Records of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas (RG 239) [CIVILIAN AGENCY RECORDS -- Department of State and Foreign Affairs Records]

In 1942, various civilian groups began to make plans to protect Europe's cultural monuments when the areas in which they were located should subject to Allied occupation. that fall, the President of the Archaeological Institute of America, the President of the College Art Association, and the Directors of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Washington's National Gallery of Art approached Harlan F. Stone, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, with a proposal to establish a government commission to protect and salvage European artistic and historical monuments. These individuals also contacted the Chief of the War Department's Civil Affairs Division, as well as the Army Air Intelligence Service, to enlist their support.

On December 8, 1942, Chief Justice Stone wrote President Roosevelt to ask his support for a plan to establish a government body that would protect and conserve artworks, historic monuments, and important papers in Europe, as well as making restitution of such works to their lawful owners. Stone also suggested that the British and Soviet governments be requested to consider the establishment of similar bodies. Roosevelt wrote Stone on December 28th that he had referred the proposal to the appropriate agencies for study. In a second letter, dated April 23, 1943, Roosevelt informed Stone that the proposal had won the support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and approaches were being made to the British and Soviet governments.

On June 21, 1943, Secretary of State Cordell Hull wrote to the President, reporting that a special section had been set up in the School of Military Government to train certain officer-specialist who could be assigned to army staffs to advise commanding officers regarding cultural monuments and historic artworks in war zones. Hell also suggested the appointment of "The American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in Europe" to advise and work with the School of Military Government, and included a list of prospective members. During the war, the Commission was to work with the Army to protect works of cultural value in Allied-occupied areas, and to compile lists of property appropriated by the Axis powers. After the war, the Commission was to urge that restitution in kind be made by the Axis powers for such works as might have been destroyed, to compile a list of equivalent works in Axis countries that could be used as compensation, and to urge that property appropriated by Axis powers be returned. The Commission would be quartered in the National Gallery of Art in order to facilitate contact with the Departments of War and State. Roosevelt approved the creation of the Commission on June 23, 1943.

On August 20, 1943, the Department of State announced the establishment of the Commission, with Owen J. Roberts, a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, as chairman; David E. Finley, Director of the National Gallery of Art and a member of the Commission of Fine Arts, as vice-chairman; and Huntington Cairns, Secretary-Treasurer of the National Gallery, as secretary-treasurer. The other original members of the Commission were Herbert H. Leham, Director of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration; Archibald MacLeish, former Librarian of Congress; William Bell Dinsmoor, President of the Archaeological Institute of America; Francis Henry Taylor, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and President of the Association of Art Museum Directors; Paul J. Sachs, Associate Director of Harvard University's Fogg Museum of Fine Arts; and the Honorable Alfred E. Smith of New York. Smith was succeeded upon his death by Archbishop (later Cardinal) Francis J. Spellman of New York. MacLeish resigned from the Commission upon his appointment as Assistant Secretary of State in January 1945.

As a result of Navy Department requests that the Commission prepare maps and lists of areas in the Far East containing cultural and historic monuments, the Commission officially changed its name to "The American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas."

Special advisers and many volunteers assisted the Commission from the beginning. John Walker, chief Curator of the National gallery of Art, was named Special Adviser to the Commission upon its creation. Dr. Sumner McK. Crosby of Yale University served in that capacity from September 1944. Horace H.F. Jayne of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York was appointed Special Adviser on matters concerning the Far East in April 1945. Rensselaer W. Smith of Smith College and the Institute for Advance Study, Princeton, New Jersey, was appointed Consultant of the Commission in May 1945, and worked with it in Washington until July of that year. John A Gilmore served as the Commission's Administrative Officer and Assistant Secretary-Treasurer from September 1943 to June 1945; Charles H. Sawyer from July to December 1945; Charles Seymour, Jr., from December 1945 to February 1946; and Lamont Moore from February to June 1946.

During the war, the Commission was instrumental in the establishment by the War Department of a Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives program to protect cultural materials in war areas, under the Civil Affairs Division. It recommended to the War Department men already in the armed forces who had the training and experience to carry out the formulated plans. Working through the American Defense-Harvard Group{Note 2} and the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas of the American Council of Learned Societies{Note 3} (two independent civilian groups established before its creation), the Commission supplied the armed forces with over 700 maps of the important cultural centers and regions of Allied and enemy countries, both in Europe and the Far East, on which artistic and historic monuments and cultural deposits had been located and described in accompanying lists. The Commission also prepared and distributed lists and handbooks to Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFA&A) officers in the field to aid them in preparing official lists of sites and monuments to be protected. Commission members gave lectures on the care and preservation of artworks, monuments, and records for Civil Affairs officers during the early days of Military Government schools. The Commission's staff correlated all reports from Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives officers and made the information derived from them available to government agencies, scholars, and students. The Commission also gathered information on available qualified civilian personnel to replace military personnel when Military Governments was transferred to civilian hands.

The American Commission cooperated with Commissions established in the Allied countries for analogous purposes and with the Department of State in considering problems relating to the restitution of cultural materials. It was instrumental in effecting the restitution of identifiable looted public artworks found in the American Zone in Germany to the owner governments. The Commission cooperated in the formation of a special unit within the Office of Strategic Services specifically concerned with the investigation of enemy personnel suspected of participating in art looting activities. The Commission cooperated with several other federal agencies in investigating German assets abroad, insofar as these assets involved cultural materials, and enemy art looting activities in Europe and their relationship to enemy activities in the Western Hemisphere. the Commission recommended to the Treasury Department the establishment of a system of customs controls to prevent looted art from being imported into the United States, and examined the special licenses required for the importation of cultural material.

In April 1944, the Inter-Allied Commission for the Protection and Restitution of Cultural Material (Vaucher Commission) was established under the chairmanship of Prof. Paul Vaucher as a subcommission of the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education. Composed of representatives of the varied Allied governments, the Vaucher Commission had as its purpose the study of problems relating to protection, restitution, and reparations and the collection and organization of information relating to looting for the eventual use of SHAEF and particularly of its Civil Affairs Section. This was the agency with the Commission's representatives abroad were at first chiefly concerned. The secretariat of the Vaucher Commission functioned as a central bureau for information on looted objects supplied by the different national commissions and issued lists of looted objects for the use of Monuments officers until its dissolution in November 1945.

The British Committee on Preservation and Restitution of Works of Art, Archives, and Other Material in Enemy Hands, generally known as the Macmillan Committee after its chairman, Lord Macmillan, was established in May 1944, as a counterpart to the American Commission. It differed from the latter chiefly in that its terms of reference limited its interest primarily to problems of restitution and reparation, leaving the question of protection solely to the military authorities. French, Belgian, and Dutch Commissions were formed in the wake of their countries liberation from German occupation.

The final meeting of the American Commission was held on June 20, 1946, in the Morris Building in Philadelphia. The Commission's activities were brought to a close by providing for continuation of its work by the offices for Germany-Austria and for Japan-Korea of the Occupied Areas Division (ADO) of the Office of International and Cultural Affairs (OIC) of the Department of State.

GOVERNMENT PRINTED SOURCES

American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas. Report of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.

Foreign Relations of the United States [a publication of the State Department that serves as a key finding aid because the documents selected for printing include the source file designation.]

FRUS, 1944, Vol. II, pp. 1031-1068 "Interest of the United States in measures for the protection and salvage of artistic and historic monuments in war areas."
   
FRUS, 1945, Vol. II, pp. 933-957 "Interest of the United States in measures for the protection and salvage of artistic and historic monuments in war areas."

RECORDS

Records of the Commission

Administrative Records 1943-1946 (Entry 1)

                Records consist of pay cards, budget reports, statements of balances, summaries of  allotment ledgers, reports on the status of appropriations, time and attendance  records, oaths of office, personnel action reports, job descriptions, and personnel  folders. Arranged alphabetically by subject or individual.
        Boxes 1-2A location: 350/76/35/05

Budget Records 1943-1946 (Entry 2)

        Records consist of budget estimates, budgets for the years 1944-1946, records of  expenditures, copies of Public Law 375 (having to do with appropriations for 1944  and 1945), and supporting documents for appropriations requests. This material is  the primary source on funding of the Robert's Commission's activities. Arranged  in roughly chronological order, the exceptions being folders on certain aspects of  bookkeeping and accounting, which are placed before and after the main  chronological section.  Box 3 location: 350/76/35/06

Certifying Officers' Bonds 1943-1946 (Entry 3)

        Records consist of the bonds which the U.S. Government required for officials  authorized to disburse government monies, together with papers authorizing the  issuance of the bonds and certifying the function of the individuals in question.  Arranged alphabetically by surname.  Box 4 location: 350/76/35/06

Correspondence Relating to Personnel 1945-1946 (Entry 4)

        Records consist of letters requesting employment and information from the  Commission, vitae, notes on personnel available and not available, and requests for  additional personnel. Included are personnel lists, as well as a few MFA&A  organization charts. Arranged by subject, thereunder chronologically.
        Box 4 location: 350/76/35/06

Minutes of Meetings 1943-1946 (Entry 5)

        Copies of the minutes and verbatim transcripts of meetings held by the  Commission. Included are related reports, memoranda, and notices. They focus  on recommendations for the selection of MFA&A officers, the definition of looted  art objects, post-war restitution problems, and cooperation and exchange of  information with the British Committee for the Preservation and Restitution of  Works of Art, Archives, and Other Material in Enemy Hands (The Macmillan  Committee) and the Inter-Allied Commission for the Protection and Restitution of  Cultural Material (the Vaucher Commission). Arranged chronologically.
        Box 5 location: 350/76/35/06

Reports 1944-1946 (Entry 6)
       
        This series contain reports, correspondence, mail intercepts, notes, telegrams, and  photographs. Included are reports on Commission staff visits to Europe, material  on art looting and restitution, and lists of German archives, library, and university  personnel. Also included are 3" x 5" cards on monuments, tapestries, and  chateaus in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Arranged in loose alphabetical  order by subject. Boxes 6-11 location: 350/76/35/06

        Box #  File Title
        6  Bunjes{Note 4} Papers location: 350/76/35/06
        7  France
                        Foreign Funds Control
            Report of Sumner McK. Crosby, Special Advisor
            Customs
            Censorship-Office of (Confidential Reports) location: 350/76/35/06
        8  Germany, Harvard List-File Copy
            Germany, Harvard List-Copy F
            Material to be sent to J. Walker location: 350/76/35/06
        9  Disentstelle Muehlmann-Interrogations
            Liaison-British
            Liaison-Dutch
            Liaison-French
            Liaison-MFA&A (US)
            Liaison-Roberts Commission
            Lists-T.S.
            Looting-Misc. Included are news accounts on gold found in Germany and  related matters. location: 350/76/35/06
        10  Miscellaneous
            OSS (Office of Strategic Services) Reports of Direction Generale des  Etudes et Recherches--39 Special Reports (3 files)
                                location: 350/76/35/07
        11  Reports File - Looted Art
            SHAEF G-5 MFA&A
            Restitution - Background Material
            Vaucher-Gros Commission
            Salvage location: 350/76/35/07

Correspondence 1943-1946 (Entry 7)

        Roberts Commission correspondence with Commission members and personnel,  with other Government and Allied agencies and departments, and with private  individuals. These are also folders containing information various subjects of  interest to the Commission. Most of these folders appear to contain copies of  materials that may appear in other series, such as OSS reports.
        Arranged alphabetically by surname or subject.

