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As early as 1939, fearing the German advance with its bombing and pillaging, Jacques Jaujard, the director of France's national museums, organized the removal of major pieces from the Louvre and the safe storage of its collections. As the Germans advanced on Paris, thousands of works of art found themselves in exile along the roads of France. The Mona Lisa, incognito, was part of the convoy. For her part, Rose Valland, the former director of the Jeu de Paume Museum, was relegated to the role of caretaker. In secret, she collected and compiled all the meaningful information she could about Jewish-owned private collections that were being seized by the Germans. Hermann Göring, Marshal of the German Empire, visited the Jeu de Paume dozens of times, selecting thousands of pieces for his personal collection. At the end of the war, through the efforts and instinct of Jacques Jaujard, all of the works from the Louvre were returned to their place in the museum. Thanks to Rose Valland's work and notes, over 60,000 works plundered mainly from Jews were returned to their rightful owners.
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