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PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON HOLOCAUST ASSETS
"LOOTED BOOKS"
by
Greg Murphy
February 2000
One of the most enduring images of non-military Nazism is the burning of books. While it is certainly true that
this practice was employed, the reality is a bit more complicated. Early in the Hitler regime of Gennany, the Nazis
had engaged in the burning or pulping of Jewish books, although some were sold on the black market. However,
under Alfred Rosenberg, who established the EinsatzstabReichsleiter Rosenberg (charged with stealing cultural
artifacts from ideological enemies, especially Jews and Freemasons) under Hitler's authorization on January 29,
1940, the Nazis endeavored to collect and store Jewish materials for future anthropological study. Rosenberg had
actually undertaked the'confiscation program in Sudetenland during its annexation in 1938 and, ironically, had it
written into the directives for Kristallnacht that November. Thus, while synagogues were burning in flames, books
!-'
were removed by the arsonists for safekeeping. Some of the less valuable Jewish books (post-1800 books in
Hebrew or Yiddish), though, would continue to be burned or pulped. Torah scrolls were often used in leather
products. 1
These confiscated books were brought to the Insitut der NSDAP zur Erforschung der Judenfrage (the Nazi Institute
for the Ex-ploration of the Jewish Question), formerly the Frankfurt City Library and, up until 1928, the Rothschild
Library. The Institute's collections were looted from Jews within Germany, Denmark, France, Greece, Holland,
Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, and Ukraine 2 by the ERR (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg). The ERR had
IFriedman, Philip. "The Fate of the Jewish Book" Roads To Extinction' Essays on the
Holocaust, New York: Jewish Publication Society of America. 1980
2Friedman, Philip. "The Fate of the Jewish Book" Roads To Extinction' Essays on the
Holocaust, New York: Jewish Publication Society of America. 1980
NARAICP; RG 226; M1499; Reel 81; Frames 1107-1109
.' ',,>,
NARAICP; Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Militcir,Y Tribunal, Volume
VII, Proceedings, 5 February 1946-19 February 1946, Nuremberg, Germany. 1947. p. 63
NARAICP; Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal, Volume
,IV, Proceedings, 17 December 1945-8 January 1946, Nuremberg, Germany. 1947. p. 84
�looted books, documents, and manuscripts from every German-occupied country in Europe for the Nazi Institute
for the Exploration of the Jewish Question, either through outright confiscation (the preferred method in Eastern
Europe) or by forced sale at very low prices or credit that was never honored (a more common practice in Western
Europe).3
All very interesting, but what has this to do with the United States? The Library of Congress initially became
involved with the acquisition of books in Europe during World War II. There were large book orders (including
some already paid for)4 from Germany by various American libraries that largely came to a halt following the
outbreak of the war. Library of Congress employee, Manuel Sanchez, with State and War Department supportS,
was sent abroad in April 1943 to traverse war-tom Europe in order to procure books for the American libraries6 ,
including government libraries. 7
However, it turns out that American purchases of books from Germany continued during World War II! This
apparent violation of the Trading With The Enemy Act involved the G.E. Stechert & Co. book dealership firm of
Leipzig and unknown American purchasers. 8 We do know that a major German bookdealer, Otto Harrassowitz,
continued to collect books for the primary U.S. libraries during the war, including, Harvard University, although
they were not paid for until hostilities ceased. 9
Upon Germany's defeat in 1945, the major Allied powers (United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France)
3NARAICP; Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal, Volume
V, Proceedings, 9 January-21 January 1946, Nuremberg, Germany. 1947. p. 49
NARAICP; RG 239; Entry 62;Box 49; File: War Crimes Office; April 9, 1945; Preliminary
Report; "Outline of Operations of Task Force (Einsatzstab) Rosenberg in the West"
4LC; Reference Section; Call #Z663.A2; Annual Report, 1946
5LC; European Mission-LC; Box 27; File: Mission History
6LC; Reference Section; Call #Z663.A2; Annual Report, 1946
7LC; European Mission-LC; Box 27; File: Mission History
8NARAICP; RG 260; Entry: Economics Division; Box 85; File #386 - Misc. Claims; Memo from
Roy J. Bullock, Export & Import Section; "Property of G.E. Stechert & Co."; April 9, 1946
9LC; European Mission-LC; Box 5; File: Harrassowitz, Otto; Letter from Captain Clarence E.
Mitchell (Dept. of Religion and Education, Military Government, Leipzig); April 24, 1945
LC; European Mission-LC; Box 34; File: Harvard Library; Letter from Peiss to Professor Taylor
Starck; August 2, 1946
�occupied four seperate sections of their vanquished foe. Books that had been looted from various libraries and
~
private owners within Germany and in Nazi-occupied countries were soon discovered. Since so many were found
at the Institute for the Exploration of the Jewish Question in the American Zone, the U.S. Army decided to set up a
collection point there. The Library of Congress, as the national library of the United States, was designated by the
War Department I 0 to represent all American libraries in fielding a mission to son, 'process, and ultimately, ship
many of the books, estimated,to be about 3 million, to America. The Library of Congress was attached to the G-2
(Intelligence) section of the U.S. Anny and would attract many OSS and military intelligence types, as well as
.
,
leading librarians, these roles not being mutually exclusive. The Library began to work hand-in-hand with the
American Military Government in both Germany and Austria to aid in the collection and storing of these books.
In return, according to Reuben Peiss, "the Mission has aided the military authorities in screening captured
documents, has advised on the disposition of records; and has turned over to Military Government many thousands
of books looted by the Nazis for restitution to tlle countries from which they came." I I In September 1945, tlle
U.S. Military Government in Germany [OMGUS], developed restitution policies and procedures for various
categories of property, including books, that were looted from occupied areas by the Germans. The policy allowed
the Allied governments and formerly-occupied European nations themselves to act on behalf of tlleir injured,
property-owning citizens, stating that restitution during the interim period will be made only on a
country-to-country basis. l2
But even this policy was misunderstood by various U.S. Army officers in the field. Instead of bringing all
collected, looted books to a collection point, books in Russian (Jewish-owned or not) were often simply handed
over to the Soviets; other books found their way to the black market; while others were even turned back over to tlle
German libraries which were "neither legally nor morally entitled to claim any of these books." 13 Even Jewish
books found in the Sturmer Verlag were given to the Nurnberg City Library "as a possession and not as a trust, and
the Library is therefore free to do with them what it pleases." 14 The approximately 5,000 books eventually wound
lOLC; European Mission-LC; Box 27; File: Mission History
lILC; European Mission-LC; Box 4; File: Nuremberg Documents
12NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: MFA&A Section Chief; Box 722; File: MFA&A Library, General
Statements - Policy & Procedure - Now Valid
13LC; European Mission-LC; Box 33; File: Reports, Progress - Zuckerman, J.
�2) "helping to scre~n captured documents and advising which would be useful to American research or to
Anny or other agencies in the Theater"; ["the Mission has helped to screen several million
volumes, of which several hundred thousand have been turned over for research library use and
are en route to the United States or have already arrived .... Furthennore, many thousands of Nazi
volumes have been acquired through the cooperation of Infonnation Control from impounded
stocks that would otherwise have been pulped."]
3) "purchasing wartime imprints and current publications.,,20
In a January 15, 1946 letter, Dr. Evans blandly remarked that the object of the LC Mission was "primarily to help
in connection with the shipment of books for the Library of Congress and other departments of the United
States,',21 But by April 1946, the Library was "engaged in obtaining as complete as possible a documentation of
Gennan publishing during the war years and subsequent to the annistice.,,22 However, Evans also clearly stated in
April 1946 that looted books from "non-enemy" countries be restored "to the country from which it came. ,,23
As part of the U.S. policy of de-Nazification, the U.S. Anny, encompassing the LC Mission, on May 13, 1946,
affixed its signature to Allied Control Authority No.4, the Confiscation of Literature and Materials of a Nazi and
Militarist Nature. 24 These confiscated items, once found, would be turned over from G-2 to the Library of
Congress Mission. 25 Of course, what books and publications that were of a "Nazi and militaristic nature" was
open to interpretation. And by June 1946, "semi-military" items; materials of "organizations associated" with the
Nazi party; "libraries of industries forbidden to function in the future" were eligible for removal from Gennany to
the United States; as well as the original book purchase plan. 26 Also targeted by LC Mission Chief Reuben Peiss
were collections "(a) vital to military research; (b) useful for general research; (c) potentially dangerous if left
behind.,,27 These collections included:
Deutsches Auslands-Institut
NS Lehrer-Bund [materials after 1933]
20LC; European Mission-LC; Box 32; File: Reports, Progress - Peiss, Reuben
21LC; European Mission-LC; Box 27; File: Mission History
22LC; European Mission-LC; Box 30; File: Regulations - Export & Import
23NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: MF A&A; Box 721; File: Jewish Archives & Libraries; "Information
Bulletin"; April 20-26, 1946
24Moore, David. "To the Victors Go the Spoils: The Library of Congress Mission to Europe:
1943-47"; unpublished manuscript
25LC; European Mission-LC; Box 27; File: Mission History
26NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: MF A&A Section Chief; Box 721; File: MF A&A Library - LC
Mission
27LC; European Mission-LC; Box 32; File: Reports, Progress - Peiss, Reuben
�Deutsche Arbeitsfront
OrdensburgSonthofen [NS Fuehrerschulen]
Hauptarchiv der NSDAP
Rehse Sarnmlung
Weltkriegsbuecherei
Peiss summed up the Library of Congress Mission by saying that "we will be getting materials which the Army
refuses to leave behind... You may be assured, however, and may so assure American librarians, that our Mission
will do no looting, but on the contrary will do everything in its power to aid in the legitimate restoration of German
cultural life and particularly of German libraries. One day we are going to face accusations and we may find we
have made unwise decisions on a few specific issues, but I think we shall continue to have a clear conscience.,,28
And mistakes would be made by the LC Mission. As a result of the Libraryof Congress policy, Adolf Hitler's
collection of over 3,383 items, along with Heinrich Himmler's library of 800-1 ,000 volumes, "mostly of Nazi
content or tendency,,,29 among other German collections was sorted and shipped to the Library of Congress. Some
of these materials, such as patent and labor union records had to be returned to Germany because they were
wrongfully confiscated. 30 In all, during the Mission's life span, which ended in 1947,270,100 confiscated books
were shipped to the United States, in addition to speech recordings, posters, exchange materials, and
newspapers. 31
A February 14, 1946 memo from LC Mission Headquarters in Berlin to Peiss states that "approximately 50,000
titles (collected since the November shipment) and including many special groupings (freemasonry, ritual manuals,
Jewish literature - on and by Jews, political pamphlets, etc.) were ready for shipment.,,32 What about these
books? Were restitution policies followed? Were tlley identifiable (traceable to an owner or institution)? Did they
get shipped to the Offenbach Depot which would open a month later? Since there were 12 shipments from
Germany to the Library of Congress in that one-montll time span, that is not likely. These books need to be
28NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: :MFA&A; Box 721; File: Jewish Archives & Libraries; "Information
Bulletin"; April 20-26, 1946
29LC; European Mission-LC; Box 8; File: Himmler
30LC; European Mission-LC; Box 28; File: Policy-General
31LC; European Mission-LC; Box 27; File: Mission History
32LC; European Mission-LC; Box 1; File: Acquisitions - Clearances,Shipments
�accounted for.
Following the war, looted Jewish books were to be collected at the Rothschild Library at Frankfurt, close to the
Nazi Institute for the Exploration of the Jewish Question. By 1946, 2.3 million.volumes of books had been
assembled at Rothschild. 33 At that point, a decision was made to transfer them to a larger space in Offenbach, the
former LG. Farben complex, which became known as the Offenbach Archival Depot. An estimated 85% of the
unidentifiable books were Jewish-related. 34 OncetIlere, books were .to be processed and returned to their rightful
owners whenever possible. Because so many pre-war Jewish institutions were no longer in existence and many of
the owners had been murdered, the question arose as to what to do with all the stolen Jewish artifacts.
The Offenbach Archival Depot was opened on March 2, 194635 to be the central repository of Jewish cultural
property in tile U.S. Zone, to sort and eventually, distribute books, manuscripts, and other publications to as many
rightful owners as possible. The "first shipment" from Offenbach of 4,712 books36 confiscate~ from the Institut
Der NSDAP Zur Erforschung Der Judenfrage was delivered to the Library of Congress Mission on March 21,
1946 37 for transport to Washington. Although tins collection contained looted books from occupied Europe, as.
well as Germany, Reuben Peiss and David Clift insisted (and Seymour Pomrenze signed receipts concerning), that
these items were not removed from Nazi-occupied countries, only Germany, and "hence were not subject to
restitution.',38 Other identifiable Jewish books were shipped to their country of origin, the first delivery going to
33Friedman, Philip. "The Fate of the Jewish Book" Essays on the Holocaust, New York: Jewish
Publication Society of America. 1980
34LC; European Mission-LC; Box 34; File: Restitution of Un restituted Materials (Jewish Books)
NARAICP; RG 260; Entry: MF A&A Section Chief; Box 721 ; File: Jewish Archives &
.
.
Libraries; Memo from Colonel William Whipple to Colonel John Allen; August 16, 1946
35Poste, Leslie 1. The Development ofU S Protection of Libraries and Archives in Europe
During World War II. Fort Gordon, Georgia: U.S. Army Civil Affairs School. 1964. p. 262
36NARAICP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 259; File: OAD Reports; March 1946
37Poste, Leslie 1. The Development ofU S Protection of Libraries and Archives in Europe
During World War II Fort Gordon, Georgia: U.S. Army Civil Affairs School. 1964.
38LC; European Mission-LC; Box 8; File: NSLB Teac~ers Library, Bayrauth
NARAICP; RG 260; Entry: MF A&A Section Chief; Box 721; File: MF A&A Library - LC
Mission
NARAICP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 151; File: Archives & Libraries - Questionnaires
& Reports
�Holland on March 25, 1946. 39 Notice that this process began two months before Order No.4, regarding the LC
Mission receiving books, was publicly issued.
The Library of Congress would continue to receive books from the "legitimately acquired,,40 nucleus library of
the Institut der NSDAP zur Erforschung der Judenfrage stored at Off~nbach:
March 22, 1946 - 1,500 books
March 25, 1946 - 770 books
March 26, 1946 - 1,955 books
April 1, 1946 - 2,118 books
April 4, 1946 - 992 books
April 10, 1946 - 1,771 books
Apri117, 1946 - 1,234 books
May 22, 1946 - 2,020 books
May 31, 1946 -915 books
September 3, 1946 - 953 books and 376 brochures
This begs the question, what was "legitimately acquired" for the Institut der NSDAP zur Erforschung der
Judenfrage? They received their collections from the ERR who were charged with pillaging Jewish books and
works of art. The ERR did not "legitimately" acquire anything! It's possible that the reference is to the books
originally housed in the Frankfurt City Library, the building the ERR took over. David Clift, Deputy Chief of the
Library of Congress Mission, estimated in March 1946 that the Erforschung Der Judenfrage materials contained
only 8,000 bOOks. 41 Could this be the working library of the ERR the original Frankfurt City Library
collection? Since the Library of Congress received 19,316 books from Offenbach, how is the approximate 11,000
book difference explained? Perhaps these are Jewish books looted from inside Germany itself.