        Box #  File Title
        12  Correspondence
            American Commission-Memorandum to Members of the Commission
            Organization - the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage,  etc.
            Archives - Transfer of
            American Arbitration Association
            American Council for Learned Societies
            Historic Monuments in Europe; American Institute of Architects
            Miss Hall (American Commission)
            American Commission - Requests for Copies of Report
                location: 350/76/35/07
        13  Axis Victims League, Inc.
            Art Looting Activities in Europe (Western Hemisphere Implications)
            Art Exportation Control (Safehaven, State Department, Alien Property  Custodian)
            British Commission Establishment
            British Embassy
            Brown, John Nicholas
            Art Commission
            "A"- Misc.
            "B" - Misc.
            Cairns, Huntington
            Civil Service Commission (United States) - regular correspondence
            Claims for Recovery of Looted Art Objects - American
            Claims for Recovery of Looted Art Objects - Other than American
            Comptroller of the United States
            Cook, Professor Walter W. S.
            Constable, W. G.
            Cott, Lt. Perry B. location: 350/76/35/07
        14  Crosby, Sumner McK. (4 files)
            "C" - Misc.
            Decorations
            Dinsmoor, Dr. William B (2 files)
            Educational and Cultural Conference in London, November 1945
            "D" - Misc.
            Exhibitions (Requests to AC for material, etc.) location: 350/76/35/07
        15  Exhibition - Life Magazine
            "E" - Misc.
            Far East (5 files)
            Finley, David E.
            Foreign Economic Administration (2 files)
            Foreign Funds Control location: 350/76/35/07
        16  Foreign Funds Control
            French Ministry of Information
            "F" - Misc.
            General Accounting Office
            Guide Books-German (Purchased for MFA&A officers)
            "G" - Misc.
            Harper's Magazine
            Hammond, Mason, Lt. Col. {Note 5}
            Horan, France H. (Webster & Garside)
            "H"- Misc. location: 350/76/35/07
        17  Importation by Members of Armed Forces-Memorandum to Museums  About Questionable Importation of Art Objects
            Jayne, Mr. Horce - Special Advisor-Chungking
            Inter-Office Memoranda
            "I" - Misc.
            Justification for Continuation of Funds
            "J" - Misc.
            Keller, Deane (Captain)
            Kuhn, Charles L. Lt. (USNR)
            "K" - Misc.
            Lecture-Military Government Schools
            League of Nations-Draft of International Agreement to Protect Arts and  Monuments in Time of War 
            Lee, Rennselaer W. (c/o Frick Art Reference Library)
            Lehman, Herbert H. (Hon.)
            Len-Art Varityping Service
            Libraries, requests for copies of maps, handbooks, leaflets, etc.
            Importation by Members of the Armed Forces
            "L" - Misc.
            McCloy, John J.
            MacLeish, Archibald (Hon.)
            Metropolitan Museum of Art
            Military Government School Lectures
            Mongam, Agnes
            Mull, Jane A.- Employment and Trip
            Myers, Denya P.
            "M" Misc. location: 350/77/1/01
        18  National Archives
            National Catholic Welfare Conference
            Navy (3 files)
            Netherlands Embassy (Dr. H. N. Boon)
            Newton, Colonel Henry C. (2 files)
            "N" - Misc.
            Office of War Information (4 files)
            "O" - Misc.
            Personnel-General
            Post Office Department
            Posner, Ernst M.
            Press Releases
            Private Collections - Lists- by Country
            "P" - Misc. location: 350/77/1/01
        19  "Q" - Misc.
            Ritchie, Andrew C.
            Ross, Marvin C. (Capt. USMC) (2 files)
            Roberts, Own J., Chairman of American Commission
            OSS-R&A [Research and Analysis] No. 2555 - Russia's Intentions with  Respect to the Extraction of Reparations for War Damages to  Cultural Objects
            "R" - Misc.
            Sachs, Dr. Paul J.
            Sawyer, Charles H.
            Scarff, John H. (2 files)
            Shipman, Fred W.
            Shoemaker, Lt. Col. James H.
            Sizer, Major Theodore
            Spellman, Archbishop Francis Joseph
            Smith, Alfred E., Governor
            State Department (2 files) location: 350/77/1/01
        20  State Department (3 files)
            "S" - Misc.
            Taylor, Francis Henry (2 files)
            Taylor-Cairns Cables
            Telephone Conversations
            "T" - Misc.
            "U" - Misc.
            Vaucher Committee
            "V" - Misc. location: 350/77/1/01
        21  War Department (7 files)
            Hilldring, Maj. Gen. J. H. (2 files)
            Wooley, Lt. Col. Sir. L.
            Walker, John (2 files)
            "W" - Misc.
            "X" - Misc.
            Yiddish Scientific Institute - Yivo
            "Y" - Misc.
            "Z" - Misc. location: 350/77/1/01

General Correspondence 1943-1946 (Entry 8)

        Correspondence of the Roberts Commission staff, for the most part in the period  July-December 1946. Much of the correspondence consists of requests for copies  of the Commission's final report, but it also includes the document transferring the  records of the Roberts Commission to the National Archives. The material  evidently represents staff activities following the last meeting of the Commission in  June 1946, when the Commission was being closed down.
        Arranged chronologically. Box 21 location: 350/77/1/01
       
Miscellaneous Correspondence 1942-1945 (Entry 9)

        Correspondence with applicants for Commission staff or MFA&A positions.  Arranged alphabetically by surname, thereunder chronologically.
        Boxes 22-23 location: 350/77/1/01

General Records 1943-1946 (Entry 10)

        Reports, memoranda, copies of correspondence, and cables, as well as summaries  of the situation in various countries and regions. The records cover a wide variety  of topics. Arranged alphabetically by subject. Included are several folders  containing miscellaneous materials at the end of the alphabetical arrangement.

        Box #  File Titles
        24  Accredited Agencies
            ACLS [American Council of Learned Societies] Committee
            First Aid Protection for Art Treasures and Monuments
            Attendance Report
            Baedekers
            British Information Services
            Crosby Transmittals from London
            Reports from England and France by Francis Henry Taylor
            France-Private Collections
            Conditions of Monuments in France, November 1944
            German Economic Penetration in Switzerland. I a printed copy of circa  1945 Department of State Study [by Nicholas R. Milroy] entitled  "German Economic Penetration in Switzerland." 
            German Swedish Creditor Debtor Position
            War Office Report on Greece location: 350/77/1/02
        25  Goudstikker Firm - Dutch Museums - Looting by Germans
            Appreciation of Enemy Methods of Looting Works of Art in Occupied  Territory
            Maj. Mason Hammond Report on MFA&A in Italy - Lecture at Cincinnati
            Letter from DeWald to Morey re Condition of Monuments in N. Italy
            London Embassy - 4 documents/letters relating to Commission for the  Protection and Restitution of Cultural Material
            17th Meeting of Commission for Protection and Restitution of Cultural  Material, London, June 1945 
            Private Collections - Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands -  Libraries in Germany
            Summary of Postal Intercepts relating to Dr. Nicholas A. Karger - by Mrs.  Shapley
            First Press Conference SHAEF on MFA&A in France - by Miss Jane Mull,  Am Con in London
            Protection, Restitution, and Reparation of Objects D'Art and Other  Cultural Objects-by Richard A. Johnson
            OSS Consol[idated]. Interrog[ation]. Report No. 4 LINZ: Hitler's Museum  and Library
            OSS - German Report on Archives in the Military Government of France,  1940-1944
            Lists from OSS of 21 Enemy Personnel Connected with Looting
                location: 350/77/1/02
        26  OSS - Art Looting Investigation Unit - Final Report
            OSS - Works of Art, etc. Stolen in France, undated and dated
            OSS - Miscellaneous - dated and undated
            OSS - Personnel: Italian, German, Austrian - Works, ref. Goering
                1943-1944 location: 350/77/1/02
        27  OWI [Office of War Information]
            ETO [European Theater of Operations] Report MFA&A for April 1945 -  Duplicate of AMG 150
            Reports MFA&A - MTO [Mediterraen], ETO from Dr. Wm. B. Dinsmoor
                location: 350/77/1/02
        28  Scarff - London Embassy - August 1945; September 1945
            State Department Cable on Return of ISTED Lion to Denmark
            State Department - Miscellaneous
            Report on Visit to Strasbourg, December 10-17, 1944
            Swedish-German Creditor-Debtor Positions
            War Office Summaries - Greece, Holland, Venetian Regions, Belgium,  Luxembourg
            Clearance of Van Hook Talk January 21, 1945: Tel. Conversation with  Maj. Minard
            Letter from 1st Lt. Fred Hartt to Prof. Walter Cook, giving account of war  damage in Tuscany
            Vaucher MI/C
            Interview with Dr. Zipfel, Director of Reichsarchiv & Prussian State  Archives
            Booklet: Works of Art in Italy, Losses and Survivals in the War: Part I,  South of Bologna (The Macmillan Committee)
            Mr. Walker - Reports from Europe location: 350/77/1/02
        29  Miscellaneous Material (3 files) location: 350/77/1/02

Handbooks on Cultural Institutions of European Countries 1943-1945 (Entry 11)

        Prepared for use by the Army, these handbooks contain lists of museums,  monuments, libraries, archives, and other cultural institutions in the given region.  Included are drafts, abstracts from reference works, and notes used in the  preparation of the handbooks.

