“The regulations for the co-operation with the Armed Forces are
issued by the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces
in agreement with Reichsleiter Rosenberg.
“The necessary measures for the eastern territories under German
administration will be taken by Reichsleiter Rosenberg in his
capacity as Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern
Territories.”
This decree of Hitler’s was issued, as is clear from the document
quoted, to all departments of the Armed Forces, the Party, and the
Government.
But it is not 1 March 1942 which should be considered as the beginning
of Rosenberg’s predatory activities. I shall submit several excerpts
from a letter of Rosenberg to Reichsleiter Bormann in confirmation. The
letter is dated 23 April 1941. This document was presented to the
Tribunal on 18 December 1945 by the United States Prosecution, and it
was accepted by the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USA-371 (Document Number
071-PS).
This document—which Your Honors will find on Page 4 of your document
book—is interesting also for the fact that the plunder, referred to as
“confiscation” in the letter, was carried out by the Defendant Rosenberg
in close collaboration and contact, based on a written agreement,
between the departments of Rosenberg and Himmler. I cite extracts from
Page 1 of the Russian translation of this letter:
“I have”—wrote Rosenberg—“transmitted to you a photostatic
copy of my agreement with the Security Police (SD), concluded
with the express approval of Gruppenführer Heydrich.”
And further—you will find this on Page 5 in your document book:
“Questions bearing on works of art”—as stated in this
letter—“were considered of secondary importance. Of primary
importance was the Führer’s directive regarding the twice-issued
order from the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces,
for the occupied territories of the West, to the effect that all
archives and all scientific property belonging to our
ideological opponents, be placed at my disposal. This, too, was
carried out on a wide scale and in close co-operation with the
SD and the military leaders.”
The importance attached by the Hitlerite conspirators to Rosenberg’s
predatory staffs is shown in Göring’s special circular of 1 May 1941,
addressed to all Party, Government, and military institutions, which had
been ordered to co-operate with the Einsatzstab Rosenberg. This document
was presented by our American colleagues on 18 December of last year and
accepted by the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USA-384 (Document Number
1117-PS).
Even at that time the scale on which the pillage was conducted was
already enormous. As Rosenberg stated in his letter of 23 April 1941, at
that time, that is, in April 1941, 7,000 cases of looted works of art
had already been dispatched to Germany.
To conclude with this document I shall, with your permission, read one
further brief quotation into the record. It consists of one paragraph
only. You will find this paragraph on Page 6 of the document book:
“And thus”—wrote Rosenberg—“these problems practically solved
themselves and the work has followed its own course. Here I
would like to ask for a confirmation that these decisions,
already adopted in the West, should, in the present
circumstances, be rendered valid in the other occupied
territories, or in those which are to be occupied.”
This document, in which pillage is referred to as “work,” proves that
Rosenberg’s criminal activities were carried out in close contact with
the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces; and, finally, that as early as
April 1941 plans were being made for plundering the territories about to
be occupied.
The speech of the Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R., General Rudenko,
and the speech of the representative of the United States Prosecution,
Mr. Alderman, defined what Rosenberg meant in his letter by “territories
about to be occupied” at that time. That was the period of the practical
realization of the evil Hitlerite schemes, planned in the so-called Plan
Barbarossa, the period when the German fascist hordes were hurled
against the frontiers of the Soviet Union, the period of the attack on
the U.S.S.R.
Lastly, it is necessary to point out that, in April 1941, the Defendant
Rosenberg placed Utikal at the head of all operational staffs, “the
creation of which may become necessary during the course of this war.”
In this connection Rosenberg referred to the “successful work” and to
the “experience gained” by his operational staff in the western occupied
territories and in the Netherlands.
This fact is confirmed by a certificate issued to Utikal, dated 1 April
1941, and signed by Rosenberg. The authenticity of this document—which
bears Document Number 143-PS—was confirmed by Rosenberg at his
interrogation on 26 September 1945. I present this document to the
Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-371.
In reporting on the organization for the looting and destruction of
cultural treasures, it is necessary to indicate yet another department
which combined diplomacy with pillage. I have in mind the German
Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R., General Rudenko, in his opening
speech pointed out that the general pillage in the occupied regions of
the U.S.S.R., carried out on the direct orders of the German Government,
was directed not only by the Defendants Göring and Rosenberg and by the
various “staffs” and “commands” subordinated to them; the Ministry for
Foreign Affairs, headed by the Defendant Ribbentrop, also participated
through a “special formation.”
