Belgium and Luxemburg. Note by the Macmillan Committee enclosing a copy of the 21-page War Office Report on the damage to the national monuments of Belgium, undated. States that 'compared with those of many other belligerent countries, including Britain, Belgium's national treasures suffered astonishingly little from the effects of war. This is mainly due to the relative smallness of the areas subjected to intensive bombing, and to the speed with which the battle moved across the country both in 1941 and in 1944-1945, thus sparing Belgium the worst horrors of house-to-house fighting or the widespread destruction of her buildings by retreating armies. [...] This is not to say that Belgium has not suffered terrible damage and losses to her precious national possessions'. Includes information on destruction by bombing and shellfire and German acts of wanton vandalism. Provides a detailed overview of German looting activity in Belgium, in particular the outstanding thefts of Michelangelo's Madonna from the church of Notre Dame in Bruges and of the Van Eyck altar panels of the Ghent cathedral. Records the looting, together with the Madonna, of 11 art works including the central piece of Pourbus' triptych 'Adoration of the shepherds', J Van Oost's 'The calling of St Matthew', 'The Annunciation and adoration of the Magi' by an unknown master of the School of Cologne, Caravaggio's 'Disciples at Emmaus', a 15th century triptych representing the Deposition with the Ascension in the background and the Crucifixion and Resurrection on the wings, Pourbus' 'The Last Supper', N Van Thienen's triptych of the 'Virgin and Child', G David's 'Transfiguration', A Van Dyck's 'Crucifixion', A Isenbrant's 'Mater dolorosa' and A Cleissens's 'Dedication of Santa Maria Maggiore'. Records that 'the Germans stole 4,800 church bells out of about 12,000 from the famous Belgian carillons. It is not yet known how many of these were actually melted down, but a certain number at any rate escaped this fate and are still in Belgium or the Netherlands'. Contains an alphabetical list of Belgium's main towns and cities with information on the state of conservation of their main monuments, buildings and museums, with brief references to their contents, plus an added list of 'Belgian monuments known to have escaped all war damage' not included in the previous list. Two letters between Miss Clay, assistant secretary of the Macmillan Committee, and Col Leonard Woolley, Archaeological Adviser of the War Office, thanking him for sending copies of two reports to be supplied to the press shortly, including the enclosed draft of the report on the national monuments of Luxemburg, dated August 1945. Provides detailed information on the destruction of Luxemburg's artistic and architectural treasures in the course of the war, 'only a very small portion' of which 'sustained serious damage during the war'. States that 'there was also a considerable amount of looting, which, as in Belgium, chiefly took the form of carefully organised theft by prominent Nazis or the German Government itself, of valuable works of art. Not all these evils can be laid at the door of the Denkmalpflege, staffed as it was mainly by people who were not only connoisseurs of art but indifferent or hostile to the Nazis'. Contains a list of the country's main cities and towns with details of the damage suffered by their main buildings and monuments. Records that 'the task of preventing the Germans from removing the most valuable collections, both private and public, of objets d'art presented considerable difficulty. As it was the entire private collection of M Bach [Minister of Foreign Affairs] vanished into Germany. But the employees of Prince Felix, on the other hand, succeeded in hiding the more valuable pictures belonging to the Grand-Ducal Palace, although they failed to prevent the enemy from carrying off a quantity of silver, porcelain and furniture. The Conservateur of the Musee Historique [sic] ultimately managed to avert the theft of the contents of the chief museums and particularly the Pescatore collection of pictures'. Also refers to the looting of the collection of arms from the Colmar-Berg chateau and the recovery of the library of the abbey of St Maurice in Clervaux. Also includes a list of Luxemburg monuments known to be intact and consequently not included in the previous list. Two letters between MFA and A Squadron Leader Douglas Cooper and the secretary of the Macmillan Committee enclosing a list of well known works of art belonging to Belgian churches which were officially reported to have been removed by the Germans from Ghent [see above], Bruges [see above] and Louvain [Bouts's 'Last supper' and 'Martyrdom of St Erasmus'], dated November 1944. Reports the German wireless broadcast stating that the Bruges treasures were being removed for safe-keeping in order that they might be 'saved from the danger of destruction and transportation from Europe to a country alien in spirit and environment'. |
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