“Looting, spoliation, and carrying away of works of art,
libraries, and collections from Poland.”
The excerpts are on Pages 207 and 208 of the document book.
“On 13 December 1939 the Gauleiter of the Warthegau issued an
order that all public and private libraries and collections in
the incorporated territories were to be registered. Upon
completion of registration, libraries and book collections were
confiscated and transported to the ‘Buchsammelstelle.’ There
special experts carried out a selection. The final destination
was either Berlin or the newly constituted State Library
(Staatsbibliothek) in Posen. Books which were considered
unsuitable were sold, destroyed, or thrown away as waste paper.
“The best and largest libraries of the country were victims of
the organized looting in the Government General. Among them were
the university libraries in Kraków and Warsaw. One of the best,
though not the largest, was the library of the Polish
Parliament. It consisted of about 38,000 volumes and 3,500
periodical publications. On 15 and 16 November 1939 the main
part of this library was transported to Berlin and Breslau.
Ancient documents, such as, for instance, a collection of
parchments—the property of the central archives—were also
seized.
“The Diocesan Archives in Pelilin, containing 12th century
documents, were burned in the furnaces of a sugar refinery.
“The first art treasure removed from Poland was the well-known
altar of Veit Stoss from the Kraków Cathedral. It was taken to
Germany on 16 December 1939. The Defendant Frank issued a decree
concerning the confiscation of works of art.”