When German forces took Athens in April 1941, they expected to find thousands of centuries-old artifacts in the National Archaeological Museum, Greece’s largest museum. Instead, the neo-classical building was totally empty, besides the archaeologists and guardians still on duty. Officers asked them where the relics were hidden and “they answered enigmatically that antiquities are where everybody knows they are: under the ground.” Little did the Germans realise that the museum staff had literally buried all statues and artifacts underground in concrete fortified trenches right under their feet.