        Box #  Countries
        30  General
            Austria location: 350/77/1/02
        31  Belgium
            Bulgaria
            China
            Denmark
        31-32  France location: 350/77/1/03
        32  Germany location: 350/77/1/03
        33  Holland
        33-35  Italy location: 350/77/1/03 
        35  Japan
            Korea
            Luxembourg location: 350/77/1/03
        36  Norway
            Phillippines
            Poland
            Rumania
            Tunisia
            Yugoslavia location: 350/77/1/04

London Files 1943-1945 (Entry 12)

        Cables, correspondence, memoranda, and reports received by the Commission  through the American Embassy in London. Arranged alphabetically by categories.  Some of the categories represent correspondence with the London office of a  government agency or an Allied Committee. In other cases they represent  correspondence with or reports by Commission personnel in London.

        Box #  File Titles
        37  London File: Commission: Official Communications
            London File: British Element, CC (Bunjes Papers, etc.)
            London File: Cables
            London File: Crosby, S. McK. Correspondence
            London File: Economic Warfare Division (American Embassy)
            London File: Germany, Repositories of Works of Art
            London File: Macmillan Committee
            London File: MFA&A Military Directives location: 350/77/1/04
        38  London File: Mull Correspondence
            London File: OWI
            London File: Restitution, Background Material. Includes records of  the Axis Victims League, Inc.
            London File: Restitution, London, 1944-1945, EAC Discussions, etc. des
            London File: MFA&A Planning Documents
            London File: Scharff and Walker Correspondence (July-September 1945)
            London File: US Group CC
            London File: War Damage location: 350/77/1/04

Reports from Advisors Overseas, 1944-1945 (Entry 13)

        Reports submitted to the Commission by advisers and Commission personnel who  were or had been on assignment in Europe. There are reports from Sumner McK.  Crosby, Jane A. Mull, John H. Scharff, and John Walker, as well as  communications from Col. Henry C. Newton and Maj. Mason Hammond. The  reports relate to the activities of MFA&A officers and of the OSS Art Looting
        Investigation Unit, and evaluate the work accomplished in protecting and restoring  cultural material in war areas. Arranged chronologically.
        Boxes 39-40 location: 350/77/1/04

Records Relating to Restitution of Cultural Materials 1943-1946 (Entry 14)

        Various proposals and reports on matters relating to the restitution of cultural  materials looted by Germany; correspondence between OSS personnel and  Commission members, as well as OSS reports on problems connected with  restitution of looted cultural materials; and, miscellaneous correspondence,  reports, and memoranda on various aspects of the restitution of cultural materials.  Within these categories, there is not apparent effort at organization or at  differentiation between various topics. In fact, categorization of these records into  three separate and distinct groups is only an impression, for each-overlaps the  others. Unarranged.

        Box #  File Title or Subject
        40  Restitution (numerous files)
            United Nations Declaration (Looting of Property by Axis), January 1943
            United Nations Monetary Conference, Bretton Woods, N.H., July 1944-  Final Act
            Restitution-Dinsmoor "Restitution of Art Objects and Other Cultural  Materials"(State)
            Restitution-Vaucher Committee-Harvey Proposals (Spring 1944)
            Restitution-Books and Archives-Restitution plan of committee on Libraries  and Archives
            Restitution-W.G. Constables report on restitution
            Restitution-Mr. Taylor's Report of September 6, 1944 with annexes
                location: 350/77/1/04
        41  Albertina Lists - received from Dr. Sachs
            Allies Safeguard Europe's Treasures
            Art in the War Areas of Europe-Article by Miss Katherine Fuguet
            Restitution-Copies of Mr. Taylor's Report of 9/6/44
            Restitution-Vaucher Committee Scheme (August 1944)
            Restitution-International Cooperation in Educational and Cultural  Reconstruction-Kefauver Report, October 1944
            Restitution-Harvey's Explanatory Note, November 1944
            Restitution-Report of Subcommittee on Axis Appropriated Property, Mr.  Walker presented at January 18, 1945 ACC Meeting
            Restitution-State Department Conferences January 22, 23, and 25, 1945
            Restitution-Military Government-Germany-Law No. 52 on Blocking and  Control of Property
            Restitution-Statement by Foreign Office rep. re. creation of Restitution  Comm.-Existence of French Comm.
            Restitution-Material for preliminary meeting (Mr. Walker)
            Restitution-Conference in Lt. Col. Brown's office, January 26, 1945,. re.  Prisoner of War Interrogation
            Restitution-ACC drafts and working papers; Lawyers committee meeting  September 20, 1944
            State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee-Memorandum for Information  #9-Looted Works of Art
            Restitution-Material for preliminary meeting (Mr. Cairns)
            Restitution-Ed Pauley
            Restitution of Cultural Objectives-Military directives
            Restitution of Actual Objects
            Restitution-Drafts of February 3, 1945; letter to MacLeish
            Restitution Principles-Documents, 1944-1945
            Restitution-Material for preliminary meeting (Mr. Gilmore)
            Removal of German Art by Russians
            Goudstikker Collection
            Secret-Loot and damage Information location: 350/77/1/04
        42  Office of Strategic Services-Special Reports-Art Unit
            Office of Strategic Services
            Office of Strategic Services Press Clippings
            Office of Strategic Services Miscellaneous location: 350/77/1/04
        43  Miscellaneous Reports (2 files)
            Crosby, Sumner McK.
            Excerpts from AMG Reports
            Far East
            Memos to Commission Members
            Newspapers
            Office of War Information
            War Department - Air Forces location: 350/77/1/05

Galleys and Page Proofs [of the Summary of the Commission Report] {Note 6} 1946 (Entry 15)

        Box 44 location: 350/77/1/05

Press Releases [and Related Material] 1943-1946 (Entry 16)

        Press reports on the destruction and restoration of artworks in Europe, as well as a  bibliography of guides to European art. Arranged alphabetically by country  (Czechoslovakia National Council of America, England, France, Greece, 
        Netherlands, United Nations, and the USSR) Box 44 location: 350/77/1/05

Newspaper Clippings January 1943-February 1945 (Entry 17)

        Excerpts from the press concerning the cultural treasures in enemy-held or Allied-  occupied areas. The clippings are mounted on sheets in folders by the month.  Arranged chronologically. Boxes 45-46 location: 350/77/1/05

Miscellaneous Press Clippings 1942-1945 (Entry 18)

        Clippings from the German press giving the German position on war guilt;  clippings from the American press (provided by the Romeike clipping service) on  Commission activities; and clippings on damaged European cultural monuments  and on MFA&A activities. Box 46 location: 350/77/1/05

Published Works Relating to Cultural Materials in War Areas 1944-1945 (Entry 19)

        Articles and books devoted to the protection and restoration of cultural materials,  particularly artworks and historic buildings, in European war areas. Many of these  mention the Commission and the work of MFA&A officers. Arranged  alphabetically by title of article or book.

        Box #  File Titles
        47  Notes on Destruction and Losses of Cultural Objects in Europe (prepared  by Miss Jose Meyer)
            Netherlands Art Treasures Since the German Occupation
            Polish Art-Article on (in magazine entitled "The Polish Review")
            Art in War Areas Being Protected and Salvaged by the Allied Armies-  Radio Broadcast by Theoder Sizer
            Art Exhibit in Rome-Publication entitled Photo Review
            Art Works from Florence Safe-Article released to the Press 9/8/44 by the  Metropolitan Museum of Art
            Bordeaux
            Effect of the War on Renaissance Barque Art in Italy- Rensselaer Lee
            Florentine Institute (Report on the Institute sent in by Ulrich Middeldorf of  the Department of Art, University of Chicago)
            France's Great Cultural Monuments - :largely Spared, According to Survey
            French Art Treasures - Article appearing in Manchester Guardian
            German and Italian Attitude Towards Destruction of Art Treasures as  Reported in Enemy Controlled and Neutral Broadcasts January-  March 1944
            Italy - Destruction of Works of Art and Historic Buildings by the Germans
            Looted Treasure - Book by George Mihan (Looted Treasures:  Germany's Raid on Art, 1944)
            Mapping Europe's Art - Article appearing in Newsweek
            Memo on the Organization and Functions of Staff to Administer the  Reports from AMG and Other Sources Dealing with War Damage,  Claims, Reparations, etc.
            Museum Men in the theaters of Operations - by David E. Finley - article  appearing in the Museum News, November 1, 1944
            Museum News - published by the American Association of Museums
            Norway (Museums and Collections)
            Rape of Festung Europe - Article by Francis Henry Taylor
            Observations Concerning the Conservation of Monuments in Europe and  America
            Photo Review - "Historic Landmarks are Preserved"
            Parliamentary Debates -Discussion of Formation of British Commission
                location: 350/77/1/05
        48  Memo. Protection and Salvage of Cultural Objects and Records in War  Areas - American Committee on Learned Socieites
            Europe's Art Must be Saved - Article by Prof. Morey for Dutch edition of  U.S.A.
            Saving Europe's Art (Articles I & II by Chas. Rufus Morey in Journal of  the American Institute of Architects
            The Esthetics of Bombing - Article published in Politics, October 1944, by  Bernard Lemann
            "The Question We Asked," article on information of destruction in Sicily  and South Italy, by C.G. Paulding in The Commonweal, September  15, 1944
            Summary of Outstanding Depositories of Objects of Art Discovered in the  American Zone
            U.S. Commission Performs Vital Role in Safeguarding Europe's  Landmarks by Charting Precision Bombing, article by Ralph Waldo  Facett-Evening Star
            War and Classical Remains in Italy - article appearing in "Antiquity"
            War Damage to the Historic Monuments of South Italy
            War Damage to Libraries and Archives in Europe and the Far East  prepared by Crosby
            Bombas Sobre A Cultura Europeia
            Konst I Spillror
            Kunst dem Volk location: 350/77/1/05