Reuben Peiss noted that "Library of Congress representatives, especially Dr. Zuckerman in Berlin, found thousands
of Jewish volumes, sometimes in precarious housing, salvaged them, and shipped them to Offenbach.,,42 Where
did these books go? Then there is the controversy over the number of books actually shipped from Offenbach to
the Library of Congress. According to the Offenbach Archival Depot and Leslie Poste, the final shipment of books
(September 1946) to the Library of Congress brought their total to 20,329 (19,953 books and 376 brochures).43
3~ARAJCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 259; File: DAD Reports; March 1946
4~ARAJCP; RG 260; Entry: MF A&A Section Chief; Box 720; File: MF A&A - DAD
41LC; European Mission-LC; Box 31; File: Reports, Progress - Clift, David
42LC; European Mission-LC; Box 32; File: Reports, Progress - Peiss, Reuben
�But how was this figure arrived at when OAD's own monthly reports and the LC's receipts total 19,316 books and
,
brochures? But this 1,013 book difference has not been explained. To sow even more confusion, the Jewish
Cultural Reconstruction, Inc. (JCR) later deposited Jewish~related books to the Library of Congress following their
distribution agreement with OMGUS in 1949.
A confidential source within the Library of Congress states that someone in the Hebraic Section informed him that
the Hebraic Section holds many
pre~ 1500
A.D. books in Hebrew and Yiddish within a vault (actually a caged
holding area) and that at least some hold an Offenbach Archival Depot Stamp. Asked why the Library of
Congress has not publicized tItis matter, the employee noted that Section Chief Dr. Michael Grunberger wants to
"protect the collection." Obviously, any pre-1500 books, because of their value, would be identifiable and
therefore, restitutable. The vault needs to be inspected.
Grunberger has said that he has "seen a stamp from the OAD on some title pages ofbooks.. 44 in the Library's
Hebraic division. However, he added "to the best of my knowledge there's no way ofknowing,,45 how many of
the books that the Library acquired through the Offenbach Depot were in Hebrew and, therefore, segregated into
the Hebraic collection. As for the Library's later acquistion of books from Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, Inc.
OCR), Grunberger states that he did not "believe item level lists were prepared by the JCR and I haven't come
across them here.',46
In a recent interview with Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs, former OAD Director Pomrenze states that it
was "undeniable" that looted Jewish books made their way from Offenbach to the Library of Congress. Pomrenze
remarked that if books received at Offenbach were marked, they were restituted to the country of origin. If not,
they often were shipped to the U.S. He also claimed it was "logistically impossible" to examine every case of books
43NARAICP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 259; File: OAD Reports; May 1946, September
1946
Poste, p.259
44E-Mail correspondence between Dr. Michael W. Grunberger, Hebraic Section Chief, Library of
Congress and Greg Murphy, Senior Historian, President's Commission on Holocaust Assets; July
1, 1999
45E-Mail correspondence between Grunberger and Murphy; July 1, 1999
46E-Mail correspondence between Grunberger and Murphy; July 1, 1999
�for evidence of looted Jewish books. 47
Once the books were shipped from Offenbach to the LC Mission in Frankfurt, they were transported across the
Atlantic by G-2 to Fort Ritchie, Maryland. From there, they made their way to the Library of Congress in
Washington. Unfortunately, the Library broke up the collections by integrating the HebrewlYiddish portion within
its Hebraic Section, while scattering the rest throughout its general collection holdings.
What is known, however, is that the eventual disposition of Jewish books was a thorny problem. There were about
a half-million unidentifiable books that had been looted by the Nazis - their ownership could not be detected. Even
with the half-million identifiables there were a myriad of problems: most of the owners were now dead. Also,
OMGUS was growing weary of storing assets, including books that awaited a restitution policy.48 In the wake of
Zionist fever that swept through much of post-Holocaust world Jewry, Dr. Judah L. Magnes, President of Hebrew
University, pressed hard for the looted Jewish materials to be sent to the school in Jerusalem, the historical capital
of Judaism. Dr. Theodore Gaster, Chief of the LC's Hebraic Section had proposed in late 1945, the transfer of the
Jewish books to come to the Library of Congress 49, since so many Jews were now living in the United States and
because the '~Hebrew University Library, however it may choose to define itself, is not, in fact, the national library
of the Jews, since there is no such thing as a Jewish state in Palestine. It is merely a Palestinian Jewish institUtion,
no whit different from any corresponding institution here (e.g. the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Hebrew
Union college, .... etc.)"50 Gaster, apparently at first, had an ally in Librarian of Congress Evans in obtaining for
the LC the unidenti.fiable Jewish books held at Offenbach. 51 However, by June 3, 1946, two-and-a-half months
afte~
the first shipments to the LC from Offenbach, Evans informed the MFA&A's (and former Library of
47Dobbs, Michael; "Epilogue to a Story ofNazi-Looted Books"; The Washington Post; January
5, 2000; p. CS.
48NARAICP; RG 260; Entry: Property Division; Box 14; File: Restitution of Securities; Cable
CC-2029; October 19,1947
4~C; European Mission-LC; Box 34; File: Restitution of "Unrestituted Materials" (Jewish
Books)
50LC; European Mission-LC; Box 34; File: Restitution of "Unrestituted Materials" (Jewish
Books)
51LC; European Mission-LC; Box 34; File: Restitution of "Unrestituted Materials" (Jewish
Books)
�Congress Photograph Division Chief) Paul Vanderbilt that "the time is not right" for the LC "to interpose its
services for the distribution of the 'unidentifiable residue: of this material because there is no possibility that the
material may be evacuated before all the restitution has taken place.,,52 As a result, the Library's Acquisitions
Director, Verner Clapp, who had also earlier expressed an interest in obtaining non-identifiable Jewish books, 53
directed the LC Mission not to touch the Jewish books in Offenbach. 54 Therefore, it seems that it was Library of
Congress policy to acquire looted Jewish books only if they were part of an official Nazi library collection, such as
apparently occurred with the Institute for the Exploration of the Jewish Question, not if they were residue.
The Library of Congress did agree, upon a request from the State Department, to assist the Yiddish Scientific
Institute [YIVO], formerly based in pre-war Lithuania, now located in New York, in transporting over 79,000 of
what was considered to be their restitutable items (since the United States did not recognize the USSR annexation
of Lithuaoia) from Offenbach in 1947. 55 It is interesting to note that much ofYIVO's Lithuanian collection was
sent during the war to the Erforschung der Judenfrage in Frankfurt,56 the same institute from which the Library of
Congress received many of their books through the Offenbach Depot.
The State Department was also interested in the portion of Rosenberg's collection still held at Offenbach. In an
August 1948 Department of the Army telegram, it was stated that State was "very anxious obtain for exploitation
in US books on Eastern Europe" from lists compiled by Russian emigre, Dr. Boris Nicolaevsky57 of Columbia
University. To its credit, the Army decided not to make a decision concerning these books until their restitution
status was known. 58 No documentation has been found as to what their final disposition was. What is known,
however, is that Nicolaevsky, seven months previously, was accused by OAD Director Joseph Home of "removing
Ex-Libris from certain Russian language materials which he was permitted (at the request of G-2) to examine.,,59
52NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: .MF A&A Section Chief;
Box 722; File: AIDC Loan
53LC; European Mission-LC; Box 27; File: Mission History
54NARAICP; RG 260; Entry: .MF A&A Section Chief; Box 721; File: Jewish Archives & Libraries
- General
55LC; European Mission-LC; Box 34; File: Restitution ofYIVO Library Materials
56NARAICP; RG 226; M1499; ReelS1
57NARAICP; RG 59; Lot File 7SD441; Box 6
58NARAICP; RG 59; Lot File 7SD441; Box 6
5~ARAICP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 257
�The day after Offenbach Archival Depot opened in March 1946, Professor Koppel S. Pinson of Queens College and
the AIDC liaison to Offenbach, received 1,400 books of a planned 25,000 book loan from the OAD60 for
distribution to Jewish refugees in German Displaced Persons' camps. The AIDC, through Judge Simon Rifkind,
an advisor to General Lucius Clay, had been pressing the U.S. Army since 1945 to bo,ITOW these books.
However, they were frustrated by the military's Museum, Fine Arts & Archives personnel who feared the loan,
which included identifiable books, would complicate restitution matters. Which is what, in fact happened after
General Clay overruled his staff. Pinson's desire to selGct books of identifiable ownership led to OMGUS
Technical Advisor Paul Vanderbilt's insistence that Captain S.l Pomrenze supervise screening measures at
Offenbach before distribution to AIDC,61 a recommendation that General Clay honored. 62 AIDC's receipt of
the books bound them "either to return the ... ,items loaned to said organization upon the authority authorizing the
loan or to reimburse any possible claimants against the Government of the United States from the funds available
to the AIDC.,,63 By the time of his departure from Germany in August 1946, Pinson had withdrawn 19,447
books from Offenbach. 64 Only a fraction of these were ever returned, however. It seems that among the missing
items were "books of great value and known ownership.,,65 (It is interesting to note that in recommeding Pinson
for a job, Pomrenze stated that the Professor Pinson was "very very interested in the fate of this unique
conglomeration,,66 of Jewish books.) Dr. Ernst Grummach, a German-Jewish librarian working at the OAD,
claimed that "books wer,e sold and given away wholesale in the early days. Rabbi Newhaus is known to have at
least 1,000 volumes.,,67 Still, Rabbi Philip Bernstein, the Advisoron Jewish Affairs to Lucius Clay, pressed the
general to release the 5,000 book balance another 25,000 books, claiming despite contractual obligations, "it was
6~ARAfCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 259; File: OAD Reports; March 1946 .
61NARAfCP; RG 260; Entry: MFA&A Section Chief; Box 722
62NARAfCP; RG 242; Entry: AGAR-S Document Series compiled by Seymour Pomrenze
(Pomrenze Collection); Box 1; Document #318
63NARAfCP; RG 260; Entry: MF A&A Section; Box 722
64NARAfCP; RG 260; MF A&A Section Chief; Box 722; File: AIDC Loan
65NARAICP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 66; File: Offenbach Archival; Memo from Lt.
Co!. G.H. Garde to Lucy Schildkret (AIDC); "Loan of Books"; July15,1947
66NARAlCP; RG 242; AGAR-S Document Series compiled by Seymour Pomrenze (pomrenze
Collection); Box 1; Document #318
67NARAlCP; RG 242; AGAR-S Document Series compiled by Seymour Pomrenze (pomrenze
Collection); Box 1; Document #318
�inevitable that many of these books would be lost, carried away, and worn out ,,68 Richard Howard, Chief of the
Museum, Fine Arts & Archives Section of OMGUS, responded in an internal memo that the AJDC was "not only
an unbusinesslike, but also a thoroughly unreliable organization which is incapable either of understanding or
fulfilling its obligations. ,,69 Fueled by the Adjutant General's suspicions of illegal activities, Howard also called
for an investigation of AIDC by the Inspector General. The 5,000 book balance instead was loaned to the
newly-organized Board of Education and Culture for Liberated Jews of Gennany.?O
From August 1946 until February 1947, when Lucy Schildkret arrived as the representative at Offenbach, there
was no AlDC official at the depot. 71 However, that situation did not deter a chaplain, Captain Herbert
Friedman, a personal assistant to Rabbi Bernstein, from signing out, in Pinson's name, 1,100 valuable, identifiable
items from the Torah Room at OAD and sending them off to Hebrew University in Palestine in December
1946. The officer in charge of Offenbach at that time, Captain Isaac Bencowitz, Pomrenze's successor, was
rumored to be involved in black-market activities concerning cigarettes,72 and previously accused of consorting
with a suspicious character who carried an "extraordinarily bulky" briefcase and preferred to exit the premises at
Offenbach by climbing the wall rather than going through the main gate.?3 Bencowitz, who had returned from
Palestine three days earlier,14 approved the Torah Room transaction. 75 The "illegal removal,,76 occurred on
the same day that Bencowitz, Bernstein, and Friedman conferred on an "Inspection ofthe OAD.,,77 The Torah
Room was not inspected again until January 21, 1947, ten days following Bencowitz's departure for the U.S. when
a "discrepancy in the inventory of the manuscripts" was noted. 78 When questioned about the matter, Chaplain
68NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: :MF A&A Section Chief; Box 721; File: AIDC Loan
69:NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: MFA&A Section Chief; Box 721; File:'AIDC Loan
7~ARNCP; RG 260; Entry: MFA&A Section Chief; Box 721; File: AIDC Loan
7lNARNCP; RG 260; Entry: MFA&A Section Chief; Box 722; File: AIDC Loan
72NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 66
73NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 250; File: Personnel (2 of 3)
74Poste, p. 284
75NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 253; File: AIDC/OAD
76NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: Economics Division; Box 116; File #007.2 - Fine Arts & Cultural
Objects
77NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 261; File: OAD Reports; December 1946
78NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 261; File: OAD Reports; January 1947
�Friedman at first denied the charge, then admitted he had signed the receipt in Pinson's name. 79 Upon
discovery of the transfer, OMGUS, on May 2, 1947, ordered the university to return the books, which contained
resitutable material of Russian, Latvian, Italian, Polish, Czech, German, and Austrian ownership.80 Yet, within
four days, OMGUS softened its stance and agreed "to leave the books and material at the University until their
final disposition has been determined. ,,81 Subsequently, the pretense of a legal transaction was enacted when Dr.
Joel, the Acting Librarian at Hebrew University, stated in writing that he had received the five cases from the
American Consul General in Jerusalem and would return "any and all of them on first request from that
office.,,82 However, to OMGUS' credit, they did not completely forget about the items. They signed an
agreement with Jewish Cultural Reconstruction [JCR] in May 1949, transferring legal custody of these objects to
the JCR for disposal to the rightful owners.83 It is not known at this time whether any of the restitutable works
ever left Jerusalem.
An interesting footnote to the affair is that it was anonymously stated that Bencowitz disliked Dr. Sholem, the one
who sorted the valuable materials in Offenbach's Torah Room, until the Captain returned from Palestine on
December 27, remarking to his secretary, Miss Hirschfield, "that he had been very much mistaken" about Dr.
Sholem. 84 Both Bencowitz and Friedman were admonished by the Inspector General of the Army.85
One of the motivating factors in the removal was the issl.le of security. Max Weinreich, YIVO' s Research Director,
wrote Professor Jerome Michael of the JCR on December 6, 1946, that with Bencowitz absent, "there is no
American on the spot who is watching the materials. This is very bad since the restitution officers from Poland
and Russia are around the place .... It would be a calamity beyond repair if the treasures collected at the Offenbach
Depot by the Army with .so much vision and effort were at this late hour to be pilfered or to fall into hands where
7~ARNCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 253;· File: AIDC/OAD
8~ARNCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 66; File: JCR; Despatch 132; July 24, 1947
81NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 253; File: AIDC/OAD
82NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 66; Despatch 132; July 24, 1947
83NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; File: JCR; draft letter to American Consul General;
May 4,1949
84NARNCP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 253; File: AIDC/OAD
85NARNCP; RG 159; Entry 335; Box 147
�they by no means belong.;,86 Seymour Pomrenze had also been concerned about conditions at Offenbach
security, complaining that a thousand Jewish Torahs "were miserably neglected...87 Then there was also the
problem of "looting and destruction by Germans [very little]; US troops [some]; and DPs [more).,,88
The Library of Congress Mission had its share of personnel problems. Although the the project existed only two
years [1945-47], not one staff member was there from beginning to end. In September 1945, the Library
dispatched Max Loeb, detailed from the Interdepartmental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publications
[IDC] ~ OSS Mission for Gennany, to travel throughout Germany and Austria "to inspect libraries of Nazi
Organizations, Government agencies and persons of high rank in the NSDAP.,,89 Loeb, a European immigrant
to the United States and a book dealer by profession, was especially agressive in his work for the Library. He
targeted for acquisition by the Library of Congress not only Nazi materials, such as. works from the Nazi library of
Education, but private libraries filled with looted books, including material on Judaism, original Wagner musical
scores, and the Library of the Office, Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of A.xis Criminality {Nuernberg} for
shipment to the Library.90 His investigatory trip also took him to the valuable collection of Hans Reich, a book
dealer from Berlin. It was a collection that Loeb coveted so much that he sent an anonymous telegram to the U.S.
