The character Claire Simone is based on Rose Valland, the real life curator of the Jeu De Paume museum in Paris, France. She was left behind after as much of the art as possible was evacuated from the museum to care for the building during the Nazi occupation. She kept track of all works of art that came through the museum recording where they came from and where they went after they left the museum. She also stole negatives of photographs of art that came through the museum and had them copied and returned by the morning. The Nazis threw Mlle Valland out of the museum on numerous occasions, but she would always return a few days later to take care of building issues and continued to spy on the Nazis working at the museum. She worked closely with the French resistance.Source: Lynn H. Nicholas. The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War. Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 1994.