[Experts] Questionnaires 1943-1945 (Entry 20)

        Printed forms used by the American Council of Learned Societies, filled in by  scholars, indicating their knowledge of cultural materials in various overseas areas,  with information on their previous travel and research areas. These forms were  used to locate sources of information for use in preparation of maps and  handbooks. Unarranged. Box 48 location: 350/77/1/05

List of Repositories of Works of Art and Archives in Germany and Austria 1945
(Entry 21)

        Lists gives the names of towns and cities, each accompanied by an identifying code  number, and a description of the cultural material known to be deposited there.  Arranged by region, thereunder alphabetically by town or city.
        Box 48 location: 350/77/1/05

"List of Carillons in Europe in 1939" 1943-1945 (Entry 22)

        List of carillons on the continent of Europe in 1939, prepared by Percival Price,  together with a map showing the locations of the carillons. The materials are  photostats. Box 48 location: 350/77/1/05

Miscellaneous Records 1944-1945 (Entry 23)

        Reports, drafts, copies of published Parliamentary debates, pamphlets, and  background data on the protection of artworks and monuments in war areas.  Included is correspondence concerning information obtained from prisoners of war  and concerning cooperation between the Commission and the War Crimes Office  of the Army's Judge Advocate General's Department. There is also material on  the Commission's involvement with the Safehaven Program. Other items include  an Allied Military Government report on its Cultural Works Committee and an  an Office of War Information (OWI) booklet on art and culture prepared for Allied  soldiers. Arranged alphabetically by subject.

        Box #  File Titles
        49  A32 DRDR Cultural Works Committee (Complete)
            Java Lists
            Prisoner of War Interrogation
            War Crimes Office
            Safehaven Project - Basic Description
            Information on Pictures in the Goudstikker Collection
            Full Draft Text for OWI Booklet by Wm Burke, May 26, 1945
            Philippines, Facts and Figures About
            Guy Jones Report
            Poland - Libraries of - The Situation of Education and Culture in Poland
                location: 350/77/1/05

Miscellaneous Geographical Records 1943-1946 (Entry 24)

        The records consist of maps, showing various degrees of detail, of countries and  regions; city plans; lists of cultural monuments in various cities and regions; and,  descriptions of cultural materials in particular countries or regions, sometimes with  accounts of looting or wartime devastation. A substantial portion of these records  are photostats; many are also foreign-language documents in whole or in part. For  the most part arranged alphabetically by country.

        Box #  Countries
        50  Balkans
            Belgium
            China
            Czechoslovakia
            Denmark
            Dutch East Indies
            France
            Italy
            Japan
            Netherlands
            Poland location: 350/77/1/06
        50A  location: 350/B/14/01

Personnel Cards 1943-1945 (Entry 25)

        Records consist of 4"x5" cards containing the names, addresses, present activities,  professions, and political affiliations of specialists competent to advise on cultural  materials. Arranged alphabetically by surname. Box 1 location: 350/77/1/06

Card File on Art-Looting Suspects 1943-1946 (Entry 26)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, each containing the name, address, birth date, and  occupation of a suspect, as well as a brief synopsis of the activities that made him a  subject of investigation. Not all of the cards are complete as regards the above  information, and there are also cards for certain institutions, government agencies  or offices, and private associations. The purpose of the card file appears to have  been to accumulate as much information as possible on the subject's involvement
        in wartime art-looting activities. Arranged alphabetically by surname.
        Boxes 1-4 location: 350/77/1/06

Geographical Card File on Possible Art-Looting Subjects 1943-1946 (Entry 27)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, each containing the subject's name and address,  followed by a summary or a direct quotation of data regarding his activities that  brought him to the Commission's attention. The source of the information, usually  a newspaper or magazine article, is generally given after the summary or quotation.  There are cards for both individuals and institutions (e.g., libraries and art  museums). Not all of the cards contain the summary or quotation material  mentioned above, although most have a sentence or phrase setting forth the  subject's activities. Arranged alphabetically by geographical region or country,  thereunder alphabetically by surname. Box 1 location: 350/77/1/07

Card File on Looted Art Objects 1943-1946 (Entry 28)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, each containing the artists's name, the title of the  artwork, an explanation of the type of artwork (e.g., altarpiece), and a brief report  on its removal to Germany and suspected whereabouts. The location of other  reports on the artwork and its disposition may also appear on the card. This card  file contains only about 30 cards, and may have been intended for some special  purpose, or the cards may have been extracted from a more extensive file of the  same type. Arranged alphabetically by artist's name.
        Box 1 location: 350/77/1/07

Card File on Repositories, Collections, and Collectors Suspected of Receiving or Storing  Looted Art Objects 1943-1946 (Entry 29)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, each containing the name of the repository,  collection, or collector; the address or location; and a brief description of the art  objects believed to have been received or stored there. Arranged alphabetically by  name of repository, collection, or collector. Box 1 location: 350/77/1/07

Card File on Prisoners of War Suspected of Art Looting 1943-1946 (Entry 30)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, each containing the subject's name and address, as  well as his occupation or military assignment, and a brief account of his activities  with regard to art objects. Arranged alphabetically by surname.
        Box 1 location: 350/77/2/01

Card File on Deceased Art-Looting Suspects 1943-1946 (Entry 31)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, each containing the suspect's name, address, and  occupation, as well as a brief synopsis of his activities in the art world. With one  exception, all of the deceased seem to have been heavily involved in art looting.  Arranged alphabetically by surname. Box 1 location: 350/77/2/01

Guide to Goering Papers 1945 (Entry 32)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, which taken together constitute a guide to  references to art objects in the Goering Papers, Nos. 1-475. The cards list  communications to and from Goering, Haberstock, Hofer, Kornarzki, Limberger,  Muehlmann, Panwitz, and Zantop (all of the latter apparently being Goering's  close associates in art matters), giving the topic of discussion and the number of  the communication. There is also a list of items missing from the Goering Papers.  Arranged alphabetically by surname.  Box 1 location: 350/77/2/01

Card File of European Specialists in Fine Arts, Books, and Manuscripts 1943-1946
(Entry 33)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, each containing the name, address, date and place  of birth, educational record, occupation, and employer of the specialist in question,  together with a brief vita that includes information on the subject's political or  ideological views and his wartime activities. As some subjects were ardent Nazis  or pro-Nazis, and other anti-Nazis, the exact purpose of this card file has not been  determined. All the cards in the file are photostats.
        Arranged alphabetically by surname. Box 1 location: 350/77/2/01 

Card File on Art-Looting Suspects in France and Germany 1943-1946 (Entry 34)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, each containing the name, address, and occupation  of the suspect, as well as a brief vita, including wartime activities. Some cards also  contain date and place of birth, other vital statistics, and comments on political  activities. The criterion for inclusion in the files seems to have been involvement in  wartime art dealings, whether or not of a criminal nature. Arranged in two parts  labeled "France" and "Germany," thereunder alphabetically by surname.
        Boxes 1-2 location: 350/77/2/02

Card File on European Artists and Art Specialists 1943-1946 (Entry 35)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, each containing the name, address, and occupation  of the subject, as well as a brief summary of wartime activities, supplemented in  some cases by a brief vita. For most of the nationalities, the card entries seem to  be biographical, with no effort made to establish participation in art looting. The  French nationality (approximately two-thirds of the card file) is an exception, with  the clear intent of identifying those who had collaborated with the Germans or  assisted in art looting. Arranged by nationality, thereunder alphabetically by  surname. Nationalities represented are Czechoslovakian, French, Italian,  Norwegian, Romanian, Russian, Swiss, Ukrainian, and Yugoslav.
        Box 2 location: 350/77/2/02

Card File on Firms Involved in Art Looting 1943-1946 (Entry 36)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, each containing a firm's name and address, a brief  history of the firm (including owner's name), and an account of its wartime  activities. The firms are German, Austrian, Dutch, French, and Italian, and all are  either transport companies or art dealers alleged to have shipped or sold looted art  objects. Arranged alphabetically by firm name. Box 2 location: 350/77/2/02

Card File on Looted Cultural Materials 1943-1946 (Entry 37)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, each containing a description of a particular  cultural item looted by the Germans (most from Polish institutions and  repositories), as well as all available information on the item's whereabouts.  Arranged in the categories of archives, objects d'art, paintings, scientific material,  and sculpture; thereunder not arranged. Box 2 location: 350/77/2/02

Card File on Historic Buildings and Structures, 1944-1945 (Entry 38)

        Records consist of 5"x8" cards, each containing the name of a town, followed by  an identification of its historic buildings and a report on their condition, especially  regarding war damage. The countries represented are Belgium, France,  Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Arranged by country, thereunder alphabetically  by town name. Box 2 location: 350/77/2/02

Card File on Links with Neutral Countries 1943-1946 (Entry 39)

        Records consist of 3"x5" cards, each containing the name of an individual, firm, or  institution in Axis-occupied Europe and a cross reference to the name of another  individual, firm, or institution in a neutral country (or, sometimes, in the United  States). The impression gained is that the former were suspected of having  engaged in the transfer and/or sale of looted cultural material to the latter.  Arranged alphabetically by surname, firm name, or name of institution.
        Box 1 location: 350/77/2/02

Code Identification File 1943-1946 (Entry 40)

        Records consist of 3"x5" cards, each containing a code number (e.g. XL5930) and  the identity of the item to which the code number refers (e.g., Safehaven #80).  Arranged by letter designation (JRX, JZX, LSX, RX, X, XL, XX, XX-001),  thereunder numerically. Box 1 location: 350/77/2/02

Miscellaneous Personnel Cards, 1943-1946 (Entry 41)

        Records consist of 3"x5" cards in two categories, interfiled at random. The larger  category contains the names and addresses of individuals whose names begin with  the letters "G" and "H," in rough alphabetical order; these cards also bear country  designations (e.g., Germany, France, Italy, United States). The smaller category  appears to be summaries of messages to and from MFA&A officers in the field,  couched in codewords, but bearing clearly identifiable dates and places of origin;  this group of cards is interspersed at random among those of the other category.  Unarranged. Box 1 location: 350/77/2/02
Records of the Roberts Commission Subcommittees

At the Commission's first meeting on August 25, 1943, it was resolved to appoint seven subcommittees with specific duties and membership. The Committee on Definition of Works of Cultural Value and Property, under David E. Finley, undertook to define more concretely those general terms which had appeared in the letter from the Secretary of State outlining the Commission's functions. The Committee on Administration, composed of Mr. Finley and Huntington Cairns, considered and reported to the Commission on its administrative organization. The Committee on Books, Manuscripts, and Other Printed and Written material of Cultural Value was appointed to consider and report on the classes of these specific items with which the Commission should concern itself. Chaired by Archibald MacLeish, its Advisors were Solon J. Buck, Waldo G. Leland, Henry M. Lydenberg, A.S.W. Rosenbach, and Lewis Hanke.

