Richard Barancik, the last surviving member of the Allied unit known as the Monuments Men and Women, which during and after World War II preserved a vast amount of European artworks and cultural treasures that had been looted and hidden by Nazi Germany, died July 14 in Chicago. He was 98.
Barancik was one of four members of what was formally called the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section to receive the Congressional Gold Medal in 2015.