Counter Intelligence Corps, falsely accusing Reich of being an SS man in hiding. 91 The OSS then ordered
Loeb's boss, Reuben Peiss, the Chief of the Library of Congress Mission, to confiscate Reich's materials from his
book store. Following Reich's protests, Peiss discovered the scam, calling it "one of Loeb's brainstorms .... This is
thoroughly shoddy business. ,,92 Peiss suggested to his superiors that they get a bill from Reich and pay him for
the loss adding, "this whol~ deal was badly done and that the fault is ours.',93 But, apparently, the bill was never
paid. Reich attempted to collect "Occupation damages" in 1950, but needed proof of his dealings with Loeb. 94
86NARAfCP; RG 260; Entry: MF A&A Section Chief; Box 720; File: MF A&A Library - OAD
87NARAfCP; RG 242; AGAR-S Document Series compiled by Seymour Pomrenze (pomrenze
Collection); Box 1; Document #318
88NARAfCP; RG 242; AGAR-S Document Series compiled by Seymour Pomrenze (Pomrenze
Collection); Box 1; Document #318
8~C; European Mission-LC; Box 9; File: Rosenberg, Alfred - Collection
9~C; European Mission-LC; Box 9; File: Rosenberg, Alfred - Collection
91Moore
92LC; European Mission-LC; Box 9; File: Reich, Hans - Library
93LC; European Mission-LC; Box 9; File: Reich, Hans - Library
�The Library of Congress infonned Reich that Loeb was now dead and that they were "unable to furnish you with
the infonnation you request.,,95 Reich then pressed the Office of the United States High Commissioner for
Gennany [HICOG], who in turn queried the Library of Congress as to whether Reich~s books were now at the
Library. Chief Assistant Librarian, Verner W, Clapp replied that Lieutenant Loeb was detailed to the Library of
Congress Mission staff from the Strategic Services Unit of the U.S. Anny "during the period December 1, 1945 to
May 1, 1946. The alleged negotiations with Mr. Reich - in September 1945 - would appear to antedate his service
with the Library of Congress Mission. ,,96 This statement appears to be a falsehood as it is clear from the
Library's own files that Loeb was working for it when he undertook his investigation in September 1945! It is
interesting to note that in its annual report for 1946, the Library of Congress, already aware of Loeb's problems,
also states that his service with the Library began on December 1, 1945. 97 Yet, Reuben Peiss writes that,
beginning in September, "IDC very kindly enabled Lt. Loeb to devote the major part of his time to the Library of
Congress Mission.',98 The documentation for September shows that Loeb reported directly to LCM ChiefPeiss
and no longer used the OSS designation in his correspondence. Also, Don Travis of the Library of Congress refers
to Loeb's employment by the LC Mission during October 1945,99 A possible explanation that Loeb was not paid
directly by the Library of Congress until December 1945 does not hold water since Peiss refers to Loeb's transfer
"from the OSS payroll to that of the Library ofCongress" in September 1945.1 00 The evidence is clear that Loeb
began working for Peiss and the Mission in September of that year. This did not matter to the Library. A further
Library of Congress investigation in 1953 stated that only 20 of the 70 items Reich listed was in the Library's
general collection and that only one of those was procured by the LC Mission. 10 I
. The Reich matter was closed as far as the Library was concerned, But where did the books go? Probably to Loeb's
European Mission-LC; Box 9; File: Reich, Hans - Library
European Mission-LC; Box 9; File: Reich, Hans - Library
European Mission-LC; Box 9; File: Reich, Hans - Library
Reference Section; LC Annual Report, 1946; Call #Z663.A2
European Mission-LC; Box 27; File: Mission History
European Mission-LC; Box 28; File: Acquiring, of Material
IO~ARNCP; RG 260; Entry: MF A&A SectionChief; Box 721; File: Library of Congress
Mission
IOILC; European Mission-LC; Box 9; File: Reich, Hans - Library
94LC;
95LC;
96LC;
97LC;
98LC;
99LC;
�book store in New York. It turns out that Loeb had also authorized numerous shipments of books from Europe to
his store on Madison Avenue. Loeb had purchased these books with U.S. Government money for the
Library of Congress. This operation continued even upon Loeb's discharge in early 1946 another source of
controversy. Loeb was turned down for a requested discharge in late 1945; 102 opened his bookstore in New
York by March 1946; but was still accredited to the LC Mission until May I, 1946. 103 Peiss discovered Loeb's
transactions in June 1946, but allowed the cases of books to be shipped to the bookstore "without further inquiry as
to what is in the packages," along with a warning "to a good friend" that such activities were specifically
prohibited and "inexcuseable.',104 Peiss' successor, Mortimer Taube, had no such qualms, personally, stopping
two cases of books from being diverted to New York: 105 Taube, wrote Loeb in New York, stating that "I
understand that during your work for the Mission you sent several similar packages home and that some packages
have already been mailed to you subsequent to your departure from Frankfort. I have examined the material in the
packages and the fact that they contain titles in multiple copies seems to indicate that they were intended for resale
in the United States. The unlicensed resale in the United States of material purchased in Germany by an officer of
the United States Government is manifestly illegal and the Library of Congress cannot become party to such an
enterprise.',106 Taube also wrote Clapp, explaining his subsequent decision not to refer th~ matter to the Army
Inspector General, stating that "the resulting publicity.... might prove temporarily embarrassing to the Mission,
although I do believe that the Mission's skirts are completely clean. Members of the Mission, as you know, have
bought articles for themselves at advantageous prices, but Loeb is the only one who used his official pOSition to
further his own private business. My first thought in the matter was to take over the books, add them to our stock,
and say no more about it, but this would have meant that the Library of Congress Mission would benefit by Loeb's
shady transactions, and I do not want that to happen," I 07 Someone must have changed their mind. The books
were shipped to the Library of Congress, many within a month. None that were looked at by the author appeared
102LC; European Mission-LC; Box 31; File: Loeb, Max, Lt.
103LC; Reference Section; Call #Z663,A2; Annual Report, 1946
104LC; European Mission-LC; Box 27; File: Mission History
105LC; European Mission-LC; Box 34; File: Targets
106LC; European Mission-LC; Box 28; File: Policy - Acquiring of Material
107LC; European Mission-LC; Box 33; File: Taube, Mortimer
�to be identifiable, although the Library has re-bound some of them.
It is also interesting to note that while Taube did not ask the Army Inspector General to investigate, Clapp
did. lOS Apparently, however, not much became ofthe matter as the IG office merely acknowledged the note.
Before his nefarious activities were discovered by Taube in November 1946, Loeb even had enough chutzpah to try
and sell some of the books back to the Library of Congress!' He wrote Acquistions Director Clapp a letter offering
a list of books for sale to the Library. It is not known what action Clapp took, although he was certainly
non-committal in his replies. 109
Loeb also added to his stock by acquiring a large cache of books from Austria on credit sometime in 1946, shortly
after resigning from the the Library and U.S. Army. The Austrians trusted him because of his previous business
dealings while a member of the LC Mission. 110 He failed to pay this bill. The Austrians wrote to the Library of
Congress, but Dan Lacy, Assistant Director of Acquisitions, said the Library was not involved in the dispute. III
Even among his LC Mission colleagues, Loeb carried a reputation as a cheat. This is shown, not only by Peiss'
correspondence, but by a David Clift letter which dryly remarks after seeing one of expense reports, that "not all
the items are defensible." 112 Thi~ particular report also contained a Loeb request thai he paid in dollars, not the
local currency, as was decreed by military regulations.
Taube had his hands full with arrogant Library of Congress Mission members, such as Janet Emerson, as well as
Jacob Zuckerman and his wife, Elfride. These staff members, according to Taube, liked to take extended
personal leave and yet expect their usual governmental per diems when engaged in personal business or travel!
By Taube's account, Emerson, a secretary, ~Tote herself duty orders to spend ten days in Switzerland. Apparently
she felt "entitled to.the trip" because other members of the Mission such as Harriet Bing, David Clift, and the
Zuckermans "'got away with it. ,,,113 The LCMission Chief said Emerson "apparently thinks she's 'King (or,
lOSNARAICP; RG 159; Entry 26; Box 806; File #333.9: Loeb, Max
109LC; European Mission-LC; Box 31; File: Loeb, Max, Lt.
llOLC; European Mission-LC; Box 32; File: Loeb, Max
IIIMoore
,
112LC; European Mission-LC; Box 31; File: Reports, Progress - Clift, David
�maybe Queen) Shit.... One might stand her bad manners if she were a good. secretary which she certainly is
no1.,,114 One of Emerson's failings as a secretary was that she did not change typewriter ribbons because she
"thought it such a bother." 115 These travel junkets were done at War Department expense as the Mission
fell under the aegis of the Army. The LC Mission Chief had feared the War Department "will wake up" and
submit the Mission a bill for food, travel, and lodging. Taube also feared that he would be called upon to explain
Mrs. Zuckerman's trip to Paris at War Department expense. "As I see it," he noted, "part of my job is to
see to it that the question is never raised." 116 Meanwhile, her husband, a "smooth operator" asked to be paid
his full per diem for personal trips to Paris and London and for "return of retirement deductions for himself and his
wife.',117 Taube planned to "make him tell me whathe and Mrs. Z did in Paris and London and ifI don't like
the story I'll call it annual leave .... "God damn it - he can screw the Army and Unesco or anybody else but he'll
never boast about screwing LC ,;118
Taube also complained about the failure of the Mission to keep leave records: everybody put in their 40 hours each
week whether they were vacationing or not! 119 This way, the staff memre'rs accrued their vacation time and
asked to be paid in full when they left the project. Even Emerson complained of the egos involved! 120
Taube, saved his greatest scorn for members of the Hoover Library of War and Peace personnel who were, in
theory at least, working for the LC Mission. Taube's principal target was Louis P. Lochner. "Lochner's monkey
business," according to Taube, involved the purchase of materials for Stanford University and he tried to have
them shipped with LC it~msl21 and "although segregated, was not mentioned on the invoices, in effect,"
performing "a criminal act in exporting material purchased for Reichsmarks and the Library of Congress was to be
used as the cover for the operation." 122 Taube also reported Lochner to G-2 for the "unauthorized removal of
113LC; European Mission-LC; Box 33; File:
114LC; European Mission-LC; Box 33; File:
ll5LC; European Mission-LC; Box 33; File:
116LC; European Mission-LC; Box 33; File:
1l 7LC; European Mission-LC; Box 33; File:
1I8LC; European Mission-LC; Box 33; File:
119LC; European Mission-LC; Box 33; File:
120 LC; European Mission-LC; Box 31; File:
12ILC; European Mission-LC; Box 33; File:
Taube, Mortimer
Taube, Mortimer
Taube, Mortimer
Taube, Mortimer
Taube, Mortimer
Taube, Mortimer
Taube, Mortimer
Emerson, Janet .
Taube, Mortimer
�intelligence materials from the field."123 G-2, in tum, cabled the War Department which greeted Lochner on
his return to the U.S. 124 The "intelligence materials" in question turned out to be documents of the former
Lithuanian Legation in Berlin. 125 Lochner's was that he had "thought it best to take these documents right with
me to America.... " and inform Army Intelligence "at once" 126 rather than hand them over to the Library of
Congress Mission that he worked for .
. In 1947, a consortium of American-based Jewish groups that included the World Jewish Congress, formed the
Jewish Restitution Successor Organization [JRSO]. In June 1948, the JRSO was designated by OMGUS, under
U.S. Military Government Law No. 59, to settle heirless and unclaimed property in the U.S. Zone. In
February 1949, just before Offenbach closed, the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, Inc. (JCR], an arm of the JRSO,
was appointed the sole custodian for the books still housed at the Depot JCR promised to publish a worldwide
notice to find Jewish owners of the books still not restituted. Whether JCR made a strong effort is a matter of
debate, since it took them two months to actually begin operations, opening an office in Numberg in August
1948, but they were hampered by Law No. 59's deadline of December 31, 1948 for persons to file
claims. 127 A three-month extension, however, would be granted. 128 The JCR began distributing the leftover
books in March 1949 129 to such institutions as Hebrew University, the Library of Congress, and VIVO. One
particular controversy was their decision to ship 29,000 identifiable Baltic items to the new state of Israel rather
than restituting any Jews in the Soviet-occupied Baltic states. While this violated the February 15, 1949 agreement
between OMGUS and JCR which specified that only "unidentifiable Jewish cultural property" be transferred to the
JCR, 130 a February 25, 1949 agreement established the JCR as "a custodian" of "Partially Identifiable" books,
122LC; European Mission-LC; Box 33; File: Taube, Mortimer
123LC; European Mission-LC; Box 31; File: Reports, Progress - Lochner, Louis P.
124LC; Central File:MacLeish-Evans; Box 401; File: Seized German Documents
125LC; Central File: MacLeish-Evans; Box 398; File: Seized German Documents
126LC; European Mission-LC; Box 31; File: Lochner, Louis
12 7Kagan, Saul and Ernest H Weismann. Report on the Operations of the Jewish Restitution
Successor Organization p. 6
128NARAICP; RG 466; Entry: Property Office - Restitution; Box 6; File: #257.1 - JRSO
12~icholas, Lynn H The Rape of Europa' The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich
and the Second World War 1994. New York: Alfred A. Knopf p. 434
�subject to annual review and termination by OMGUS. 131 This was, of course, a farce as the Military
Government was in the process of closing shop in Gennany. The transfer of identifiable Jewish books from the
newly-designated collecting point at Wiesbaden to the JCR began on May 30, 1949~ 132 A July 22, 1949
Addendum to the February Agreement gave the JCR some wiggle room in locating owners of identifiable books. It
called for the JCR "to exercise reasonable diligence" in their search and provided for a July 22, 1951 deadline for
possible restitution before disposition could begin. l33 In all, over 250,000 books would be distributed by the
JCR. l34
Following the Offenbach Depot closure in 1949 and, in accordance to the agreement with the Jewish
Reconstruction Committee, 77,603 books were shipped to the JCR in Hamburg and 12,428 books were transferred
to the Wiesbaden Collection Point. 135 Supervision of Wiesbaden passed from the U.S. Anny to the State
Department under the U.S. High Commissioner for Gennany [HICOG] where book restitution continued through
August 1952. At that point, aU remaining books at Wiesbaden were then shipped to the State Department in
Washington. 136 In 1955, the nascent Federal Republic of Germany took over what remained of the restitution
process. 137
It is to be stressed that the Library of Congress received European books from sources other than Offenbach itself.