The Commission requested the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Committee on the Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas and the American Defense-Harvard Group to channel their work through the Commission for distribution to the appropriate government agencies. The Committee on Collection of Maps, Information, and Description of Art Objects was established to implement this policy under the co-chairmanship of William B. Dinsmoor and Paul J. Sachs, with Charles R. Morey, Sumner McK. Crosby, and William L.M. Burke as Advisers.

The Committee on Personnel, headed by Paul J. Sachs with W.G. Constable as Adviser, submitted to the War Department names of personnel serving in the armed forces who were qualified for appointment to the Civil Affairs Division for service in its Museum, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFA&A) Section. After the war, it submitted the names of qualified civilians willing to carry on the work begun by the military and civilian employees of the War Department. Closely connected with this committee was the Committee on Art Instruction in Military Government schools, under David E. Finley, appointed to confer with the officials of the Provost Marshal general's Office and to supply the names of qualified volunteers to instruct on the subject of protection and salvage of cultural and historic monuments.

The Committee on Axis-Appropriated Property was established to compile from all available sources a record of enemy looting. Francis Henry Taylor served as chairman, John Walker as Special Adviser. The other committee members were Daniel C. Rich and Robert Woods Bliss. This committee held a special meeting on April 15, 1944, at the National Gallery of Art, in order to primarily to consider steps to be recommended for the customs control of looted art objects entering this country, and to review the Commission's policy with regard to receiving claims from private individuals for looted art objects.

General Records 1943-1944 (Entry 42)

        Records pertain to Subcommittees, special committees, and committees. Includes  information on the Committee on Property Appropriated by Axis Powers,  Committee on Books, Manuscripts and Other Printed Written Material of Cultural  value, and the Committee on Definition of Works of Cultural Value and Property.  Included are folders containing the names of subcommittee members and advisers,  and explaining the relationship of the subcommittees to various private groups  (ACLS Committee, the American Defense-Harvard Group) concerned with the  protection and restoration of European cultural materials. The subcommittee  folders contain correspondence, reports, and memoranda relating to the work of  the particular subcommittee. Arranged by subcommittee, thereunder  chronologically. Box 50 location: 350/77/1/06

Records of David E. Finley

David E. Finley, Director of the National Gallery of Art and a member of the Commission of Fine Arts, was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Roberts Commission on August 20, 1943. He had been intimately involved in the Commission's establishment, and his files contain correspondence of this process. He served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Definition of Works of Cultural Value and Property and of the Subcommittee on Art Instruction in Military Government Schools, and with Huntington Cairns composed the Subcommittee on Administration. Finley took part in the day-to-day functioning of the Commission staff throughout its existence, but the records preserved here relate primarily to the Commission's establishment and the appointment of personnel.

Correspondence and Memoranda [pertaining to Ex Officio Activities of the American  Commission] 1943-1944 (Entry 43)

        Records consist of Finley's correspondence with individuals interested in the  protection of European cultural materials, Government officials involved in the  Commission's establishment, and Commission members and staff. Various  memoranda on subject related to Commission activities, many of which were  enclosed with items of correspondence, are interspersed among these letters and  notes. Arranged chronologically. Box 51 location: 350/77/2/02

Correspondence with [Brig. Gen.]Henry C. Newton 1944 (Entry 44)

        Records consist of Finley's correspondence with Col. Henry C. Newton, who was  appointed by the War Department at the Commission's recommendation to take  charge of and coordinate the activities of MFA&A officers in the field with the  Commission's program. Arranged chronologically. Box 51 location: 350/77/2/02

Applications 1943-1944 (Entry 45)

        Applications for positions with the Commission, together with Finley's letters in  response to the applicants. Arranged alphabetically by surname.
        Box 51 location: 350/77/2/02

Records of Paul J. Sachs

Paul J. Sachs, the Associate Director Harvard University's Fogg Museum of Fine Arts, was a member of the Roberts Commission throughout its existence. He served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Personnel, which submitted to the War Department the names of personnel serving in the armed forces who were qualified for appointment to its Civil Affairs Division to serve in its Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section. After the war, the subcommittee submitted the names of qualified civilians who were willing to carry on the wok begun by the military as civilian employees of the War Department. Sachs and William B. Dinsmoor were co-chairmen of the Subcommittee on Collection of Maps, Information, and Description of Art Objects, which was established to channel the work of the ACLS Committee on the Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas and the American Defense-Harvard Group to the appropriate government agencies.

General Correspondence [of the American Commission] 1943-1946 (Entry 46)

        Records consist of Sach's correspondence with officials and private individuals  interested in Commission affairs. Topics discussed include the employment  prospects of applicants for work with the Commission or one of the related  Government and military offices, evaluations of Commission work, and publicity  for the Commission. Arranged alphabetically by surname.
        Box 51 location: 350/77/2/02

Correspondence with Commission Members and Personnel 1943-1946 (Entry 47)

        Records consist of Sach's correspondence with Huntington Cairns, W.G.  Constable, William B. Dinsmoor, David Finley, Herbert Matthews, and Francis  Henry Taylor, as well as with Charles Butler, Henry C. Newton, Lamont Moore,  Charles H. Sawyer, and others. Arranged for the most part alphabetically by  surname. Box 52 location: 350/77/2/02

Correspondence with Related Committees and Institutions 1942-1943 (Entry 48)

        The folder containing the records bears the designation "Committee on the  Preservation of Works of Art in Europe," perhaps indicating that the file was  started before the actual formation of the Commission and the determination of its  name. The records consist of Sach's correspondence with officials of the  American Defense-Harvard Group, the Committee of the American Council of  Learned Societies on Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas, the  Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Archaeological Institute of America, the  Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and others.
        Arranged in roughly chronological order. Box 53 location: 350/77/2/02

Personnel Correspondence (Entry 49)

        Records consist of Sach's correspondence with military personnel and private  individuals seeking employment with the Commission and/or as MFA&A officers.  Much of the material consists of individuals' vitae.
        Arranged alphabetically by surname. Box 53 location: 350/77/2/02

Minutes of Commission Meetings 1943-1945 (Entry 50)

        Minutes of meetings of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage  of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas. Most appear to be carbon  copies. Arranged chronologically. Box 54 location: 350/77/2/03

Memoranda 1943-1945 (Entry 51)

        The records consist for the most part of memoranda by Commission members,  Commission personnel, and MFA&A officers, as well as concerned individuals, on  various matters related to Commission work. Topics include identification of  looted art objects, restoration and/or preservation work, the decision to bring  some German art objects to the United States for restoration and/or safekeeping,  and the work of the American Defense-Harvard Group (the final report of which is  also enclosed). The records also contain some correspondence on matters  covered in the memoranda. Unarranged. Box 54 location: 350/77/2/03

Personnel Data 1943 (Entry 52)

        Records consist of brief vitae of individuals suitable for employment in  Commission-related activities. Most are military officers, but there is a sprinkling  of civilian academics and art historians. Arranged alphabetically by surname.
        Box 54 location: 350/77/2/03

Personnel Lists 1943-1945 (Entry 53)

        Lists of military personnel and civilians suitable for employment in Commission-  related activities, apparently compiled by Commission members and related  committees. Unarranged. Box 54 location: 350/77/2/03

Personnel Cards 1943-1945 (Entry 54)

        Records consist of 4"x6" cards in five Kardex volumes, each card containing a  brief vita of the individual in question. They include the names of all individuals  considered by Sachs for appointment as MFA&A officers.
        Arranged alphabetically by surname. Box 1 location: 350/B/14/02

Commission Accounts 1943-1944 (Entry 55)

        Records consist of Sach's personnel expense account relative to Commission  business. The bills and invoices included in this folder are for office supplies  purchased from various commercial enterprises in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
        Arranged chronologically. Box 55 location: 350/77/2/03

[Commission] General Lists and Master Lists 1943-1945 (Entry 56)

        Lists of MFA&A personnel, as well as of armed forces personnel, civilians with  assimilated rank, and women suitable for employment in Commission-related  activities. Unarranged. Box 55 location: 350/77/2/03

Materials Concerning the Subcommission for Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (Italy)  1944 (Entry 57)

        Records consists of a gathering of materials on the activity of the Subcommission  for Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives of the Allied Control Commission for  Italy. The Subcommission, which directed the work of MFA&A officers, surveyed  damage to cultural monuments in war areas and directed efforts to restore and  protect them. The records are in photostat form. Arranged in three categories  labeled "Reports," "Documents Dealing with Protection of Monuments and  Works of Art," and "Pamphlets and Newspaper Articles."
        Box 55 location: 350/77/2/03

Scheme for the Restitution of Objects D'Art, Scientific Equipment, Books, and Archives  1944 (Entry 58)

        Records consist of the draft scheme, explanatory notes and memoranda by the  Books and Periodicals Commission of the Conference of Allied Ministers of  Education, reports on the activities of MFA&A officers in Italy, and a revised
        scheme as of August 1944. The records are in photostat form.
        Arranged chronologically. Box 55 location: 350/77/2/03

Miscellaneous Material 1943-1945 (Entry 59)

        Printed handbooks, excerpts from Parliamentary debates, and photostats of  materials related to the Commission's mission. Box 55 location: 350/77/2/03

