“Saving Mona Lisa” tells the compelling true story of art, intrigue, and remarkable courage in the face of one of the most fearful enemies in history.

In August 1939, curators at the Louvre nestled the world's most famous painting into a special red-velvet-lined case and spirited her away to the Loire Valley. Thus began the biggest evacuation of art and antiquities in history. As the Germans neared Paris in 1940, the French raced to move the masterpieces still further south, then again and again during the war, crisscrossing the southwest of France. At times Mona Lisa slept at the bedside of curators who were painfully aware of their heavy responsibility.

Gerri Chanel is a prize-winning freelance journalist and university professor. She lived in France for five years, where she began the research for “Saving Mona Lisa.”

Presented as part of the Literatour in conjunction with the Springfield JCC.

For more information: http://support.yiddishbookcenter.org/site/Calendar?id=7777&view=Detail