Offenbachis important because much of its collection was about andlor owned by, Jews. But the Library also
acquired books and periodicals from collection centers in Munich [although primarily an art collection center] and
Stuttgart, as well as private book dealers. 138
13~ARAICP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 66; File: JCR; Memo from Mcjunkins to
Director, Office of Military Government, Hesse; February 15, 1949
131NARAICP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 66; File: JCR; "Receipt and Agreement for
Delivery of Partially Identifiable Jewish Cultural Objects"; February 25, 1949
132NARAICP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 66; File: JeR; Memo to Reparations and
Restitutions Branch; "Jewish Cultural Reconstruction Inc Receipts"; July 8, 1949
133NARAICP; RG 260; Entry: Ardelia Hall; Box 66; File: JCR; "Addendum II to Memorandum
of Agreement of 15 February 1949, Subject - Jewish 'Cultural Property"; July 22, 1949
134Kagan and Weismann, p. 31
135Poste, p. 296
136Poste, p. 297
13 7Poste, pp. 297-298
�Overall, the Library of Congress received one million books secured from German Army and Nazi Party sources in
1946 alone! 139 By the time the Mission was terminated on September 11, 1947, an estimated 1,250,000 pieces·
of German military and Nazi Party materials were shipped to the Library of Congress. 140 . Counting purchases,
the Library acquired 2,500,470 items during this period. Many were duplicates and the Library started the
Cooperative Acquisitions Project [CAP] which distributed copies, beginning in May 1946,141 to leading libraries
throughout the United States. 113 libraries initially participated in the program, but half dropped out before its
termination in August 1948, citing disappointment in the quality and quantity of the publications. The Library of
Congress kept approximately 485,000 of these books. 142 Surplus books were transferred to the United States
Book Exchange, 143 an incorporated arm of the Library.
The Library of Congress needs to open their "vault" in the Hebraic Section and show the world what they have in
their collections. Any and all books restitutable to private owners or their heirs must be returned. A strong case
can be made for cultural restitution, Le., the shipment of valuable artifacts to Israel, the Jewish homeland.
Obviously, it is not doing the LC any good to hide this ancient and valuable collection from the rest of the world.
In fact, it is shamefuL
The Library should also segregate the unidentifiable materials it received from Offenbach and the JCR into a
special collection as a memorial to. those who were victims of the greatest crime in the history of mankind. The
decision to integrate these publications into its general collection hides a significant chapter in the Library's
history, one where much good was accomplished in saving books from pulping, theft, and private sales and much
bad done in taking priceless books and stashing them away.
Qffenbach InyentoO' during Period ofLCM Shipments
June 1946 OAD report:
Unidentifiables:
138LC;
139LC;
140LC;
141LC;
142LC;
l43LC;
European Mission-LC; Box 1; File: Acquisitions - Clearances, Shipments
Reference Section; Annual Report, 1946; Call #Z663.A2
Reference Section; Annual Report, 1947; Call #Z663.A2
Reference Section; Annual Report, 1948; Call #Z663.A2
Reference Section; Annual Report, 1949; Call #Z663.A2
European Mission-LC; Box 27; File: Mission History
�Books in Hebrew Language - 43.0% - 114,800
Gennan language books, Jewish cultural and historical subjects - 16.0% - 42,000
Gennan language books, classical literature and scientific subjects - 8.0% - 22,600
French language - 6.4% - 17,500
Various.other languages - 1.0% - 7,500
Brochures and Newspapers - 25.6% - 63,000
Total 267,400 items
IdentiJiables:
Private Owners, outside France and Holland - 3,586 items
Jewish libraries (practically all in the Hebrew language) - 11,660 items
Identifiable Jewish libraries of various Eastern countries (practically all in Hebrew - 207,096 items
Total = 489,742 items
July 1946 OAD report:
.UnidentiJiables:
Books in the Hebrew language - 51.1 % - 137,809 items
Jewish cultural and historical books in the Gennan language - 15.0% - 49,000 items
Books in various other languages (about half on Jewish cultural and historical subjects) - 15.8% - 40,875 items
Total = 269,684
!dentiJiables:
Private owners, outside those of Netherlands and France - 11,416 items
Jewish libraries within Gennany (practically all in the Hebrew language) - 34,500 items
Jewish libraries in Austria - 2,625 items
Jewish libraries of various Eastern countries (practically all in Hebrew) - 64,355 items
Baltic libraries - 21,000 items
Gennan libraries - 2,108 items
Total = 406,913 items
August 31, 1946 OAD report:
UnidentiJiables:
Hebrew language - 142,240 items
.
Jewish religious and historical in Gennan language - 24,631 items
Other Gennan Language Unidentifiable books - 27,088 items {NOTE: LC has most, but not all of these}
.
Jewish religious and historical in various languages - 24,987 items
General subjects - 75,111 items
Total = 266,969
!dentifiables:
By Ex-Libris and Names - 11,416 items
Jewish Libraries within Austria - 4,228 items
Jewish libraries within Czechoslovakia - 4,163 items
Jewish libraries within Gennany - 60,868 items
Jewish libraries within Poland - 4,350
Jewish libraries within Baltic States - 86,541 items
Loge B'nai B'rith of various countries - 2,812 items
Total = 174,378 items
September 30, 1946 OAD report:
UnidentiJiables:
Hebrew language -,148,491 items
Jewish religious and historical in various languages - 50,721 items
General subjects - 71,809 items
Total = 271,021
IdentiJiables:
�"
By Ex-Libris and names - 27,450 items
Jewish libraries within Austria - 6,426 items
Jewish libraries within Czechoslovakia ~ 4,168 items
Jewish libraries within Germany - 60,868 items
Jewish libraries within Poland - 4,350 items
Jewish libraries within Estonia - 91 items
Jewish libraries within Latvia - 4,439 items
Jewish libraries within Border Cities - 23,856 items
YlVO and associated libraries - 74,674 items
Total = 209,746
October 1946 OAD report:
Unidentifiables:
Hebrew language - 167,741 items
Jewish religious and historical in German language - 25,443 items
Jewish religious and historical in various languages - 24,898 items
General subjects - 74,180 items
Total = 292,666
ldentifiables:
By Ex-libris, Names, and unknown library markings - 41,893
YlVO and associated libraries -76,042 items
Jewish libraries within Austria - 6,426 items
Jewish libraries within Czechoslovakia - 4,781 items
Jewish libraries within Baltic states - 13,129 items
Total;'" 207,993
CQuntries that received restituted books from Offenbach Archival Depot 144
Austria - 51,305
Belgium - 5,332
Czechoslovakia - 14,587
France - 377,204
Germany [British Zone] - 10,796
Germany [U.S. Zone] - 1,380,552
Great Britain - 5,443
Greece - 8,511
Holland - 334,241
Hungary - 423
Italy - 252,068
Norway - 1,074
Poland - 34,362
Switzerland - 637
USSR - 273,645
Yugoslavia - 3,664
Special thanks to David Moore, Astrid Eckert, Erin Rodgers. and Robert Waite for their assistance.
144Poste,
p. 299
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December 21, 1945 - "The U. S. Embassy at London was instructed to present to the
British Government a statement of measures which might be used to persuade the neutral
governments, with whom negotiations are impending, in accordance with the
Governments of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, in agreements which
would put into effect Law 5 of the Allied Control Council for Germany and the
then-expected and recommendations of the Paris Conference on Reparations. It was
pointed out that the use of measures constituting sanctions should be considered only if
agreement could not otherwise be reached that Law 5 applies to German assets. in neutral
countries and that such assets should be made available for reparation purposes. In
recognition of a point which it had been understood was considered troublesome by
British representatives, some satisfaction of pre-war neutral claims was recognized as
being consistent with application of German assets to reparation purposes. It was
indicated that a variety of sanctions would be probably not necessary if a firm position
were adopted at the outset, and that the decision as to the extent to which sanctions might
be applied would naturally involve the taking into consideration of political and economic
consideration of political and economic considerations existing at that time. It was further
pointed out that agreement along these lines would merely constitute a means of
implementing Law 5 of the Allied Control Council for Germany." (RG 260; External
Assets; Box~649; File: GEPC Policy)
.
January 22, 1946 - British Government indicates disagreement with the position of the
U.S., "not only in general and on principle, but with respect to almost all of the measures
mentioned as possible inducements or sanctions. The interpretation is placed on
Resolution I of the Paris Conference on Reparations that the means proposed by the
Government of the United States are not "suitable" within the meaning of that Resolution.
The memo states the unwillingness of the British Government to subordinate even such
considerations as the orderly disposition of surplus military property to the objectives
indicated in Law 5 and in the Final Act of the Paris Reparation Conference. This attitude
minimizes to a great degree the importance of this problem. Nevertheless, the British
Government, together with the Government of the United States, has insisted over a
period years, that German external assets are not only a probable source of reparation but
are also, unless taken out of the hands of present owners, a threat to the peace and
security of the world. Recognition of the importance of the problem seemed implicit in
.
u-;
�May 28, 1946 - The Soviet Union laid claim to all foreign assets found in Germany,
interpreting the Potsdam Agreement and Allied Control Council Law 5 as meaning that
these assets [including securities] fell "under the jurisdiction of the Allied Power in whose
Zone of Occupation" they were located and "not under the jurisdiction of the German
External Property Commission." (NARA; RG 260; U.S. Element, ACC; Box 42; Foreign
Securities - Investment)
January 22, 1949 - General Lucius Clay states that "Military Government's external
restitution program has been carried out by restituting to governments of countries from
which property was looted, and not to individual owners. This was done on the basis of
agreements by governments receiving such restituted property that they would entertain
individual claims of persons resident in their countries and assume responsibility for
determing the merits of these claims. It has been possible for Military Government to
carry out this external restitutiQn only because the claiming governments were willing to
assume this responsibility. Military Government 'did not and could not undertake the
responsibility of making the thousands of decisions which would have been involved were
they to restitute to individual claimants.... The Military Government program for
release .... of property to United Nations' owners has been limited to returning these
properties which were placed under control solely by reason of absentee ownership where
the title was clear and there were no conflicting claims to the property." (RG 260; Decimal
Files; Box 608)
January 22, 1949 - General Lucius Clay states that "when it came to the matter of
establishing an internal restitution program, it was necessary for Military Government to
devise a procedure which would not put upon Military Government authorities the
colossal task of passing upon the relative merits of all the thousands of cases whef(~ there
were conflicting claims. To accomplish this, a procedure was very carefully worked out
which would allow the disposition of a large portion of the claims received under the law
by mutu~l agreement between the claimant and the present holder of the property. Where
such mutual agreement was not possible, it was provided that the parties should have
recourse to the German courts .... " Appeals would be heard by a "Board of Review
composed of Military Government officials." (RG260; Decimal File; Box 608)
�(
,,
r,
the reservation to the lifting of exchange controls, which was introduced by the British
representative in Section 8 [ii] [c] of the recent Financial agreement, in order to preserve
the position of the British Government on the possible necessity of continued controls to
carry out a 'safehaven' program. Resolution I of the Paris Reparation, Conference
reemphasized the importance of this problem." (RG 260; External Assets; Box 649; File:
GEPC Policy)
February 5, 1946 - The U.S. expresses "its deep concern" to the British in regard to Law
5 of the Final Act of the Paris Reparation Conference. (RG 260; External Assets; Box
649; File: GEPCPolicy)
February 5, 1946 - Aide Memoire states that at the Paris Conference on Reparations,
distribution of German external assets was made to the claimant countries participating
therein. Included among the German external assets specifically so distributed were
German assets in neutral countries. Article 6, paragraph C of the reparation agreement
thus provided that "German assets in those countries which remained neutral in the war
against Germany shaH be removed from German ownership or control and liquidated or
disposed of in accordance with the authority of France, the United Kingdom and the
United States of America..." Resolution I, unanimously agreed upon by the Conference,
provided: The Conference unanimously resolves that the countries which remained neutral
in the war against Gennany should be prevailed upon by all suitable means to recognize
the reasons ofjustice and of international security policy which motivate the powers
exercising supreme authority in Germany ~nd the other powers participating in this
Conference in their efforts to extirpate the German holdings in the neutral countries." (RG
260; External Assets; Box 649; File: GEPC Policy)
.
114 J.
February 5, ~ - The U.S. Government "feels that negotiations with the Swiss
Government must begin shortly, and with the Governments of Sweden, Spain, and
Portugal soon thereafter." (RG 260; External Assets; Box 649; File: GEPC Policy)
~January=2.Q, 1:949=€Teneral:'EuciITs-eray-states::that-"Militar:y.:G~':s-externi1~
restituti0n:=pFogram"has~been=carried~itUt-ing-=to::gov:er:ill!lents_ofcountries:fronf=
whi~b"pmR.er:ty,-w.fts_J_o.otedpand:::n0t40cindivi-dual=OWneFs~bhis~was.done.0n"the.basis~0f
gl,gr,e.elnents b&g~er;nments=reCeiving sucI1 resfitUte-d"propeny-tl1anl1e'fW'OUlCI. entert1fii'f='=..
indi¥!s!.ual claims o,[p:erson$."resident=in"their~countfies·and~assume.:.L~ponsibility"for..
~ming"'the"merits=of=these=elaimi:Jtlt h~$_be_en=possible~f0r-=Military:Govemment=to::::>
car.,¥ out
th~teFnal"'restitution=o,!ly=because~the=claiming::gover:nments"weFe~willing=to
aSSlJ.me4his=resp'Qnsibility~Military=Goyemment=did=n0t=and~c0uld:::rrot::unaerrake-:.the
re~~iJiW",@f=.mak:ing~the-th0usands'0f:deGisi0ns=whiclM~Quld.haMe=been=inyoIMed",wefe
they40=restitute=w::individual=1:laimants.... 'f.he"Military=GoMernment"'program=for
release~o~pF0perty=to=lJnited;=Nations~0wners~has=been=1imited:::to-.:retuming-.:these:>
pr.eper;t.ies which were placed under control solely by reason of absentee ownership wh~
the title was clear and t·here~were nn cnnfiicting:daims"to,,the,,,,RJ:ORer:t¥,,," (RG 260; Decimal
Files; Box 608)
a::fVOH!t4'A AA~'\.Vi
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�SECURITIES ADDENDUM
[add to p. 22 of First Comprehensive Draft]
Austrian Securities
The question of Austrian securities also arose in February 1946. It is estimated that there were 354.6 million
Reichsmarks worth of Jewish securities in pre-Anschl~ss Austria. Austrian Jews were then forced to sell their
securities in Vienna at very low prices. These securities were then traded on the open market in Vienna and the
subsequent proceeds sent to Berlin. Following the war, it was estimated that 37% of restitutable Austrian securities
were uncl~imed, compared to the 50% unclaimed restitutable securities in the U.S. Zone of Germany, 58 an
indication of the magnitude of the Holocaust, especially in light of the lack of any heirs left in many of these cases.
The headquarters of U.S. Forces in Austria (USFA) was anxious to release securities housed in the FED, which
they considered to be of "vital importance" to the Austrians, contending that securities of the former
Wertpapiersammelbank (a clearinghouse for depositing securities whose only participants were Viennese banks,
largely Jewish-owned),59 now the National Bank of Vienna, were shipped to Regensburg, Germany prior to the
liberation of Vienna. Their presence in Germany, according to USF A, was therefore accidental.