        1. Lists of Protected Monuments, Italy: 3 Regions of Lazio and Abruzzi-Molise  (1944)
        2. Soldiers Guide to Naples (1944) (photostat)
        3. Pompeii-Herculaneum (photostat)
        4. Directory of the School of Classical Studies of the American Academy in Rome  (August 1943)
        5. Lists of Protected Monuments, Italy: 4 Regions of Tuscany, Umbria and La  Marche (1944)
        6. Memorandum to Maj. Gen. The Lord Rennel of Rodd on the Condition of  Monuments in the Syracuse Area, August 2, 1943 (photostat)
        7. Report of the 1st Meeting of the Committee on the Protection and Restitution  of Cultural Material (Vaucher Committee), April 25, 1944 (photostat)
        8. Allied Military Government Memorandum to Superintendents and Others  Concerned with the Administration of Fine Arts, Monuments, and Similar  Institutions in Sicily... October 20, 1943 (photostat)
        9. Second Deficiency Appropriation Bull, 1944, pp. 30-46
        10. Draft Minutes of the 3rd Meeting of the Vaucher Committee, May 15, 1944  (copy)
        11. Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, Vol. 130, No. 20, February 9, 1944  (photostat)
        12. Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, Vol. 130, No. 22, February 16, 1944  (photostat)
        13. Lists of Protected Monuments, Italy: 2 Regions of Apulia, Calabria, Campania,  and Lucania (copy)
        14. Work of Allied Military Government of Rome: Report of the First Forty-Eight  Hours (copy)

Records of the Commission Relating to the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section of the Civil Affairs Division of the War Department

The Roberts Commission's original terms of reference included providing advice to the War Department regarding the appointment of specialist for services with the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section. Accordingly, a regular liaison was maintained between the Commission and the Civil Affairs Division of the War Department. As part of this cooperation, the Commission received MFA&A field reports from the War Department.

Records Concerning Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Offices (MFAA) 1945
(Entry 60)

        Reports and memoranda presented by Major Mason Hammond, who frequently  acted as liaison between the Commission and the MFA&A Section of the Civil  Affairs Division of the War Department's Military Government Branch,  concerning the appointment of MFA&A officers, as well as plans for the  assignment of MFA&A offices to serve with the Military Government in the Far  East. Arranged alphabetically by categories, these being "Cooperation with  Roberts Commission," "Documents Brought to AAC by Major Hammond,"  "Hammond Proposal," "Hammond Report (Washington)," "Hammond Report  (Field)," "Organization for Far East-Plan," and "Personnel in ETO."

        Box #  File Title
        56  Hammond Proposal
            Hammond Report (Washington) February 27, 1945
            Documents Brought to AAC by Major Hammond on February 7, 1945
            Hammond Report (Field) March 16, 1945
            Organization for Far East-Plan
            Personnel in ETO [European Theater of Operations] location: 350/77/2/03

MFA&A Tables of Organization 1945-1946 (Entry 61)

        MFA&A table of organization for the U.S. Zone of Germany, November 1945-  February 1946, and the projected table of organization (giving positions but not  the names of personnel occupying them), March-June 1946. The records are  photostats. Unarranged. Box 55A location: 350/77/2/03

MFA&A Field Reports 1943-1946 (Entry 62)

        The records, which are arranged numerically 1-389, consist of field reports  prepared by MFA&A officers serving in the European theater of Operations. In  the beginning, the reports were fairly straightforward, but they gradually came to  be supplemented by supporting memoranda, publications, and photographs sent  forward by officers in the field. The reports relate primarily to war damage to  cultural and historic monuments, and to measures taken for their immediate  protection and eventual restoration. The photographs that accompanied the report  have been removed from the file. Included are a number of weekly intelligence  reports from the Office of Military Government for Germany. For an index see  Entry 63.

        Box #  File Title or Subject
        56  Pertain primarily to Italy location: 350/77/2/03
        57  Report on Status of Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives in the European  theaters, June 13, 1944
            Numerous Reports on France, Italy
            Report on Status of MFA&A in MTO [Mediterraen theater of Operations]  location: 350/77/2/03
        58  Numerous Reports on France, Italy
            Miscellaneous Documents MFA&A; French, German, Norwegian Lists;  French Museums, Archives, etc. location: 350/77/2/03
        59  Numerous reports on France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands
            Works of Art Stolen by Germans in Italy from Naples, Florence, Venice
            German Loot and Vandalism - Compilation of data in AMG [Allied  Military Government] Reports
            Interview with Ernst von Mohen on German Art Looting in France
            Removal of German Libraries from Rome location: 350/77/2/03
        60  Numerous Reports on Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Greece, Belgium,  Luxembourg location: 350/77/2/04
        61  Numerous Reports on France, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium
            Report on Status of MFA&A in N. ETO [European Theater of Operations]  by Col. H.C. Newton, October 12-December 20, 1944
            Report MFA&A Metz, by Capt. Osey
            Report on MFA&A in Greece, January 4-11, 1945
            Report on MFA&A in ETO, December 1944
            Directives, handbooks, Lists of Monuments, Belgium, Luxembourg, the  Netherlands 
            Works of Art Acquired and Seized by the Germans in France  location: 350/77/2/04
        62  Numerous Reports on Italy, Greece, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, the  Netherlands
            Captured German Documents and POW Material
            SHAEF Monthly Report for January 1945-Belgium, the Netherlands,  France
            MFA&A in Bonn-Koln, etc.
            MFA&A in Greece
            Documents Issued by G-5 SHAEF
            Appreciation of Enemy Methods of Looting Works of Art in Occupied  Territory
            White List of German Personnel; Movable Works of Art in N.W.  Rheinprovinz; the Einsatzstab Rosenberg
            War Department Documents (2 files)
            Goudstikker Collection of Pictures
            3rd Edition of Repositories of Works of Art and Archives in Germany, and  Addendum I
            Report of MFA&A Section G-5 SHAEF for February 1945
            German Methods of Looting Works of Art in Occupied Territories
            MFA&A in Germany - Aachen, Koln, Schloss Bruhl, Hansestadt
                location: 350/77/2/04
        63  Numerous reports on Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, Austria
            Addendums II and III to 3rd Edition of Repositories of Works of Art and  Archives in Germany
            Looted Art in Occupied Territories, Neutral Countries, and Latin America
            Fourth Edition of Repositories of Works of Art and Archives in Germany,  and Addendum I
            Special Report on German Repositories; Report MFA&A to March 1945;  ETO [European Theater of Operations] Interrogations of Goering  on French Art
            MFA&A - ETO [European Theater of Operations] for April 1945-  Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Holland, Norway
            MFA&A for May-June 1945 location: 350/77/2/04
        64  Numerous reports on Italy, Germany,
            ETO [European Theater of Operations]- Monthly Reports for May and  June 1945
            MFA&A - MTO [Mediterraen Theater of Operations] Report for June  1945 location: 350/77/2/04
        65  Numerous Reports on Italy, Belgium, Germany
            Looted Art in Occupied Territories, Neutral Countries, and Latin America,  revised.
        66  Reports primarily relating to Italy location: 350/77/2/04
        67  Allied Military Government Reports location: 350/77/2/05
        68  Numerous Reports for Belgium Germany, France, Luxembourg, the  Netherlands, Austria, Denmark location: 350/77/2/05
        69  Numerous Reports on France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands
            AMG [Allied Military Government] 341White List of German Personnel;  target List of German Personnel
            AMG [Allied Military Government] 342 Fuhrer Museum, Linz
                location: 350/77/2/05
        70  Numerous reports on Italy, Germany, Austria
            Goudstikker Firm; MFA&A Supplement Report on Western Holland
                location: 350/77/2/05
        71  Numerous reports on Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg
            First Aid Protection for Art Treasures and Monuments
            SHAEF G-5 Functional Manual containing Technical Instructions for  MFA&A Specialist Officers in Germany location: 350/77/2/05
        72  AMG [Allied Military Government] 369 - ETO Photographs, Offenbach  Archival Depot
            Photographs - Wiesbaden Collecting Points
            Reports on Munich Collecting Point, July 1945-February 1946
            ETO [European Theater of Operations] - 1st Army Reports, April 16,  1945 and May 15, 1945
            Wiesbaden Collecting point
            Frankfurt am Main Collecting point
            Marburg Collecting Point location: 350/77/2/05
        73  Offenbach Archival Depot, Monthly Report for March-April 1946
            ETO [European Theater of Operations]- Wiesbaden Reports: Status of  Collecting Points and Consolidated  Field Reports, March 1946
            ETO [European Theater of Operations] - Nuremberg - Survey of  Monuments
            White List of German Personnel (Duplicate Copies)
            AMG [Allied Military Government] Reports
            ETO [European Theater of Operations] Report MFA&A to October 1,  1944
            Status of Cultural Objects MFA&A OMGH - Reports 1946
            ETO [European Theater of Operations] - Bavaria, Reports for December  1945
            ETO [European Theater of Operations] - Bavaria, Monthly, District  Summary Reports, January 1946
                location: 350/77/2/05
        74  AMG [Allied Military Government] Reports Misc. location: 350/77/2/06

Index to Allied Military Government (AMG) Reports 1943-1946 (Entry 63)

        Records consist of 4"x6" cards, each giving the AMG report number and a brief  listing of the subjects covered by the reports. Arranged numerically 1-389.
        Box 1 location: 350/77/2/07

Captions to Photographs in AMG Reports 1944-1945 (Entry 64)

        Records consist of 4"x6" cards, each containing an AMG report number and the  captions of the photographs submitted with that report. Arranged alphabetically  by country, thereunder by town or city. Box 1 location: 350/77/3/01

Special Files 1944-1945 (Entry 65)

        Records consist of 4"x6" cards, each containing information on a particular report,  digest, announcement, lecture, or summary relating to MFA&A work, but drawn  from sources other than the AMG reports. Arranged numerically 1-50.
        Box 1 location: 350/77/3/01

Card File of Japanese Works, Collections, Sites, and Installations Requiring Protection  1946 (Entry 72)

        Boxes 98-98A 35mm microfilm location: 350/77/3/01

Records of the Commission Relating to the Art Looting Investigation Unit of the Office of Strategic Services

Art Looting Investigation Unit

The formation of an art looting investigation unit under the Office of Strategic Services was authorized by an inter-branch directive dated November 21, 1944. The primary mission of unit was "to collect and disseminate such information bearing on the looting, confiscation and transfer by the enemy of art properties in Europe, and on individuals or organizations involved in such operations or transactions, as will be of direct aid to the United States agencies empowered to effect restitution of such properties and prosecution of war criminals." The unit maintained an active liaison with the Roberts Commission throughout the war and in the immediate postwar period.

