Catalogue description The second part of the report consists of translations of important documents. The first...

The second part of the report consists of translations of important documents. The first document is a report on the task of the Art-Historical Executive staff in France, dated autumn 1940, on the creation of a special staff of 40 art historians. Led by Professor Paul Clemen of Bonn, this group was tasked with evaluating the art collections of Belgium and Northern France. The second document is a progress report by Bunjes for the period 20 November 1940 to 12 January 1941, including a brief account of Goering's visit to Paris. Notes that a delegation led by M P Blanc made a request [on 26 September 1940] to resume the auctions of works of art at the Hotel Drouet [sic, Drouot] 'in order to revive the completely paralysed art trade'. The third document is a progress report on French chateaux for the period 12 January to 15 February 1941 reporting on the damage caused by the occupation of chateaux by German troops during the invasion. The fourth document is a progress report on French chateaux for the period 15 May to 15 June 1941, which notes that a photographic survey was being 'carried out more energetically' and that 'the copy of the 'Diane de Fontainebleau' in the Louvre had been completed' for Goering. The fifth document, entitled 'Second Directive of the Military C-in-C [Commander-in-Chief] France', gives instructions on 'protection of works of art in French occupied territory' to the military administration, insisting that removable works of art should not be taken from their present position without authorisation of the Kunstschutz. The sixth document is a 'directive dated 8 March 1941 from the Military C-in-C France', copies of which were distributed to all branches of the French military administration, insisting that archaeological discoveries should be reported immediately to the highest possible authority. The seventh document, undated and unsigned, intended for internal circulation among Kunstschutz officials, lists principles to be observed in the protection of important chateaux in occupied territory, for example by taking adequate precautions against fire.

The third part of the report provides detailed catalogues of twelve private collections seized by the ERR: first, the Hirsch collection, consisting of thirty items, mainly eighteenth century paintings, including 'The Bath' by Regnault' and 'Sleeping Child' by Boucher; second, the Meyer collection, consisting of 13 paintings and five engravings, including 'Head of a Woman' by Renoir and 'Landscape with Farm' by Pissarro; third, the Heilbronn collection, consisting of nine oil paintings and one pastel, including works by Pissarro, Monet and Renoir; fourth, the Wassermann collection, consisting of 75 paintings, mainly by seventeenth-century artists from the Low Countries, such as Vonk and de Van der Poel [sic]; fifth, the Hermann Hamburger collection, consisting of 26 paintings mainly by Dutch artists from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; sixth, the Jean Hamburger collection, consisting of ten paintings including works by Van Slingeland, Bachhuizen and De Vlieger; seventh the Isaac Hamburger collection, consisting of three eighteenth-century paintings by unknown artists; eighth, the Rosenstein collection, consisting of twelve paintings, including several modern works by Kerochevsky and Le Roy; ninth, the Kronig collection, consisting of 30 paintings mainly from the Renaissance and Baroque periods; tenth, the Flavian collection, consisting of 25 paintings and 13-15 miscellaneous drawings, including works by Monet, Courbet and Millet; eleventh, the Erlanger-Rosenfeld Collection, consisting of three paintings including a portrait of Spinoza by Franz Wulfhagen; twelfth, the Thieray collection, consisting of two portraits by Drouias; thirteenth, the Federer collection consisting of 'Boys in a Garden' by Monet; and fourteenth, the Hamperzoumian collection, consisting of three paintings, 'Portrait study' by Van Dyck, 'Grand Canal' by Canaletto' and 'Violin Player' by Antonio Puga. Also includes an index of the leading personalities of the German art world active in Paris during the first year of the Nazi occupation, derived from information in the Bunjes papers. Lists numerous well-known figures from the Paris Kunstschutz, including Bunjes and Wolff-Metternich, alongside photographic technicians, professors of art history and historical researchers active in Paris, as well as other miscellaneous figures mentioned by name in the documents, including Dr Andre [KV Assessor], Dr Hans-Joachim Apffelstaedt [Departmental Director in Rhine Province], Hans Bamann [Art Dealer], Professor Bauch Herr von Behr [ERR task force member], Bonatz [described in the documents as an 'important town planner'], Dr Dahnke [Leader of the 'Kulturgruppe' at HQ of C.-in-C. France], Professor Langsdorf [Chief of Department in the Military Administration], Dr Lohse [art dealer and agent for Goering], Admiral Lorey [removed trophies from Invalides to Berlin], Nusse [ERR member], Petersen ['important town planner'], Schmitthenner ['important town planner'] and Reichsherr vom Stein [owner of a stained glass collection].