Adolf Hitler And Eisenhower Essay

Hitler and Eisenhower Adolf Hitler and Dwight Eisenhower were two world leaders during World War II. The point of the views of the two men were similar and different, mainly because of their nationalities, views on art, and methods that they used during the war to get the art. This is supported by excerpts from Hitler’s decree and Eisenhower’s executive order. Through Eisenhower’s initiative to secure the lost art, we have several of the cultural and historic monuments that contribute to the society of today. Nowadays, a person’s nationality makes them different from a person of a different nationality. It as the same back then, because Hitler and Eisenhower came from two very different countries. For instance, Eisenhower came from America, …show more content…
While both viewed art as necessary elements of a society’s culture, Eisenhower viewed art as something to be sought after and Hitler believed art from other countries are enemies of Nazi Germany. Eisenhower’s viewpoint is supported when he writes, “Today we are fighting in a country which has contributed a great deal to our cultural inheritance, a country rich in monuments which by their creation helped and now in their old age illustrate the growth of the civilization which is ours” (Eisenhower). The document Eisenhower wrote this in, the Executive Order, was made primarily to announce the mission of the Monuments Men and also to show the American appreciation for the arts. The bias in this statement is shown when he says the art helped develop America, because obviously an American would like something that helped make America. However, it is through the bias that one knows why Americans believe the European monuments are so sacred; they helped found the country that they know and love. The difference between Eisenhower and Hitler is that Hitler saw art completely differently. He saw the monuments as a cultural enemy of the Nazis, one that must be eliminated. This is supported when he writes, “Jews, Free Masons, and those opponents of National Socialism who are affiliated with them on the basis of ‘weltanschauung’, are the authors of the present war against the Reich” (Hitler). The point of the document Hitler wrote this in, Decree of the Fuhrer, was to inform all Germans about the “spiritual war” on the Reich, and to fight it they must purge foreign monuments. Clearly the document is biased, as Nazis had radical views towards Jews. Also, at this point in history, the Nazis hated almost everything that wasn’t German. The bias reveals a motive for Hitler’s actions, though, because it was his belief that the Germans were a superior race that