In 1939, the Bayeux Tapestry was sent to a secure deposit to prevent it from being damaged during World War II. The embroidery was indeed in the crosshairs of Ahnenerbe, a Nazi research institute founded by Himmler in 1935. It remained hidden in an underground shelter for two years while being deployed monthly to check its state of preservation. From 1941 to 1944, the Germans transferred the Bayeux Tapestry to the Sarthe department and later to the Louvre. The museum being under the control of the Resistance, it was recovered during the fighting for the Liberation.