945. Through the Forever Promise Project, we are working to connect American families with the Dutch adopters who have honored their fallen loved ones across generations. Read the full story here: https://www.monumentsmenandwomenfnd.org/post/eighty-years-of-gratitude _____ The Foundation for Adopting Graves American Cemetery Margraten (Stichting Adoptie Graven Amerikaanse Begraafplaats Margraten) helps connect American families with Dutch adopters who have honored their fallen relatives for decades. Though widely embraced in the Netherlands, this tradition is still little known in the U.S. That’s why the Monuments Men and Women Foundation, in partnership with the Dutch foundation and with support from Find a Grave & Fold3 by Ancestry, launched the Forever Promise Project—to preserve these stories and reunite families with those who remember. Learn more at ForeverPromise.org. Let us remember the lives lost—and the enduring bonds of gratitude they created. _____ Image 1 | Frieda van Schaïk laying flowers at Walter Huchthausen’s grave. Photo: Van Schaïk/Gumn Family Photographs. Image 2 | Walter Huchthausen’s grave. Photo: Van Schaïk/Gumn Family Photographs. Image 3 | A portrait taken of Walter Huchthausen in uniform shortly before his death. Photo: Van Schaïk/Gumn Family Photographs. Image 4 | Robert Edsel with the current adopters of Walter Huchthausen's grave on May 25, 2025. Photo: Robert Edsel. #MemorialDay #MonumentsMen #TheForeverPromiseProject #Margraten #WWIIHistory #NeverForgotten #HonorThem (fb)