58 NARAICP; RG 59; Lot File #58D223; Box 8; File #586; "Report On Jewish Heirless Assets In
Austria"; circa December 1952
5~ARAICP; RG RG 260; Entry: USACA Decimal Files; Box 10; File # 102.1 '" Financial
Accounting - Currency Conversion; Cable CC-23473; March 8, 1946
�[next paragraph, the final paragraph on Austrian securities, remains the same]
Tqe stock exchange was never looked upon with much favor by the Nazi Government in Gennany.(I) During the
war especially, there was little activity, due to governmental restrictions and the lack of sellers.(2)
(1) NARNCP; RG 319; Entry 82A; Box 141; File: Handbook - SHAEF; "Military Government, Gennany:
Financial and Property Control Technical Manual"; March 21, 1945; p. 16
(2) Ibid
.
NARNCP; RG 165; Entry 27 [UD]; Box 3; File: Haltlege
'/l-E?1r/1bt
Law 53 directed Gennans to deposit their securities at "the nearest branch of the Reichsbank" if their ownership or
indebtedness was issued by persons outside of Gennany or persons in Gennany if expressed in a currency other
than German currency.(3)
(3) same as (1) except pp. 87-88
---------------..;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------..;.-----~---------------------------
Bearer Securities:
According to Military Government Law 59, bearer securities were not subject to restitution if the present holder
proves that, at the time he acquired the security, he neither knew nor should have known under the circumstances
that the security had been confiscated at any time. Unless special circumstances indicate otherwise, good faith
shall be presumed ... if such property was acquired in the course of ordinary and usual business transactions,
especially in the stock exchange, and if the transaction did not involve a dominant participation."(4)
(4) NARNCP; RG 84; Entry 2108 - Brussels; Box l32; File #711.3; "Military Government - Gennany, United
States Area of Control, Law No. 59, Restitution of Identifiable Property"; January 28, 1948
\
\
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1
1
1
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1
1
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1
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1
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1
1
1
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1
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1
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.11
�JEWELRY ADDENDUM
Negotiations with the Degussa Smelting firm were first undertaken by the PCIRO during
June 1947 when it appeared that quantities of the jewelry received from the U. S. Army
under the Paris Reparations Agreement could not be sold in their original forms.
PCIRO signed a contract·with Degussa in the Precious Metals Office of OMGUS in the
presence of its representative, Col. Fruitman. The contract called for PCIRO to receive
smelted gold in return for payment in Reichsmarks and also for Degussa to receive 5% of
the precious metals resulting from the refining process.
In July 1947, the first delivery ofjewelry was made from PCIRO to Degussa. When the
smelted gold "was returned, it became apparent to both OMGUS and the PCIRO that the
portion of metal being retained by Degussa was excessive and probably outside the legal
limits of Public Law 53."
(NARA/CP; RG 260; Box 94; File: IRO; Statement of David L. Rolbein to U.S. Army to
Criminal Investigation Division [CID]; December 3, 1947)
8·
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V
ll.S. Ar my Center of Military I'istory
'\"
Command GrOllJ2
2~
103 Third A venu&:!
Fort MC1Vair, DC 20319...5058
Comm P"on~: (202) 685-Y06/7
DSN Phone: 325-2''JfJ6/7
Fa.:\:: (202) 6~5-4570
I
·TO: ~ 8 A=wz.
FAX#:
J~ ~7/-5f.7B
TEL#:
DATE:
PAGES:
OF' TJtf;t ~;
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SUMMARY OF U.'S. ARMY INVOLVEMENT WITH THE
ACQUISITION, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND SECURITY
OF GERMAN MONETARY GOLD AND RELATED
. ASSETS FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II
PART I
HISTOR~CAL
NARRATIVE
In early February 1945, German officials decided to
relocate the German g6ld reserves to various remote locations
south of Berlin . . The extensive bomb damage to the Reichsbank
in the German capital and. the approach of the Soviet armies
from the east precipitated this 'decision. 1
About 400 million
RM in gO'ld was shipped to Merkers and stored in the neighboring
salt mine comple'x.
An additional 50 millionlRM in gold was
distributed to branch offices of the Reichsbank in central, and
southern Germany.
,B6th"the-Merckers treasu:r=-e a'nd most of the
J~sser ,holdings were captured' byU ~ S .'ArmY'
forces'
during the
~losingdays()f ;the"war and transIJorted;~to'- Frankfurt
for
S~~ti~ity ~nd central-accountin~.2
am Maiti
Later comparisons of
captured records from the Berlin Reichsbank and
U.S~
Army
1
Portions of this narrative are extracted from an
information paper: u.S. Army Center of Mi~itary History,
"AllegationS of U.S. Army Removal of Jewish Valuables From
Buchenwald Concentration Camp," no date.'
2 Interrogation of Mr. walter Funk by MAJ Hiram Gans, 4
June 1945, pp. 47-48, in Nation'al Archives Records Group 260;
Records of United states occupation Headquarters, World War II
GBox 629); herein referred to as RG 260 [Walter Funk was
president of the Reichsbank in Berlin]~ The Merkers gold cache
is well summarized in Earl F. 'Ziemke, The U.S. Army in the
Occupation of Germany. 1944-1946 (Washington 4 DC: Government
Printing Office, 1975), pp. 228-31.
.
X
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inventories at the Frankfurt Reichsbank indicate
that "98.6%
of the 255.96 million dollars worth of gold" had been found and
secured. 3
"
The discovery of the German- gold reserve at the '-Merkers.
mine was accidental,_ but singularly significant
ecause of the
quantity of-material that Was found and because
t became 'the
catalyst for the Army to seek and find additiona
elsewhere in-Germany.
In spite of the windfall
assets hidden.
t Merkers,
there was considerable confusion over how much 9
actually recovered there.
A number of factors
this confusion, not least of whiCh was the conti
combat operations while the cache was discovered and secured.
Reports from different sources, both German and
varied, and this was exacerbated by the incbnsis
of
measurement that recorded inventories of the
material.
Thus, the initial inventory from the Merkers sal
mine recorded
such acquisitions as: "Gold Bars, Bullion, 8198"; "Gold Bar
1"; "Crated Gold Bullion, Boxes 53"; and "Crated
Long Boxes, 2."4
old Bullion,
But there was nothing which mig it. define the
l
R.A. Nixon, Chief, Financial Intelligence ud Liaison
Branch, Finance Division, memorandum to Director, Finance
Division, U.S. Groups Control Council, 6 Septembe 1945,
subject: "Report on Recovery of Reichsbank Precio s Metals"; in
RG 260 (box 440), file 940.60 Overall Gold Report.
In RG 260
(box 444)/ file 940.62 Records, are several Germa language
documents with English translations Which include inventories
of the gold reserve from the Berlin Reichsbank at six-month
intervals from December 1934 to February 1945.
4 Headquarters,
XII Corps, "G-4 Fuhctions in ETOUSA
Operations, Merkers-Herringen-Frankfurt Areas in ermany/ 9
April to 22 April 1945," 26 April 1945~ appendix I p. 1, in
2
02
�','
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~diffe~ence betweeri the (presumably)
8~198 bars of gold bullion
and the solitary gold bar;'neither did any records indicate how
much gold bullion was in the 53 boxes, or howlaz::ge these boxes
or the "Long Boxes" were.
Understandably, the .initial surveys
focussed on a g.eneral, physical inventory, rather than a
deta~led
financial accounting of what was found.
"
~
The confusion surrounding the actual material recovered
from the Merkers salt mine ,was compounded in later months by
differing reports of what had been sent there and what was
actually found.
Most secondary sources, for ihstance,
mentioned ~Nazi loot," such ~s dental gold, jewelry, and
associated artifacts. s
Yet, the president of the Reichsbarik
categorically denied that his agency
.
"
ha~
held any
".
gold or engaged in any smelting' operations ~
non-mon:~
.
~l
He did, howeve~.~.
admit that "the SS" had made one deposit in his institution:?
but he did not know what it was. 6
indicated that the Army
r~alized
Subsequent reports clearly
that some of the material
-,
seized at Merkers, as well as subsequent finds, included both
Nazi loot and material which had been resmelted to disguise its
CMH files,HRC 091.33, German' National Gold Reserve. This
inventory, however, is dif~icult to reconcile with what the
chief cashier at the Berlin .Reichsbank reported having
delivered to Merkersi see "Sta-;:ement of Albert Thomas ,[Thoms],
Merkers, Germany, 12 April 1945," in RG 260 ,(box 423), file
940.304 SS Loot "Melmer Loot".
5
<6
See for instance: Ziemke,p. 429.
J Punk
fnterr'oga-tion,. PP.. 4~-:50_1 in RG 260.·( Box.629) .
3
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<?rigins.?
The first inventory the Army created became the primary
document used to prepare the material for
t
from its
cache at Merkers to more secure and accessible f cilities in
Frankfurt.
In view of the military and politica
situation at
the time, the inventory certainly was adequate i
establishing
accountability for what was found, and the secur ty in actually
relocating it to Frankfurt was impeccable. s
milit~ryauthorities
suspected that there
Lat r, when some
e been some
pilferage of the Merkers cache because of some b oken baqs 0f
7BG Frank J_ McSherry, Deputy Assistant Chi f of staff,
G-5, memorandum to Commanding General, European heater of
Operations, 19 April 1945, subject: "Gold bullio , currenCyvnd
other property discovered by Third Army near Mer ers·
in "RG \
/
3:38 (box 1~3L~=filce ~12~1'.2USFETCaptured":cGold:ccBul ion-and Ar-
Treasures 7 A:p::.';;30 May 1945_
ItSi~ned statement by Albert.
~
Thoms on Han9l1ng of SS Loot by Rel.chsbank," 29 ay 1945, ~n RG_~
2~60 (box 423"), file 940.304 ss Loot "Melmer Loot" _
CPT Paul S.
McCarroll, memorandum for Executive Officer, Fin nce Division,
USFET, 24 January 1946, subject: "Foreign Exchan e Depository":
in RG 260 fbox- 394), file 900.10 --"""""
Or.g--&-H:i-st-..---of__ EJ2-~ee also
",---~
a colrectipn Qf_-C0'1:-l:eS~0ndence-from the Foreign
change
IDeposi tory in RG 260(-bo~:: 444 ).Il file 940.63, in
ich an
\,./
~nvestigation of gold ~~tlstfc]fsll "that had been iden ified as non-\!
monetary gold actually was found to be resmelted onetary gold
,
from Belg~um.
.
j
;
t,
,
.
~_
8
Information paper, "Report of the Gernlan T eas'Qre Cache
at the Merkers Salt Mine," no date, p. 7; Supreme Headquarters,
Allied Expeditionary Force, G-4 Division, report 0 MG Robert
W. Crawford, ACS G-4, April 1945, "Report coverinl the
discovery, removal, transporting and storage of 9 Id, siiver, '
platinum, and currency __ .,"pp. 9-10. Both docum nts are in
CMH files, HRC 091.33, German National Gold Reser e.
See also:
Carol sue Holland and Thomas Rothbart, "The Merker and
Buchenwald Treasure Trove~," After The Battle, no. 93 (August
1996), pp_ 5-15; the authors, obviously using a v riety of
primary and secondary sources (but the article is not
footnoted), have reconstructed a detailed account of how the
Army secured the Merkers' assets.
4
�"
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coins and currency, a prompt and thorough investigation
concluded that all reasonable security measures had been
exercised.
If there had been any losses (and even that
sup~osition
was arguable), they would have occurred prior to
the Army's discovery of the cache. 9
The problem of determining exactly what Nazi monetary
assets were under Army control, however, was complicated after
the Merkers material arrived at the Foreign Exchange Depository
(FED), which the Army established at the Frankfurt Reichsbank.
In the closing days of the war, additional gold was recovered
from all parts of Germany--sometimes from banks, sometimes from
businesses or individuals, sometimes from soldiers or U.S. Army
units.
Over a 30-month period, this comprised 91 different
"shipments" from a wide variety of locations .10
All of this
9 CPT L.F.
Murray, Assistant Inspector General, memorandum
to Commanding General, Third Army, 7 May 1945, subject: "Report
of Investigation of Alleged Discrepancies in Currency and Coin
Found in Mine at Merkers, Germany": in RG 260 (box 424).
"Register of Valuables in the Custody of the Foreign
EXChange Depository, Frankfurt AIM Germany," 9 February 1948,
in RG 260 (box 399).
[NB: The use of the word "shipment"
causes some confusion in Army documents dealing with this
subject.
"Shipment" had three different meanings--all of which
might apply in a single document. The first general use of
this word applied to individual shipments of German assets to
the Foreign Exchange Depository (FED), which would be
comparable to an accession (i.e., a collection of material
coming from one source at one time). The FED also cited
"shipments" of assets coming into and out of the FED, usually
currency transactions for Allied Military Marks. Other
shipments, however, referred to the release of monetary and
non-monetary gold and related assets to countries or
organizations. Thus, "Shipment I" was the Merkers cache
received in 1945, "Shipment 33" was gold flown to the Bank of
England in 1948, and "Shipment Berlin" was c1.,lrrency being sent
to OMGUS in operation BIRDDOG in 1946.J
W
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gold was shipped to Frankfurt, along with other
aptured assets
as well.
centralize
It seems that the intent always
these assets at one site for ease of security, a countability,
By August 1945, the FED was
and disposition.
OV rloaded,~and
shipments wer~e suspended temporarily while. cultu al- properties
i;)
and related non-monetary materials were transfer edto other,
sites in southern ahd cehtralGermany.~
The FED
esumed its
receipt of captured monetary assets later in Aug
until~November
1945 was the-FED officially- taske
the centraL-repository for :a-]:l
~captured
"gold an
but not
to l?erve as
~
11 U<=:'r
.~
bullion and coin, foreign currencies, foreign se
precious stones or~Jewels,_ jewelry, gold teeth,
'simili:u::;valua151es~
"l.l.
From the initial discovery of the Merkers c che to the
final disposition of the remaining assets held b
the FED in
1950, two issues dominated everything that happe
former Reichsbank building in Frankfurt: maintai ing tight
security of the assets, and compiling a complete inventory of
reports,
everything that the Army was securing there.
memoranda, message traffic, and other documents
these activities comprise a large portion of the
rchival
cur~ncy
" A.U. FOX, Acting Deputy Chief, Finance Br InCh, U5FET,
OMGUS, memorandum to LTC H.D. Cragon, Chief,
section J
9 November 1945, subject: IILooted Valuables." T~. initial
decision and justification for the central locati n at
Frankfurt appears to have originated from 12th A Y Group: see:
G-5, Headquarters, 12th Army Group, message to LT Cragon,
Currency section, 26 May 1945. Both documents wi 1 be found in
~RG 260 (box 394), file 900.10 Org. & Rist. of FED.
-Jr
6
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recor:ds.
"
Armed guards were scattered 't,hroughoutthe'exterior of the
complex., A series ,of checkpoints rest:r;icted access to the
.
,
"
"
"
buildin'g, :while others were used ,to 'secure, various parts of, the
Onceas~e~s were~placedin'a secure4,room or vault,
interior.
- the
entran~e
was locked and sealed.,
Open~ng
these chambers
required the approval of t:he ' FED's ' . ' headquarters, 'the ..
pfgher ,t
,
,'.
"
'
Finance Division of the Office of the Military Government of
Germany, U. S. ,( OMGUS )~1.2
The. staff .of the, FED, was 'especially sensitive to
"
maintaining firm 'securitY,of both ,the building, and ,its
contents.