The creation of such a formation—the so-called “Ribbentrop
Battalion”—and its practical activities in the looting of cultural
treasures in the territory of the U.S.S.R. are testified to in a written
statement of 10 November 1942 by Obersturmführer Dr. Förster, who was
captured by Red Army units in the region of Mosdok. In this statement
Förster likewise indicated the task of Rosenberg’s staff in the plunder
or, as he expressed it, in the “withdrawal” of museum treasures and
antiques. A certified photostat of this statement I present to the
Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-157 (Document Number USSR-157).
It is stated in Förster’s statement, I read:
“In August 1941 while in Berlin, I, with the assistance of my
old acquaintance from the University of Berlin, Dr. Focke, then
employed in the press section of the Foreign Office, was
transferred from the 87th Tank Destroyer Division to the special
purpose battalion attached to the Foreign Office. This battalion
had been created on the initiative of the Reich Minister for
Foreign Affairs, Ribbentrop, and was under his direction. The
officer commanding the battalion is Major of the Waffen-SS, Von
Künsberg.
“The task of the special purpose battalion was to seize and to
secure, immediately after the fall of large cities, their
cultural treasures and all objects of great historic value, to
select valuable books and films, and finally to dispatch them
all to Germany.
“The special purpose battalion consists of four companies. The
first company is attached to the German Expeditionary Corps in
Africa, the second company to Army Group North, the third to
Army Group Center, and the fourth to Army Group South. The first
company is located at present in Italy, in Naples, awaiting
possible deployment to Africa. Battalion staff headquarters are
in Berlin, Hermann Göring Strasse, Number 104. The confiscated
material is stored in the premises of the Adler firm, in the
Hardenbergstrasse.
“Prior to our departure for Russia, Major Von Künsberg
transmitted to us Ribbentrop’s order, thoroughly to ‘comb out’
all scientific establishments, institutions, libraries, and all
the palaces, to search all the archives, and to lay our hands on
anything of a definite value.
“I heard from my comrades that the second company of our
battalion had removed valuable objects from the palaces in the
Leningrad suburbs. I myself was not there at the time. At
Zarskoje Selo the company seized and secured the property
belonging to the palace-museum of the Empress Catherine. The
Chinese silk draperies and the carved gilt ornaments were torn
from the walls. The floor of artistic ornaments was dismantled
and taken away. From the palace of the Emperor Alexander antique
furniture and a large library containing some 6,000 to 7,000
volumes in French and over 5,000 volumes and manuscripts in
Russian, were removed.
“The fourth company, to which I was attached, confiscated the
Kiev laboratory of the Medical and Scientific Research
Institute. The entire equipment, as well as scientific material,
documents and books, was shipped to Germany.
“We reaped a rich harvest in the library of the Ukrainian
Academy of Science, treasuring the rarest manuscripts of
Persian, Abyssinian, and Chinese literature, Russian and
Ukrainian chronicles, the first edition books printed by the
first Russian printer, Ivan Fjodorov, and rare editions of the
works of Shevtchenko, Mickiewicz, and Ivan Franko.
“From the Kiev museums of Ukrainian art, Russian art, Western
and Eastern art and from the central Shevtchenko museum numerous
exhibits which still remained there, including paintings,
portraits by Repin, canvases by Vereschagin, Fedotoff, Goe,
sculptures by Antokolsky and other masterpieces of Russian and
Ukrainian painters and sculptors were dispatched to Berlin.
“In Kharkov several thousand valuable books in de luxe editions
were seized from the Korolenko library and sent to Berlin. The
remaining books were destroyed. From the Kharkov picture gallery
several hundred pictures were secured, including 14 pictures by
Aivasovsky, works by Repin and many paintings by Polienov,
Schischkin, and others. Antique sculptures and the entire
scientific archive of the museum were also taken away.
Embroideries, carpets, Gobelin tapestries, and other exhibits
were appropriated by the German soldiers.
“I also knew”—testified Dr. Förster in his statement—“that the
staff of Alfred Rosenberg used special kommandos for the
confiscation of valuable antique and museum pieces in the
occupied countries of Europe and in the territories of the East.
Civilian experts were in charge of these kommandos.
“After the occupation of any big city, the leaders of these
kommandos arrive, accompanied by various art experts. They
inspect museums, picture galleries, exhibitions, and
institutions of art and culture, they determine their condition
and confiscate everything of value.”