The Washington headquarters had primary responsibility for the administration of the Unit, maintenance of its permanent records, procurement and training of personnel, and integration of field activities. In addition, it maintained direct liaison with The American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas (Roberts Commission); the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Branch of the Civil Affairs Division, G-5, War Department; the Economic Security Controls Division of the State Department; The Foreign Economic Administration; the Captured Materials and Personnel Branch, G-2, War Department; and, the Foreign Funds Control, Treasury Department.

The Unit was composed of 10 field representatives and analysts. Field headquarters was established in London in January 1945. The London office assumed responsibility for the planning of all field operations, the reception and collation of material submitted by field representatives and the transmission of such material, as well as maintenance of the operational files of the project. It maintained direct liaison with the following allied agencies: The Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Branches of G-5, SHAEF, USFET, US Group Control Commission (Germany), G-5 AFHQ, Allied Control Commission (Italy), G-5 US Forces (Austria), and the British Element (Control Commission, Germany); the US Chief of Counsel (Nurnberg); the Economic Warfare Division (US Embassy, London); the Ministry of Economic Warfare; the Commission de Recuperation Artistique (France); the Netherlands Ryjksbureau voor de Monumentenzord; the British Committee on Preservation and Restitution of Works of Art, Archives, and Other Material in Enemy Hands (Macmillan Committee); and, the Interallied Commission for Protection and Restitution of Cultural Material (Vaucher-Gros Commission).

Field Operations of Art Looting Investigation Unit

Spain and Portugal

An investigation of aspects of German art looting activities in the Iberian peninsula in the form of German-owned property present in Spain and Portugal was initiated by the Operations Officer of the Unit late in January 1945. This operation was continued intermittently through May 8, 1945. One case of major importance was developed by the Operations Officer during this period--namely, that of the art holdings of Alois Miedl, a German banker, speculator, and financial agent of Hermann Goering. The Operations Officer interrogated Miedl over an extended period of time and in great detail, and, with the intervention of the U.S. and Dutch diplomatic missions in Madrid,. secured the permission of the Spanish Government to examine personally the 22 works of art placed in Miedl's name in the Free Port of Bilbao. Not only did the Miedl case become the keystone in subsequent investigations by the Unit of German art looting in Holland, but the Miedl-owned paintings were sequestered by the Spanish Government and placed at the disposition of the Dutch Minister as a result of information presented by the Operations Officer to the Spanish Government.

Italy

The Director of the Unit proceeded to Italy on March 10, 1945, to conduct a survey of art looting problems in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, and to supervise the interrogation, at Rome, of Wilhelm Mohnen, German espionage agent and minor participant in German official art looting activities in France. The Italian operation continued through May 1, 1945. Such German looting as had been conducted in Italy was investigated thoroughly by the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives (MFA&A) Branch of Allied Forces Headquarters and of the Allied Control Commission. Continuing liaison was established with these agencies, and the Director of the Unit was able to advise MFA&A officers on outstanding problems. The detailed interrogation of Mohnen revealed little new information concerning German art looting, and was chiefly productive for broad intelligence purposes.

Subsequent to V-E Day, the Unit was requested by AFHQ to dispatch one of its members to Italy to conduct interrogations of leading members of the German Kunstschutz{Note 7} organization who had been captured in the fighting in the North. Because of the Unit's operation impending in Germany, a member of the parallel British unit undertook this mission at the suggestion of the Director.

England

From January 15, 1945, through V-E Day, the Unit was active in London compiling a master file comprising information on over 2,000 individuals believed to have been active in some degree in German art looting. Close liaison was established and maintained with British, Dutch, and French officials working on the same problem, and the London offices of the Unit became the central repository and clearing house for all information in Allied hands on this subject. Immediately after V-E Day, the Unit issued to all Allied intelligence teams on the Continent, a "high priority" personnel target list carrying the names of 21 individuals considered to be the most prominent figures involved in the German operations and wanted urgently for interrogation and subsequent prosecution.

France

Contact with the French authorities was made initially in Paris early in June 1945. The Unit made available to the French Government all information gained during the German operation, and from other sources, bearing on German art looting in France and affecting French interests. The Operations Officer maintained close liaison from September 1945 through February 1946, with representatives of the Commission de Recuperation Artistique, the Ministry of Justice, and the French intelligence agencies, and acted as informal technical advisor to the French Government in art looting problems. Apart from the material amount of information given to the French agencies, the Unit was directly responsible for the return to France of a number of individual works of art and for the delivery into French custody of several of the Germans most conspicuously involved in the French depredations.

Switzerland

The Unit conducted investigations in Switzerland from November 20, 1045 through January 10, 1946, under the aegis of the Economic Counseler to the American Legation at Bern. The chief problem under consideration was the flow to Switzerland, and the concealment there, of works of art looted by the Germans in the occupied countries. The Director and the Operations Officer conducted interrogations of German and Swiss nationals who had been active in the official German interest, and collaborated with U.S. diplomatic representatives in endeavoring to persuade the Swiss Federal Government to make available to the Allies all information bearing on the subject. Pertinent information gained in the course of the German operation was presented to the Swiss federal political department for use of the federal customs and Office of Compensation. The detailed result of the Swiss operation are incorporated in State Department Safehaven Reports No. 148 and No. 229.

The German Operation

Three members of the Unit, James Plaut{Note 8}, Theodore Rousseau, and Lane Faison, preceded to Germany on May 20, 1945, to undertake the interrogation of enemy art looting personnel captured subsequent to the submission of the Unit's high priority list to field intelligence agencies. {Note 9} Authority was received from G-5, Headquarters, 12th Army Group, for members of the Unit to precede to the Third U.S. Army area to engage as technical advisers in an investigation of German art looting being conducted by the Judge Advocate, Third U.S. Army, on behalf of the Judge Advocate (War Crimes), 12th Army Group. On June 10, 1945, a special interrogation center was established by the Unit at Alt Aussee, Austria, in conjunction with the Judge Advocate, Third U.S. Army, and was operated from this date through October 1, 1945, under joint command. Detailed interrogation of the 20 enemy officials most prominent in German art looting was conducted during this period.
After months of investigation Plaut, Rousseal, Faison, and their Dutch colleague Jan Vlug, produced three "Consolidated Interrogation Reports" and a separate Report on the Dienststelle Muhlmann. {Note 10}

Subject File 1940-1946 (Entry 73)

        Lists, reports, correspondence, photographs, mail intercepts, and copies of  captured German documents relating to cultural materials in Europe. Subjects  covered include various public and private art collections, German looting and  confiscation of particular art collections in France, and the activities of the  German Kunstschutz and of various art dealers. Arranged alphabetically by  subject.

        Box #  File Titles
        74  Angerer, Josef
            Art Looting in Germany, Europe
            Beltrand, Jacques
            Bernheim
            Bornheim, Walter
            Bunjes
            Buchner, Ernst
            Bachstitz, Walter - Goering location: 350/77/2/06
        75  ERR [Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg] - Interrogation Reports (Carbon  Copy)
            Dealers: Holland, Intercepts, France, Germany and Austria, Miscellaneous,  New York
            Einsatzstab Rosenberg
            E-7 OSS Report - Einsatzstab Rosenberg
            Europe, Mission to
            Contini-Bonacossi - (Goering)
            Confiscated Collections location: 350/77/2/06
        76  Einsatzstab Rosenberg (2 files)
            Negatives of Einsatzstab Rosenberg
            ERR [Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg] Documents
            Goering - Miscellaneous Art Bills
            AMG 333 - German Letters on Confiscation location: 350/77/2/06
        77  Esther, Tapestries, Story of
            Fischer, Galerie
            FEA [Foreign Economic Administration] Report on Looted Art
            French Documents - Misc.
            German Personnel Lists
            Goering
            C.I.R. #2 - The Goering Collection location: 350/77/2/06
        78  Goering
            Goering Papers
            Goering - Art Inventories
            Goering - Kunstfonds (Art Payments) location: 350/77/2/06
        79  Goering File - Paul Gouvert
            Walter Andreas Hofer
            Haberstock, Karl
            Hoffmann, Heinrich
            DeHaucke, Charles Monge
            Looting - Italy
            Italian Report
            Knox, Henry H.
            Kress, Karl
            Kunstschutz location: 350/77/2/06
        80  Netherlands Reports
            Lange, Hans W.
            Limberger, Gisela
            Loewenisch
            Lohse, Bruno
            Looting - France - Personnel
            Miedl Reports by Orion
            Miedl, Alois
            Mohnen, Wilhelm Jakob
            Menton, H. W. location: 350/77/2/06
        81  Personalities - Miscellaneous
            Press
            Primer
            PW Papers (CSDIC)
            Gottlieb, F. Reber
            Repositories
            Rochlitz, Gustav
            Rosenberg, Paul
            Secret-Schenker Papers
            Schenker Reports
            Schiedlausky, Gunther
            Schilling Dossier
            Scholz, Robert location: 350/77/2/07
        82  Spain
            Sweden
            Swiss Reports
            Looting, Switzerland
            Voss, Hermann{Note 11}
            Wendland, Hans (2 files)
            Western Hemisphere Study
            Wildenstein & Cie.
            Wilkinson, Tudor
            Adolf Wuester location: 350/77/2/07
        83  Art Looting Investigation Unit - Final Report location: 350/77/2/07
       
Detailed Interrogation Reports 1945-1946 (Entry 74)

        Reports deal with the activities of the various agents employed by Hitler, Goering,  and Rosenberg to acquire artworks for them in Axis-occupied countries. Included  are reports on Heinrich Hoffmann, Ernst Bucher, Robert Scholz, Gustav Rochlitz,  Gunther Schiedlausky, Bruno Lohse, Gisela Limberger, Walter Andreas Hofer,  Karl Kress, Walter Bornheim, Hermann Voss, and Karl Haberstock. Arranged  numerically 1-13, with number 8 not used. Boxes 84-84A location: 350/77/2/07

Consolidated Interrogation Reports 1945 (Entry 75)

        The reports deal with the art-looting activities of Hitler, Goering, and Rosenberg.
        They mostly relates to Einsatzstab Rosenberg and the Linz Museum.
        Arranged numerically 1-4 (no number 3). Boxes 85-85A location: 350/77/2/07

Records of the American Council of Learned Societies Committee for the Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas Relating to the Work of the Commission.