Literally e.v.erY,'instance of petty theft was reported
,
•
j ,
"
•
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,
,
to the Army's Criminal
Inve:::ti.9~tion
Div:ision,(CID)-:-fro.m a
stolen l-ight bulpand four bottles'of soda tp a vandalized sign
,
,
,
,
'
"
Fe~
and an' tU1locked desk drawer.
of these,nlinor
e~en
solved, but'onepromirient incident resulted in
"
,
security procedures.
,cas~s
were,
stricter
The first major shipment'of monetary gold
,.
,
,
, ' .
.
" ,
,
to leave the FED was momentarily suspended when, sOIile Displaced
P,ersons (DPs) tasked to 'help move the, materia'l tried, to pilfer
.
some currency and gold coins'.
They ,were caught iri the act, and
a thorough investigation' con~luded that: two lie,utenants
detailed to supervise themhad'been lax in their quties.
The
&,4(!)Y
solutiOn for,subsequ'~nt shipments ,was to double,,.the number of,
,)
USee £or instanc~: ~OL,wiliiamG. Brei, Chief, FED,
memorandum to Director, Finance Division; OMGUS, l~une 1946,
subject: nopen-ing<,G:ag'es-o: with~_~ -.~~'i~~_ V~U!"ti",' ·i.;ftff endo~~wt
,
and approval, 'same date; in "RG' '260'- (boX: '-3'93,)..
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~heckpoints, security guards; and supervisors.A~
All the assets at the Reichsbank building i
Frankfurt
~ere held on behalf of the Allied Control Counci --a fiduciary
!
responsibility that the FED did not take lightly
In facti it
I
could be argued that the Army exercised more car
for the
security and accountabilitYJof these assets simp y because they
was not Army property.
'No one-in the army e£erc sed> any'
decision~makirig authority over the dispositIon
which".was -acp·ointthat frequently was. made by
0
an
these assets'l
to Army
persormel,.l.4
As one Mili tary GoveJ:'n~ent official was bhmtl v
informed: ".
.
. you are advised that the FED is merely the
custodian of the property in question and has no power over its
&:
U
Every theft and breach of security was ca efully and
completely documented and investigated.
See RG 260 (box: 399)',.
file 910.73 Internal Security, Violations..
It is important to
bear in mind that prior to this 'attempted theft a d i ts
subsequent solution, the security measures at the FED
.
replicated the practices employed in any u.s. min (see: CPT
Paul S. McCarroll, memorandum to Executive Office , Finance
Division, USFET, 24 January 1946, subject: ItForei n Exchange
"j,/Depository"; in .RG 260 (box 394), file 900.HI Org. &: History"of
yFED).
,
';#.
~ , "
/~~,
I/!3:fl't-v2._Ai
.
/rrvt?
.
l.4 See for ~nstance: BGL.S. Ostrander, Adjut ~t General~~
memorandum to Dl.rector, FED, 27 February 1946.1 su Ject: .. ~
'~Removal of Assets"; in RG 260 (394), fl.le 310.3
emoval ~:- /" )
Assets, F.E.D. Authorities RequirEtd. See also: 1 T Frank G,.
Gabell, Executive Officer, FED, memorandum no. 16 14 June ~
.
~, subject: "Restitution!!; in RG. 260 (box"393)~
~
cables from the War Department/Department of the trmy to g~s.
.
European Command (EUCOM) in 1947 and 1948 cited testate and
Treasury Departments as the approving authorities in all
dispositions of monetary gold . . A courtesy copy 0 a cable from
the U. S. Secretary of Stat"e to various American r presentatives
in Europe was sent to the Deputy Military Governo on 18 August
1945: the cable made it very clear that lithe Pres dent, the
Secretary of the Treasury and others" were the de ision-makers
concerning the disposition of all captured gold; ee: R9·260 ~
(-box 444').
., \
/"Uc
f!!!JVjFi)
severa:r
I
�disposition or release."15
The FED received and processed
claims from individuals and governments, but its principal
responsibility was to secure the assets that it held.
In order for the security to be effective, the Army had to
have a reliable inventory.
The initial inventories were
adequate for achieving immediate accountability for what was
being secured, but Army personnel felt that only specialists
could compile more precise data.
Both SHAEF/OMGUS and FED
personnel sent numerous and urgent requests to the United
States for qualified experts, who could evaluate precious
metals, gems, and foreign currencies and securities. 16
Eventually, the first team of experts arrived in June 1945: two
personnel from the Bank of England, and three from the U.s.
Treasury Department.
They conducted an extensive evaluation of
the precious metals, primarily the gold and silver, and
prepared a seven-page summary of their work.
Named the "Howard
Report" (for the team leader), it became a primary reference
document in conducting subsequent inventories and evaluations
15 COL William G. Brey, Chief, FED, memorandum to Property
Control Regional Supervisor, OMG Hesse, 25 May 1948, subject:
"Box Containing Precious Stones .... "; in RG 260 (box 436), file
940.4064 Shipment No. 64.
16 See for instance: LTG W.B. Smith, Chief of Staff,
1' 1 SHAEF, memorandum to General Marshall, 19 April 1945, subject:
" • "Gold bullion, currency and other property .... "; in RG 338 (c~x
13), file 123/2 USFET Captured Gold Bullion. USFET (Main),
. Ii cable to AGWAR, ref. no. S-25884, 30 September 1945; USFET
(Main), cable to Secretary of War, ref. no. S-27954, 14 October
1945; both in RG 260 (box 397). COL William B. Brey, Chief,
FED, memorandum to Director, Finance Division, OMGUS, 11 June
1946, subject: "Request for Allied Personnel,- Technical"; in
RG 260 (box 393),
i (
1
f
9
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~
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~of
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2132-585-45713
06
...
'the holdings in the FED. ~7
.
By August 1945, the FED reported to the De ,uty Military
Governor that 91 percent of the gold found in Ge\rman y and
inventoried at Frankfurt came from the Merkers srlt mine,~a
which underscores the magnitude of what was reco ered four
months earlier.
The rest of the gold came from
anking
facilities in central and southern Germany, some businesses and
individuals, and non-monetary gold from victims
f the
Holocaust.
Determining with absolute accuracy how murh ('"!t""Ilc'l
t-hp
,Armv
held at Frankfurt is exceedingly difficult as is defining how
much was monetary gold and how much was non-mone ary gold.
Part of the difficulty arises from the inconsist nt
measurements that were applied in establishing acountability
for this material.
At varying times, all or par
entire treasure of jewelry, artifacts, precious
currency were reported in pounds or kilograms,
or monetary value (often dollars and once each ii' pounds
/17~The Howard Report was the only contempora y document we
found (aside from infrequent IG and CrD investiga ion reports)
whiCh cast a Shadow on the Army's handling of the captured .
assets, The concluding remarks of the experts in luded a mild
rebuke for the Army's "inexperienced" personnel a d
~
"unsatisfactory working conditions." See: Leland Howard,
/7 If
memorandum to LTC H.D. Cragon, 15 August 1945, in RG-.c.. 26o c '(bOX. JUti\
440}, file 940.60 Gold Report and'Original'Work S eet~s.
.
,
.
le U.S. Group control Council, report to LTG
ueius D.
Clay, Deputy Military Governor, 19 August 1945, n alue of Gold
and Silver Bullion and Coin Held by commanding Ge eral USFET at
the Reichsbank Building in Frankfurt", in CMH filS, HRC
091.33, German National Gold Reserve.
10
�.'
sterling or
reich~marks);
and they. included gold, ,gold bullion,
bags of gold, gold coins (from ?t least .15 countries), gold
pieces, and miscellaneous gold.
Yet, the historical record
clearly demonstrates that the Army conscientiously refined its
inventories to achieve greater accuracy' in reporting what it
held, and it never lost accountability for the material that
was in its custody.
Thus, it may require an extraordinary
effort to determine the size and value of the "two blocks of
gold" and the "four packages of gold scrap" from Shipment.5,
but it appears that the archival records exist which would make
it possible for such an audit to be conducted and completed.
More importantly, each successive inventory of these assets
accounted for the material from its
r~c~ipt
in April 1945 to
i~~ final disposition in 1~48(i.e., a complete accounting
history appears to.have been maintained for each shipment and
its component parts from arrival at the FED to its ultimate
destination) .
Through 1945 and into ·the first half of 1946, documents
indicate.that the FED personnel were busy. establishing
accountability for ali the material that was arriving or had
arrived at Frankfurt.
Once basic accountability was
established, the FED began to focus its energies on the
valued pieces of the total inventory: the
~onetary
~igher-
gold. 19
19 One of the other complications
in determining the
quantity and value of all gold held at t~e FED were the
changing definitions of "monetary gold" and "non-monetary
gold.'" For the pUrpose~.of this manuscript, .we have adopted
those definitions that were initially psed as guidance for the
11
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CMH
07
Throughout this process, valuations of the FED's ho~dings
included all assets--gold, other precious metals
currencies,
securities, gems, jewelry, and associated materi Is.
For the
first 1& months of the FED's existence, all valu,
the
gold held at Frankfurt were estimates, and these estimates
tended to fluctuate as items were added and refi ements made In
the inventory process.
In some caseS, what migh
identified originally as a gold coin, might late
have been
be called a
gold piece, and then recognized as melted dental
would move the ,item from the monetary category t
monetary category.
the non
And all this would occur While more gOld
was being' added, to the FED,! s holdings.
Beginning in June 1946, the FED employed
and German civilians to assist them in
a~sQ~~er~l
t a dozen DPs
ng
~
comprehensive -inventory of all monetary"andrton-m netary assets
by "shipment. n}O
~ach
separate shipment inventor
documented on a-form that included the-name 'of th
was
individual
conducting 'the inventory, the security officer, t e recorder of
the form, and the approving Official for that spe ific ,
FED in its accounting and disposition of propertyl monetary
gold consisted of bullion and coins (less numisma· icl
sollectors! items); non-mon~tary gold consisted o gold objects
looted from private ~itizens and hologaust victim (les~
" cUltura17religious objects) and rare coins (Which had no
identifiable institutional or individual owner). See: Frank C.
Gabell, Deputy Chief, FED, memorandum to Director Finance
Division, OMGUS, 28 Jar.mary1947, subject: "Dispo ition of
~
Valuables"; in RG 260 ~(box 161) -, -=-"file -D-isposition 9f -Valuaples.~
20
The original inventory sheets can. b'e found in RG 26?
J(-boxes 401-41-4,).
12
"
'
U
)..r
\..
'
�inventory.
The form also cited the gr,igin.pi_ the objects
~
\
(e.g., ItShipment 'No. 111 [Merkers]), date of the inventory, type
of container the objects were kept,in
(e.g~,
IImetal boxlt) , a
general classification of the objects (e.g., IIprecious metals,
scrap gold ll ), the location, a container number"a tag number,
l
and a brief description of the objects inventoried (e.g., 111
lot of 4 pieces low grade gold and silver, weight about 25
,grams; 1 lot of dental gold 18 and' 22 carats, weight about 740
grams").
These individual inventory sheets (and there are
thousands of them) provide yet another documentary source to
account for the FED's holdings. 21
By October 1947 and on the eve of the first release of
monetary gold from the, IIgold pot," most of the major
inventories had been completed .
At that time, the FED report,ed
IImore than $260,000,000 of monetary gold, approximately onehalf in bar form and one-half in coin."
An-="agreedc:valuation
of appr6ximat:ely c$7S0 i,ooollin:non-monetary gold already 'had
bE7enreleased, to the Internat-ional Refugee Organization. 22
,From ,thri--t':-fine 'forward;thec.PED'cs--:primary focus wa's-'on the
dlsposi tiori ~ofits a
,
sse ts--.
~There
were some minor acquisi~tic>ns
21 One invento~y sheet even accounted for 84 IImeal
tickets" that came from Shipment N6. 16--Buchenwald.
22 Theodore H.
Ball, Director, Financ~ Division,
memorandum t9Finance Adviser to Commander, EUCOM, 3 Octobe
1947, subject: "Present Status of Disposition of Precious
Metals ...• " i in RG, 260 {b6x-424::'), file 940.:309 Precious Met
It is important to keep in mind that these a~e 1945 prices,
with gold valued at $35 per ounce.
13
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CMH
202-585-4570
08·
essentially forbade German nationalsfromhdldi
curre'ncies or . securities., or large amounts of p ecious gems 9 r
jet-.relry, or precious.metals.
The inventories
precious
metals, currencies, and all assets that comprise,
loot"were completed.
inventory
a~tivity
in
the "Nazi
Generally, the only sign! icant
1948 and 1949 dealt
reign
securities and precious gems, principally
s and their
eventual restitution to various governments.
~he
restitution of the captured assets from the Foreign
Exchange Peposi tory was handled with. the same J)'r' r:-'i
!'7. ; 0)"\
1-h,::t.t
had characterized its previous activities in rec iving and
accounting for them.
In fact, each major restit~tion had all
the makings of a major production, with numerous meetings to
coordinate the
s~ipment,
operations orders,
message
ext~
and
traffic, increased security measures, press rele
photographic coverage of the event.
The ·FED had engaged in some minor restituti n initiatives
prior to November 1947.
On 5 February 1946, 801 sacks of
Russian rubles were released to Soviet military
representatives.
Other releases included cultural properties,
religious objects, and counterfeit English curren y.
largest restitution of this early effort was the
The
eturn of $32
million dollars in gold to Hungary.23
kfitt(
,,::> Several yindividual tr~saction~ are, docume
(boxes 160;\.394~ 396,)(""398, and 436). The HUn
~as not--par~t of the=Nazi "gold pot, II and instead
,Hungarian national assets.that its officials were
move west--away from the advancing Soviet Army--w
260
14
ted in RG
/~\j(
arian gold (J(} r1
onsisted- of
attempting to
captured
I
�.'
By the latter quarter of 1947, the restitution of both
monetary and non-monetary gold proceeded at a more rapid pace.
On 5' september" i 9'49> the first ,.. shipmellt oJ: Don-monetary gold,"
'tfI) .
was released to ·a·representative of the. Preparatory Commissi.on, V
I'
of ..;the International Refugee "·organi.zation
(J?.~IRql.
24
One
month later, the Tripartite ·commission for the.Restitution of
Monetary Gold directed the Military Governor of the U.S. Zone
of Occupation, Germany to release a total of 3,381,560.9146
f
fine troy ounces of gold to 'representatives of Belgium,
Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
A French representative and
his team received 75,794~5985' fine kilograms of gold on .19
November 1947 (this gold later was transferred to Belgium and
Luxembourg).
At6:00 a.m. three days later, five trucks and
one automobile arrived at, the Foreign Exchange Depository to
receive 541
box~s
,of gold bars and 550 boxes of gold,coins for
by U.S. combat forces. The decision to release it apparently
was based upon the economic need of Hungary, and that decision
appeared to'come from the U.S. State Department.
,
24 Shipping Ticket,
No ..16,'5 September 1947, ,in RG 60)rj
(box 424), file 940.38PCIRO General. In the same file, ~ ,
newspaper clipping reported the transfer occurred on 6
~
September and a press release, reported the restitution happene~
on 8 September. ,The Shipping Ticket, however, represented the
signed receipt for the receiving institution, which also
specifically released the U.S. Army for any further
responsibility for the shipment. Although often referred to as
"non-monetary gold," these restitutions to the PCIRO also
included silver, jewelry, precious stones, dental gold, and
personal items--including pur'es and alarm clocks. A168-page
inventory of What' was released in this first restitution may be
found in RG 260 (box 424), file 940.401 .Joint Inventory
Schedule "A" of 1st non-monetar,y gold release to PCIRO.
