Folder 2: 176-page Consolidated Interrogation Report No 2 by the Art Looting Investigation Unit of the OSS on the Goering Collection divided into 12 sections, dated 15 September 1945. Part I consists of an introduction stating that 'this report is a preliminary study of the history and formation of the Hermann Goering Collection, and of the methods used by the Reichsmarschall of the Third German Reich to strip the occupied countries of Europe of a large part of their artistic heritage. This widespread enterprise, which worked in the shadow of the occupying forces, took the form both of looting and of so-called "legal" purchase'. Part II provides an overview of the sources consulted in the preparation of the report, including the interrogations of Walter Andreas Hofer, Gisela Limberger, Bruno Lohse, Walter Bornheim, Kajetan Muehlmann, Rose Bauer [Muehlmann's secretary in Poland and Holland], Walter Borchers, Karl Haberstock and Karl Kress [see above]. Part III includes an overview on the origin and character of the Goering collection while Part IV provides detailed information on the personnel involved in the expansion of the collection including official staff from the Stabsamt, the Ministeramt, the Police and the Architectural Bureau and the purchasing agents Hofer, Angerer, Bornheim, Muehlmann, Lohse, Miedl, Reber, Bunjes and von Behr and those resident outside Germany in France, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Switzerland. Part V provides details of the Reichsmarschall's policy and methods adopted for the confiscations carried out by the ERR, the Kunstschutz section of the Military Administration in Paris, the Devisenschutzkommando, the Abteilung Feind Vermoegen [Enemy Property Control section] and in the case of the loot from Monte Cassino and Poland. Part VI consists of a detailed description of Goering's purchases and is divided into six sub-sections A-F: France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Section A provides information on the activity of Goering's agents in France and states that 'more purchases were made in France than in any other country. The Paris art market was by far the most active in Europe. It set the fashion for the enormous inflation in prices which took place during the last years of the war. German buyers came to Paris in hundreds. [...] Armed with their paper money, the Reichskassenscheine [invasion mark], [...] they had a twenty-to-one advantage over the franc and the reassuring knowledge that no matter what they paid in France, they could usually make a hundred per cent profit at home. [...] Almost all the French dealers sold to the Germans. It was hard to resist the temptation to fleece the ignorant Teuton. [...] The majority of the dealers worked independently, but a few of them formed groups and made collaboration their special business'. Includes a 30-page alphabetical list of the dealers from whom Goering's agents bought the works of art included in the Goering collection, with information on the dealers' background and the works of art they sold. Also includes a list of contacts in Paris including dealers, restorers and professional art historians. Section B provides general information on the methods of acquisition of works of art and the activity of Goering's agents in Holland. States that 'after France, Holland was the most important source of acquisitions for the Goering Collection. If confiscations are set aside and a comparison is made on the basis of "legal" purchases only, then Holland represents the most important source of all'. Includes a 24-page alphabetical list of the acquisitions made in Holland for the Goering collection organised in alphabetical order according to the names of the collectors and dealers, with information on their background and the works of art they sold, the prices and dates of transaction. Part C provides general information on the methods of acquisition of works of art and the activity of Goering's agents in Belgium. States that 'Goering's only important acquisition in Belgium was the Renders Collection', who was described as 'not the victim he pretends to be. [...] Like many other collaborationists converted by the allied victory, he is probably trying to have his cake and eat it too'. Includes alphabetical lists of dealers and contacts, with details of their background and the works of art they sold, the prices and dates of transaction. Section D provides general information on the methods of acquisition of works of art and the activity of Goering's agents in Italy. States that 'the Goering collection gained a great deal many valuable additions from Italy. The most valuable of these would, unquestionably, have been the objects stolen by the German Goering Division from Monte Cassino; but as has already been explained these did not remain in the Reichsmarschall's Collection'. Includes an overview of the purchasing agents active in Italy and a detailed account of the acquisitions, in particular the Sterzing [Vipiteno] altarpiece, and two seven-page alphabetical lists of collectors and dealers with information on their backgrounds and the works of art they sold, the prices and dates of transaction. Also comprises a list of contacts in Italy - mainly Rome, Florence and Venice - including dealers, restorers and professional art historians. Section E provides general information on the methods of acquisition of works of art and the activity of Goering's agents in Switzerland. States that 'Switzerland was the only neutral country which made important contributions to the Goering Collection. The normal Swiss market had never been interesting to Goering because it offered mostly Impressionists and Modern Art. However, during the war, there appeared suddenly a large number of pictures of the German School and it was in Switzerland that he bought his best Cranachs'. Includes a seven-page alphabetical list of dealers with information on their backgrounds and the works of art they sold, the prices and dates of transaction. Also comprises a list of contacts resident in Switzerland during and sometimes after the war who had taken part or were aware of these transactions. Section F provides information on the works of art acquired by Goering in Germany. States that 'the works of art bought by Goering in his own country do not come under the heading of loot and are therefore of secondary importance [...]. However, as many of the dealers who sold them were active in the occupied countries, and as the exact provenance is rarely known, the possibility always exists that they did come from outside Germany'. Includes a list of works of art from the Goering collection in alphabetical order under the names of the dealers from whom they were purchased, with information on the dealers' activity, the prices and dates of transaction. |
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