Vi'
15
....'.
,
"
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CMH
the Netherlands. u
With the restitution to the Benelux countries completed,
attention tUrned to the disposition of the rernai ing gold. 2G
The Tripartite Gold Commission directed the
major release
of monetary gold through two contracts with Pan
merican
Airways, which served as the principal
deliver
"approximately 58,705.5410kilogrammes of moneta y gold coinsl!.
in. one contract for the first group of flights a d
"approximately 74,498.64262 kilogrammes of monet ry gold coins
and/or bars" in the second contract for the rema ning
to the Bank of England in London.
f]i0ht~
The actual sh'pment,
recorded two years later, reported the first shi
comprising 53,234.446 kilograms (valued at $59·,9
and the
second shipment comprising 75,900.028 kilograms (valued at
$85,408,426).
The 53 individual flights began
0
15 June and
concluded on 3 August 1948. "-7
- Several pieces of correspdndence and mess ges
concerning this directive may be found in RG 260 (box 422),
f:i.,le 940.1551 Monetary Gold, ~st Distribution.
26 COL William G.
Brey, Chief, FED/' internal routing slip
tCl', Financial Adviser, OMGUS, 28 June 1948, subjec : "Packaged
Gold": in RG 260 (box 422), file 920.1551 Monetar Gold 2d
Dist. Extensive documentation exists indicating hat the FED
prepared to release gold to Italy and Austria (68 ,295.906 fine
ounces for Austria and 286,102.445 fine ounces fo Italy).
However, the completed transactions never appear 'n later
summaries of FED operations, suggesting that eith r the gold
was never released, or that it was an entirely di ferent
accounting transaction unrelated to the restituti n issue.
27 Documentation for the Tripartite Gold Commtssion/s
directives, contracts, and related message traffi can be found
in RG 260 (box 422), file 920.1551 Monetary Gold d Dist: see
also (box 163), file FED Tripartite commission: a d (bOX 166),
16
09
�Throughout 1948 and 1949, there were a variety of
restitution shipments taking place, with the PCIRO receiving
the largest amounts of material in March and october.
Other
restitutions, some precious metals (not gold) and mostly
currencies, were released to several governments. 28
with all
these restitutions in progress, it is surprising that there
were so few shortages reported resulting from theft.
In fact,
only two incidents were discovered and reported: one involved a
/---
stolen gold bar, pilfered from a Reichsbank before the bar .was
--
to be sent to the FED in 1945, a second resulted
I
crates holding over 100 pieces of jewelry for the PCIRO were
~ ~ansit to ~w YOr~In -the
former
inciden~he
gold
bar was recovered in the united states in 1947 and returned to
the FED, which had always listed the 25-pound bar as missing
from its initial inventory.
In the latter case, the loss
occurred after the Army formally released custody of the
file Gold File (Brussels). Two memoranda by a Mr. Fred B.
Smith, dated 20 January and 14 April 1948, of . either the u.S.
State Department or the u.S. Treasury Department, discussed the
contract arrangements for the gold shipments to London. Army
transportation had been considered and rejected by either the
Treasury Department, New York Federal Reserve Bank, or the
Tripartite Gold commission. The 14 April memorandum is the
only reference we found which suggests that some of the gold
going to London would be reshipped to New York. The documents
were copied from the historical files of the u.S. State
r.
I. ~
Department and are on file at the Center of Military History
~~ .
j
~~~
28
See RG 260 (box 424), file 940.401 Joint Inventor
Schedule "c" and file 940.401 Joint Inventory Schedule B; (-box
421), file 940.154 Second Turnover to IRO; (box 466), file
~
960.61 Security Officer Daily Report Jan-July 1948; (box 1 5) ~ .La(
file International Bank for Reconstruction and Finance; (box
_ ~I'
400), file 910.92 Reports-Daily Jnl 1948.
~ . ~~
17
~
�07/07/1999
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CMH
202-585-4570
H1
material to the PCIRO. 29
By early 1948, the FED was able to report t e origin and
quantity for all of the gold assets that came in
0
its custody:
)
1,581,832 kilograms, plus 603.734 ' kilograms seiz d under the
provisions of Military Law 53. 30
In June 1950, a chart
prepared by the International Reparations Agency summarized the
disposition of all gold assets for European coun ries that
received or participated in restitutions, princi
"Gold Pot.
"31
But the scope of these activities
the efforts at ,Frankfurt ,and were thus was
from the
ranscended
beyo~
~h~
~rm"'~
interest or control.
By the end of 1948, the Foreign Exchange De ository was
preparing to go out of business. 32
Silver, gems, currency,
securities, and an assortment or jewelry and rare metals were
released to a variety of countries, and even some German
industries.
In what appears to be a close-out ac ounting for
the disposal of all FED assets, the last and Acti 9 Chief of
the Foreign Exchange Depository submitted a final monetary
7
~9
See RG 260 (box 164), file Foreign Exchang
1947: (box 421), file 940.154 Second Turnover to
~o
See RG 260 (box 161), file FED.
-* '/
Depository /
RO.~
~
~1 See chart prepared by A. Kipoy, Deputy Oir ctor of
Finance, lARA, copy provided by Kenneth D. Alford an
independent researcher who is currently preparing a forthcoming
study titled "Great Treasure Stories of World War II."
32 Jack
Bennett, Finance Adviser to the Milit ry Governor,
memorandum to Chief, FED, 29 December 1948, subje t : "Receipt
of Additional Assets by FED"; in RG 260 (box 401), file 920.401
FED space & Liquidation.
18
�report to the Office of Economic Affairs in dollar values. 33
The entries of "assets released" included $263,680,452.94 34
and $145,325,827.64 35 to the Tripartite Gold Commission for
the Restitution of Monetary Gold and $808,369.00 to the IRO.
After December 1950, the Foreign Exchange Depository
ceased to exist.
Its few remaining assets consisted of
unclaimed personal items, some platinum bullion, German
securities, and an odd assortment of foreign currency and
industrial diamonds.
This material was transferred to the Bank
Deutscher Laender, which already had taken over most of the FED
building (the former Frankfurt Reichsbank) a year earlier.
Ironically, at least one of the platinum bars and some of the
securities had come from the Merkers cache in April 1945.
Albert Thoms, the man responsible for shipping the Berlin
Reichsbank assets to Merkers, was one of the two
representatives for the Bank Deutscher Laender who accepted
custody of the FED's remaining assets.
33 Mr.
F.J. Roberts, Acting Chief, FED, memorandum to Mr.
Leonard, Finance Division, 19 December 1950, subject: "Final
Report on status FED"; in RG 260 (box 400), file 910.98 Reports /
Weekly FED status Report.
.
34 This probably represents the dollar value of the gold
that eventually went to the Benelux countries.
35 This
probably represents the dollar value of the
remaining gold that was sent to the Bank of England.
[We found
no records of any gold being sent from the F~D in Frankfurt to
the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.]
19
�07/07 / 1999
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CMH
CQncluding Observations
The Foreign Exchange Depository frequently was referred to
as the "Fort Knox of Germany," but it might be
characterize it as "the Bank of Europe."
accurate to
The c ptured German
and Nazi assets were only a part of the FED's
al operation.
It also was responsible for all currency transac ions in
Germany, receipt for all restricted property
s 52 and 53),
and funding for all U.S. military activities in
ermany,
~nd
it
seelnS to have served as the "banker" for several allied
countries as well.
The breadth of its responsib lities is
amazing; that it accomplished so much with limit d personnel
resources is all the more remarkable.
The first chief of the Foreign Exchange Dep sitory was
Colonel Bernard Bernstein, a lawyer by education and
experience.
u.s.
COL Bernstein had served as an atto ney with the
Treasury Department from 1933 to 1942, when he resigned
his position and went on active duty in the Army as a
lieutenant colonel in the Coast Artillery Corps.
In 1945, as a
newly-promoted colonel, he served as the Chief
Finance in
0
the G-5 Division of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary
Forces (SHAEF).
From that vantage point he was
influence and direct the policies that establish
the Army's control over all captured assets.
the service in 1946 to return to private law
20
Be
and
stein left
ice, but he
11
�"
~lso served as legal counsel £or the next two years with the
American Jewish Congress and was active 'in other Jewish
organizations for several years.
He died in 1987 or 1988 in
"
New York city.
Colonel Bernstein was ably assisted by a small 'group of
company grade officers, none of whom seem to have come from the
Finance Corps.
In fact, most of the officers came from the
infantry and cavalry, and few were from, the Regular Army.
I
Persoiulel'turrlover , 'parti~cularIY 'in "f945, 'was a persistent'
problem in... the ,FED. (at its peak, it seems, to have employed
~ '., .~-.:..
-:,
,about 1,50 personnel), but the steady leadership and management
.
'
of Colonel Bernstein and his successor, Colonel William Brey,
helped weather these difficulties.
By 1946, the .personnel
situation stabilized' with the addition of dedicated clerical
support and three o:r four civilian employees in mid-level
management positions.
Prior to ,1946, it was apparent that
th~
Army's principal
concerns were providing effective security for what was found
and establishing a physical accounting for all these assets.
Although .there was little difficulty in determining how many
I
boxes, bags, and stacks were being secured, it was very.
confusing.wpenE;ver.anyone~triedtoquantifycthese'holdings.
Estimated values, might have included all assets, or just
precious metals (gold and silver), or all gold, or simply
monetary gold (with no clear definition of what the repo+ting
agency meant by "monetary gold").
21
Weights also varied,
I
I
�07/07/1999
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CMH
"
especially when dealing with gold; quantities we e measured by
pounds, kilograms, fine ounces, troy ounces, gra s, or simply
plain ounces.
And sometimes even unquantifiable measurements
were cited, such as "$500 million in fine gold."
Yet, by 1946 and as the Army personnel at t e FED became
more familiar with the holdings, there was a cle r trend toward
establishing a more precise acco1mting for the a
under
their custody.
for many
This was reflected in the invent
of the component shipments at the FED.
By this
there seemed to be a very clear idea of what was
too,
non-~n"~tRrv
gold and what was not.. Judging by the inventory procedures and
their results, the only non-monetary gold (i.e., "Nazi loot")
..
that was found, aside from the obvious materials
oming from
concentration camps and SS accounts, were melted
old pieces
(described in one report as "rough moulds of gold about the
size of a
cookie"~6).
The scope of the FED's operations embraced tree distinct
phases: security, inventory, and receipt of asset; restitution
of assets to appropriate parties; and termination of
operations.~,c~From
April 1945 through December 194 , the FED
received 91 separate shipments, ranging from the
erkers cache
(the largest) to a single envelope containing sec rities.
The
height of activity in this first phase was during the first 12
36 BG Frank J.
MCSherry, Deputy assistant Chi f of staff,
G-5, memorandum to Commanding General, European T eater of
Operations, 19 April 1945, subject: "Gold bullion currency and
other property ... "; in RG 338 (box 13), file 123/ USFET
Captured Gold Bullion and Art Treasures 7 Apr.·30 May 1945.
22
12
�months of the
FED/s
existence.
Although some minor
restitutions were made prior to september 1947, it did not
become a major ~ctivity until the,'first shipment went to the
'PCIRO . . Restitutions after August 1948, measured by both the
volume and value of material involved, declined significantly
in the months that followed ..
~operatioris
And the third phase of the FED's
lingered throughout 1949 and 1950.
Clearly, the Army had a distinctly
entire issue: soldiers
restrict~d
gua~dgd thetreasure~
role in this
while a small
cadre of Army officers and civilians tried to determine what
they had and how to account for it.
A review of the archival
record underlInes. how fastidious the Army was in documenting
everything that it did and everything that happened.
annotated daily journals,
wee~ly
Well
reports, bi-monthly meetings,
security officer logs, and countless inventories, internal
(
memoranda, and working papers (including scribbled notes,
accounting ledgers, and adding machine tapes) documented the
entire effort.
Nearly every cable,
~emorandum,
message,
letter, and note of, pertaining I or related to Army involvement
,
.
with the FED and captured German assets appears to have been
saved and ultimately found a home a:t,the.National Archives.
No
evidence exists that the Army was trying to hide anything or
mask any unsightly blemishes . . Indeed, the greatest .problem in
dealin.g with the Army's involvement in this issue is not the
paucity of information, but rather its abundance.
There are some possible explanations for .the plethora of
�07/07/1999
09:52
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CMH
202-585-4570
~irst and
minute detail found in so many of the documents.
foremost, conditions in the FED were constantly
hanging.
Thus, while it eventually became possible to com ile detailed
reports of specific inventories, it was virtuall
pointless in
compiling the individual components, or "shipmen s,~' into one
complete summary.
To say how much monetary gold was in the FED
on any day of the year meant little"because the individual
inventories that would have supported such total
would have
changed while the statistics were being compiled and after they
had been reported.
Then too, the FED was not as concerned wjth
how much it had as it was with being able to sec
for each component part.
'Perhaps· a second explanation might be burie
an obscure
internal memorandum from one section chief of th
of
requested photographic support in anticipation of
the organization that Colonel Brey thought might
Regrettably, i t seems that no such history
COl11posed
(doing so might have diffused some of the later g asi-histories
War
of the Army's involvement with captured assets fr
II), but the FED leadership certainly seemed.sens'tive to
preserving the historical record. 3 ?
Indeed, the q estions
surrounding the restitution of gold
ries and the
International Eefugee Organization being asked to
37 There are two historical reports
from 1947 in RG 260
(box 394)1 file 900.10 Org. & History of FED. Bo h documents
seem to have been prepared in anticipation of a m re
comprehensive study being done at a later .date.
24
13
�addressed and answered 48 years ago. 38 'According to Frank J.
Roberts, the Acting Chief of the FED,·the t6tar value of assets,
secured by the Army and released to the IRO was $806,3,69.
The
total value of gold disposals pursuant to instructions of the
Tripartite Gold Commissio!1 was, $263,680,,452; with deliveries of
$85,289,953.00. to France (for Belgium and Luxembourg),
,
'
,
. $33,064,672.00 to the Netherla!1ds, and $145,325,827.00 to
London (Gold Pot).
\
It seems likely ,that much of the paperwork
tha.t the FED retained was intended to ensure that these and
,
other questions might be answered if ever raised on some future
date.
38 F~ank J.
Roberts, Acting' Chief, FED, internal routing
slip to Finance.Adviser, OMGUS, 12 April 1949, subject:
~
"Confirmation of Informationtransmitt"ed by ~honell; in RG 260 ""1'
(16'3Y'; file FED 'Tripartite Commission .'
25
�07/07/1999
09:52
PAGE
CMH
202-585-4570
'A
PART II
SOURCES CONSULTED
Nearly all of the primary records concern in
this topic
are at the National Archives and-Records Adminis ration (NARA).
Currently, the NARA staff is conducting a broad
weep of its
holdings and compiling a document that eventuall
will include
all records groups of documents that have anythi
do with
this subject.
is being
Currently, this bibliographic doc
updated periodically, and at the time of this re
in
included records from several federal agencies.
"draft," it was 250 pages long and included virt
anything
associated with "Nazi gold" or German monetary a
during
,and following World War II.
At the U.S. Army Center of Military History (CMH), the
research effort began with a review of this bibli graphic
document and focussed exclusively on records cite
which
specifically dealt with the Army's involvement
the
acquisition, security, and disposition of gold
In
the closing days of World War II and the first
e years of
the post-war occupation of Germany.
Occasionally
Germany in
Center
researchers studied documents that dealt with oth r assets
(e.g., other precious metals, gems, jewelry, curr ncy,
securities, and cultural properties), but
ause these
,issues either influenced or reflected the process that was
followed in the handling of both monetary and non monetary
gold.
26
14
�;"
...
With the parameters cited, above "as a guide, the Center
reviewed individua'l documents as quickly as possible, sometimes
summarizing specific memoranda in notes and occasionally"
copying entire documents.
retained.
All of this material has been
Researcher notes were transcribed and included with
,"
"
the copied material to be stored with other historical records
at CMH.
The original notes for/the researchers were ,retained
by their indiv~dual authors.
The following'records were reviewed at NARA II:
.* RG .218 Records qf the O.S. Joint:Chiefs of Staff.
+ Central Decimal File, 1946-1947 (Entry j);
Boxes 61, and 72.
*
RG 239 Records of the American Commission for the
Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic
Monuments in War Areas.
+ Reports, '1944-:1946
(Ent~y
6); Box 9.
+ Correspondence, 1943-1946 (Entry 7); Box 13.
+ London Files, 1943-1945 (Entry 12): Box 37.
+ Restitution of Cultural Materials, 1943-1946
(Entry 14); Box 40.
* RG
260 Records of United states Occupation
Headquarters, World War II; Records of the Office of
the Military Governor, United states.
+ Records of the Reparations and'Restitution
Branch: Records Related to the Restitution of
Precious Metal,
1947~1950;
27
Bo~es
20-28.
�07/07/1999
"
09:52
202-585-4570
PAGE
cr...,H
..
+ Records of the Office of the Fi ance Adviser
and Financial Division: Financial Policy and
Advising .•• Identification of Asse 5, 1944-1945;
Boxes 41-43.
+ General Records Regarding Finan ial Policies
and Military Government Legislati n, 1945-1949;
Boxes 64-77.
+ Records Relating to External As ets, 1946
1948; Box 130.
+ Records Regarding the Foreign E change
Depository, 1947-1949; Boxes 160- 67.
+ Records of the Financial Intell'gence Group;
Report~ of Assets and Liabilities of Insurance
Institutions, 1947-1948; Boxes 26
+ Records of Foreign Exchange Dep
Group,
Central Files, 1945-1950; Boxes 3
+ Miscellaneous Records Regarding Operations,
Payments, and Shipments, 1945-1948; Boxes 467
471.
+ Records Relating to Operations B RDDOG and
DOORKNOB, 1945-1950: Boxes 472-483.
+ Records of Subordinate Agencies, Shipments of
Gold and Silver, 1945-1947; .B~X~S [84-488.
+ Records of the Property
D1v~s~on,
Interrogations and Reports pertain'ng to German
Financial Matters, 1945-1946; Boxe
28
629-631.
15
�+ Records of sections and Offices; Restitution
section, 1946-1949; Boxes 702-705 and 712-719.
* RG 331 Records of Allied Operational and Occupation
Headquarters, World War II.
¥
+ Secretariat, G-5 Division; Box 1.
+ AG Division, War Diaries; Boxes 51-60.
+ Records of SHAEF General Sta·ff Organizations,
I
.
Historical section, Information Branch; Box 165.
*
RG 338 Records. of united· States Army Commands •
.+ Secretary, GS, General Correspondence; Box 13.
+ AG sectio~, Admin Branch; Boxes 426-4i8.
Center researchers also visited the still Picture Branch
at NARA II.
fold.
The purpose in this half-day di9ression was two
First, they wanted to have a clear idea of what kind of
supporting photographs might be available and how they would be
organized.
Second was the hope that photograph captions. might
provide additional clues to an understanding 6f how and when
gold shipments went in' and out of Frankfurt.
Since Army 'Signal
)
Corps photos often have precise captions with explanatory
information and dates, ther~,was the chance that a stray
photograph might· supplement what other records glossed·. over.
However, the photographic archives recorded no documentary data
that would have been essential to
narrative.
s~pplement
the written
Nevertheless, the Center researchers found dozens
of photographic
ima~es
that clearly demonstrated the volume of
material that the Army had to deal. with and iThe magnitude of
29
�07/07/1999
09:52
PAGE
CMI:i
202-685-4570
the associated problems with establishing accoun ability and
providing security for
the extraordinary
a~l
I
these assets.
securi~y
Severa
images showed
precautions that were employed
I
.
.
var10US s h'
~pmen t s 1 eav~n9i Frank furt.
I
.
~ith
.
.
Other phot s 111ustrated
the type of securityused\ within the FED.
The photographs themselves are scattered th oughout RG
,I
111, the Army Sig'nal Corps photos.
photographs were
I
Buchenwald.
into photo albums, an
collecte~
addressed the Merkers
Some of the
Tre~sure
they usually
or the material t
I
By themselves they constitute a com, rp.hel1~,i ve
,
V1sua 1 h' t ory
lS
0f
th e
' \
~rml I
s ro l '
e 1n
. .
acqu1r~ng,
' , an
jecur1ngd
transferring captured German assets from World W r II.
key photographs, all from \RG 111, that would be
Several
seful aids to
any study of this topic aJe noted below:
283610
293551
251730
283612
251732
251733
293548
251719
333924
293550
251720
333924
291709
251721
I
251704
!
251707
I
I
293549
239737
2j9732
205409
204517
294081
\
\
262088
294082
291705
I
291706
I
291708
293553
213755
\
Besides the records hJld at NARA II, CMH res
archers also
surveyed other sources--ofJen with less favorable results.
I
30
15
�.
"
. I
. Those 'a1: the Center of Military History are· incomplete!
J,
,
Only
'
,
two ,large file, f,>;lders'werehelpf-ql to'the study: HRC 091.33,
.,
.
"German' National GOld Res,erve"; anq H~O 386 ~ 3, .' "Captured
Property' - Art Treasures,,( Germqny) " .
In t,he realm, of s~condal:'Y ',( published)' sources, the
,
following/ ' ...
~e~s€£ __~__
'
,"
..
.
, (~Olla~d ,. Carolsue ' nd Thomas ' Rothbart. "The Merkers
"----~-- --'-~--:
I
. and Buchenwald Treasure Troves,", After the Battle, no. 93
,
(August 1996)
,pp~
,
2-2,5.'
. Office 'of ,the ,senior Historian, U .S~ Holocaust
Memorial',Museum. Disposition of Non-Monetary Gold in U:S
Military Custody :tn'ocpupied Germany', ,1945-1949, interiin
report [FebruCI;ry 1997] •
.
"
Ziemke,·EarIF. The U.S. Army in the Occupation' 'of
Germany" 1944-1946; Washington,' D.C.:
Printing
O~fice,
u.s.
Government
;'1975.
.
',.
Three other 'secondary sources,' noted, beldw,'were
i
,
•
co~sul ted, but
'
,
they dealt, with peripheral issues. and time: precluded· a detailed
,.
., '
review.,
Alford, Kenneth 0'. The spoils of World War II: The
American Military's, Role in stealIng Europe's Treasures.
" ' ,
,
~ew York: Bircb,Lane ~ress,. 1994.
Higham, Charles': Trading with the Enemy: 'The Nazi
America~\M6riey Plot.
1933-194~.
New York: Barnes ,and Noble
Books, 1995.
';
.~
Report of the AmericanCominission for the Protection
,31
�09:52
07/07/1999
,
PAGE
CMH
202-685-4570
+-.
a
Are~s.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government
Office,
1946.
During the research at NARA II, one of the
eam members
met with author Mr. Kenneth Alford, who was visi ing the
Archives on a different research project.
extensive research on the fate of monetary
following the end of World War II.
has done
Itural assets
Although ext emely critical
of the individual' actions of selected personnel, he speaks very
highly of the Army as an institution and its col ective
to
secur~
captured assets and
ensur~
A.f'fn ... t'~
their equitble
distribution to appropriate reCiPients--partiCUllrlY in the
U.S. Zone of Occupation in Germany.
His view of other federal
agencies who were involved in this issue are morj critical.
Although Alford shared research n9tes with
researchers, most were from Army documents that
already reviewed.
Two documents, however, front
the U.S. State Department, were copied and cited
narrative portion of this report.
he Center
he team had
files of
the
Alford also h d conducted
of
personal interviews with at least three survivin
the Foreign Exchange Depository staff (Colonel Be nard
/
Bernstein of New York, now ,deceased; and two secu ity officers,
one from a suburb in Philadelphia, and the other
ne residing
in WaShington, D.c.).
taped
Onfortunately, none
interviews had been transcribed, and he had not b ought any of
his tapes with him.
32
17
�PART III
SOURCES NOT CONSULTED
Finally, there were some Army records that the Center
researchers passed over because of time constraints and the
!
explectation that they contained either duplicative or
'peripheral material.
Further research on the subject,however,
might necessitate including the following record groups and
files:
*,RG 107 Records of the 'Secretary o{,War .
. * RG 153 Records of the Office of the, Judge Advocate
General.
* RG 165
Reco~ds
of the War Department General and
Special Staffs.
,
.
+ Safehaven Materials; Boxes 784-787.
+ Safehaven Target, Safehaven Intercepts; Box
2051.
* RG 200 General Lucius D~, Clay, Personal Papers i
April 1945-May 1949.
* RG 260 Records of united States Ocbupation
Headquarters, World War II; Rec6rds of the U.S.
Allied Commission for Austria (USACA) section of
Headquarters, u.s. ,Forces in' Austria.
* RG 260 Records of
unit~d
States Occupation
Headquarters, World War II; Records of the Office of
I
Military Government for Germany
(U~S.)
(OMGUS).
+ Records Relating to Tabulatipn and
33
,
.
�07/07/1999
~t
09:52
PAGE
CMH
202-585-4570
..'
Classification of Deposits, 1945-.949; Boxes
489-559.
+ Inventory Forms of Assets Relea ed, 1945-1947;
Boxes 560-563.
+ Miscellaneous Registers, 1945-1 49; Boxes 564
567.
+ Records of the Currency Section
Financial
Branch,G-5, Supreme Headquarters
Allied
Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF), 194 -1945; Boxes
-568-574.
+ Records of the Currency Section, 1944-1945;
Boxes 575-582.
+ Records of the External Claims
ranch of the
Finance Division, Claims for prop
Returned, 1948-1950 (4 boxes).
+ Records of the External Claims
ranch of the
Finance Division, Claims for Perso al Property,
1946-1951 (2 boxes).
+ Records of the External
anch of the
Finance Division, claims for Secur"ties, 1948
1950 (62 boxes).
+ Records of the External Assets Investigation
Section (134 boxes).
+ Records of the Restitution sectiInl Monthly
Reports, 1946-1950 (17 boxes).
+ Records of the Financial Intelli ence Group
34
18
�(196 boxes).
In spite of the seemingly large gaps among the records
reviewed, the Center is satisfied that the Army's role in
acquiring, securing, and disposing of captured German assets
was sound and in .accordance with directives from other federal
and international agencies.
The Army secured and accounted. for
all assets that were placed, in its custody and disposed of the
material when directed by proper 'authorities.' In~n age of'
manual typewriters, carbon paper, and primitive copy machines,
,
,
it is incredible how much paperwork, was generater ""',- +-:h .,., 8"""" J 1
staff at the Foreign Exchange.Depository.
More importantly is
how each property transaction was recorded so meticulously, how
careful infantry officers ·and sergeants were to document every
action, and how conscientious Army personnel--both military and
civilian--were in exercising their fiduciary responsibilities
for all the assets that were in ,their custody.
That this much
was accomplished with an infinitesimal margin of error 'merits
commendation; that this much was accomplished in addition to
all their other financial duties and responsibilities in the
reconstruction of occupied Germany, deserve,s praise.
Research Team:
Mr. R. Cody Phillips (Team Leader), DAMH-ZCB
Dr. clayton Laurie, DAMH-HDC
Ms. Mary Haynes, DAMH-FPR
Mr.
Dav~d
C. Cole, DAMH-MDC
(This report is current as of 3 March 1997.]
35
�.
.-~
I·
\ \
)
~
r-' .
,
~.'
I •
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States, formed in 1998, was charged with investigating what happened to the assets of victims of the Holocaust that ended up in the possession of the United States Federal government. The final report of the Commission, <a href="http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/pcha/PlunderRestitution.html/html/Home_Contents.html"> “Plunder and Restitution: Findings and Recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States and Staff Report"</a> was submitted to President Clinton in December 2000.</p>
<p>Chairman - Edgar Bronfman<br /> Executive Director - Kenneth Klothen</p>
<p>The collection consists of 19 series. The first fifteen series of the collection are composed mostly of photocopied federal records. These records were reproduced at the National Archives and Records Administration by commission members for their research. The records relate to Holocaust assets created between the mid 1930’s and early 1950’s by a variety of U. S. Government agencies and foreign sources.</p>
<p>Subseries:<br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Art+and+Cultural+Property+">Art and Cultural Property</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Gold+">Gold</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Gold+Team+Review+Form+Binders+">Gold Team Review Form Binders</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Art+and+Cultural+Property+and+%E2%80%9COthers%E2%80%9D+Review+Form+Binders">Art and Cultural Property and “Others” Review Form Binders</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Non-Gold+Financial+Assets+Review+Form+Binders">Non-Gold Financial Assets Review Form Binders</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=History+Associates+Binder+">History Associates Binder</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Non-Gold+Financial+Assets+Review+Form+Binders+%282%29">Non-Gold Financial Assets Review Form Binders (2)</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Financial+Assets+Documents">Financial Assets Documents</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=RG+84%2C+Foreign+Service+Posts+of+the+State+Department%E2%80%94Turkey">RG 84, Foreign Service Posts of the State Department—Turkey</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Financial+Assets+Documents">Financial Assets Documents</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%5BJewish+Restitution+Successor+Organization+%28JRSO%29%2C+Oral+Histories%5D&range=&collection=20&type=&user=&tags=&public=&featured=&exhibit=&submit_search=Search+for+items">[Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO), Oral Histories]</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=PCHA+Secondary+Sources">PCHA Secondary Sources</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Researcher+Notes">Researcher Notes</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Unnumbered+Documents+from+Archives+II+and+Various+Notes">Unnumbered Documents from Archives II and Various Notes</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=RG+260%2C+Finance+Inventory+Forms">RG 260, Finance Inventory Forms</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Reparations">Reparations</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Chase+National+Bank">Chase National Bank</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Administrative+Files">Administrative Files</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Art+%26+Cultural+Property+Theft">Art & Cultural Property Theft</a></p>
<p>Topics covered by these records include the recovery of confiscated art and cultural property; the reparation of gold and other financial assets; and the investigation of events surrounding capture of the Hungarian Gold Train at the close of World War II. These files contain memoranda, correspondence, inventories, reports, and secondary source material related to the final disposition of art and cultural property, gold, and other financial assets confiscated during the Holocaust.</p>
<p>For more information concerning this collection consult the<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/35992"> finding aid</a>.</p>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/35992" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1040718" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
2954 folders
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Financial Assets Papers [5]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States
Art & Cultural Property Theft
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 214
<a href="http://clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/Systematic/Holocaust-Assets.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/description/6997222" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Medium
The material or physical carrier of the resource.
Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
6/24/2013
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
6997222-financial-assets-papers-5
6997222