In the course of 1941, there was much private discussion among American educators and museum officials regarding the dangers which the war presented to European artworks and cultural monuments. On January 29, 1943, at the initiative of Waldo G. Leland, the Director of the American Council of Learned Societies, the ACLS Executive Committee appointed William B. Dinsmoor, President of the Archaeological Institute of America, to chair the ACLS Committee for the Protection of Cultural Treasures in War Areas. With the assistance of Charles R. Morey, Dinsmoor coopted additional members to the committee, including Sumner McK. Crosby (Executive Secretary), Paul J. Sachs, Francis H. Taylor, John Walker, and others who later became involved in the work of the Roberts Commission. Together with the American Defense-Harvard Group, an ad hoc body of scholars with a similar goal, the ACLS Committee was instrumental in securing the formation of the Roberts Commission. The ACLS Committee's principal activity thereafter was the production of maps and handbooks identifying cultural materials in war areas, as well as the compiling of lists of monuments and artworks in areas likely to be occupied by elements of the U.S. armed forces. These materials were channeled to the War Department's Museum, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFA&A) Section through the Roberts Commission, with which the ACLS Committee remained closely associated throughout the war.

Reports 1943-1944 (Entry 76)

        Copies of the reports of the ACLS Committee on its formation and early activities.  Arranged chronologically. Box 86 location: 350/77/3/01

Personnel Questionnaires 1943-1946 (Entry 77)

        Records consist for the most part of printed questionnaires submitted to the  Committee by individuals volunteering to work on cultural preservation projects in  war areas. The questionnaires include queries as to countries and towns visited,  date of visit, field of expertise, and special knowledge of interest to the Committee.  With the completed questionnaires, in some cases, there are typed resumes or  detailed lists of qualifications. Unarranged. Box 86 location: 350/77/3/01

Notes on Safeguarding and Conserving Cultural Material in the Field 1943 (Entry 78)

        Copies of "Notes on Safeguarding and Conserving Cultural Material in the Field"  in two parts. This manual was produced for the instruction of MFA&A personnel  by the American Defense-Harvard Group Committee on Protection of  Monuments. Box 86 location: 350/77/3/01

Handbooks and Lists of Monuments 1943-1945 (Entry 79)

        Handbooks and lists of monuments produced by the War Department's Civil  Affairs Division for the use of MFA&A personnel on the basis of information  supplied by the ACLS Committee. Arranged alphabetically by country or region.

        Box #  Country
        86  Albania
            Austria
            Belgium and Luxembourg location: 350/77/3/01
        87  Bulgaria
            China
            Czechoslovakia
            Denmark location: 350/77/3/01
        87-88  France location: 350/77/3/01
        89  Germany
            Greece location: 350/77/3/01
        90  Holland
            Hungary
            Archival Repositories in Hungary
            Indo-China location: 350/77/3/01
        90-93  Italy location: 350/77/3/01
        94  Japan
            Korea
            Archival Repositories in Japan, Korea, and Japanese-Occupied China
            Jugoslavia
            Netherlands-east Indies
            Norway
            Archival Repositories in the Philippine Islands, the Netherlands Indies,  French Indochina, and Thailand
            Rumania
            Siam (Thailand)
            Tunisia location: 350/77/3/02
        95-95A Bulky Handbooks on Italy, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands,  Norway, Taiwan, and France location: 350/77/3/02

Draft Guide to the Cultural Treasures of France 1943-1945 (Entry 80)

        Copy proofs of a guide to the cultural treasures of northern, central, and southern  France. The guide is broken down by departments, thereunder by towns and  cities. For each town or city, there is a listing of churches, houses, monuments,  and institutions of major cultural significance, together with a brief description.  Arranged by regions of France. Box 96 location: 350/77/3/03

Archives Card File 1943-1945 (Entry 81)

        Records consist of 4"x6" cards, each of which gives the address of a particular  archive, the name of its official head or director, a description of its holdings, and  information concerning the building in which the repository is located.
        Arranged by region (Europe or the Pacific), thereunder alphabetically by country,  thereunder alphabetically by town or city. Box 1 location: 350/77/3/03

Analytical Working File 1943-1945 (Entry 82)

        Records consist of 4"x6" cards, each containing the name of a country and of a  town or city therein, together with a Roman numeral-letter combination that  evidently refers to the information on the cards described in Entry 83.
        Arranged alphabetically by country, thereunder alphabetically by town or city.
        Boxes 1-2 location: 350/77/3/03

Geographical Working Files 1943-1945 (Entry 83)

        Records consist of 4"x6" cards, each with a distinctive black edge at the top of the  card, and each bearing a Roman numeral-letter combination in the upper right-  hand corner. each card contains a summary of available information on local  cultural monuments and artworks. the purpose of the Roman numeral-letter  combination has not been determined, nor is the rationale behind the division of the  cards into clear groups. However, the information summaries on the cards in two  of the groups are typewritten, while those on the cards in the third group are  pasted-on clippings from photostatic copies of printed materials.
        Arranged in three main groups, each thereunder alphabetically by country, and  thereunder alphabetically by town or city. Boxes 1-18 location: 350/77/3/03

Country Card File 1943-1945 (Entry 84)

        Records consist of 4"x6" cards, with some 3"x5" cards interspersed, and two small  groups of 5"x8" cards for France and Italy. the cards are pre-stamped with  spaces for the town or city name, the given monument, its address, the name of the  person in charge, information on the institution's holdings (if applicable) and on  the building in which the material is housed, and the source from which  information concerning the given subject was obtained.
        Arranged alphabetically by country or region, thereunder alphabetically by town or  city. There are subdivisions, some equivalent to province or country levels, some  of an undetermined nature, for Austria, Bulgaria, China, Czechoslovakia, France,
        Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and Yugoslavia.
        Boxes 1-20 location: 350/77/3/05

French Private Collections File 1943-1945 (Entry 85)

        Records consist of 4"x6" cards, pre-stamped with spaces for town or city name,  the given monument (the private collection in question), its address, the owner's  name, information on holdings and on the building housing the collection, and the  source of information concerning the collection. The file is very similar to the  Country Card File, Entry 84, but its specialized nature makes it a separate entity.  Part arranged alphabetically by surname or collection owner, part not arranged.
        Boxes 1-2 location: 350/77/4/01

Italian Private Collection File 1943-1945 (Entry 86)

        Records consist of 4"x6" cards, pre-stamped with spaces for town or city name,  the given monument (the private collection in question), its address, the owner's  name, information on holdings and on the building housing the collection, and the  source of information concerning the collection. This file, like entry 85, is very  similar to the Country Card File, Entry 84, but its specialized nature makes it a  separate entity. Arranged alphabetically by surname of collection owner.
        Box 2 location: 350/77/4/01

Miscellaneous French and Italian Private Art Collection File 1943-1945 (Entry 87)

        Records consist of 3"x5" cards, each of which bears the name of a French or  Italian town or city, a list of the private art collections known to be located there,  and a notation of the country and province in which the town or city is located.  Arranged alphabetically by town or city. Box 1 location: 350/77/4/02

Card Index to European Personnel 1943-1945 (Entry 88)

        Records consist of 4"x6" cards, each containing the name of the subject and the  name of another individual. Presumably, information on the subject appears  together with that on the other individual. However, it is not immediately evident  what series of cards is being indexed here. Since the individuals involved are all  European, these may be an index to Entry 89.
        Arranged alphabetically by surname. Box 1 location: 350/77/4/02

Card File on European Personnel 1943-1945 (Entry 89)

        Records consist of 4"x6" cards in photostatic form, each card containing a  summary of information on a European specialist deemed qualified to assist in  MFA&A work. Arranged by country, thereunder alphabetically by surname.
        Box 1 location: 350/77/4/02

Records of the Inter-Allied Commission for the Protection and Restitution of Cultural Material (Vaucher Commission)

The Inter-Allied Commission for the Protection and Restitution of Cultural Material (Vaucher Commission) was established in April 1944, under the chairmanship of Professor Paul Vaucher as a subcommission of the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education. Composed of representatives of the various Allied governments, the Vaucher Commission had as its purpose the study of problems relating to protection, restitution, and reparations, as well as the collection and organization of information relating to looting, for the eventual use of SHAEF and particularly of its Civil Affairs Section. The Vaucher Commission was the body with which the Roberts Commission's representatives abroad were at first chiefly concerned. The Vaucher Commission's secretariat functioned as a central bureau for information on looted objects for the use of MFA&A officers until its dissolution in November 1945. Professor Andre Gros replaced Professor Paul Vaucher as the Commission's chairman in June 1945.

Minutes [of the Vaucher Committee] 1944-1945 (Entry 90)

        The minutes, which are for the most part arranged chronologically, give place and  time of meeting, names of those attending, and summaries of discussions on  various topics. The minutes of the first 15 meetings are in individual folders.  Minutes of the last three meetings are grouped together with some correspondence  concerning Vaucher Commission business in a folder marked "Vaucher  Commission: All Meetings, Misc." Box 97 location: 350/77/3/02

Records of the Secretariat [of the Vaucher Committee] 1945 (Entry 91)

        Proposals, notes, and letters having to do with the creation of a Secretariat to  coordinate information relating to the looting of works of art by Germany.  Arranged chronologically. Box 97 location: 350/77/3/02

Miscellaneous Records 1945 (Entry 92)

        The records consist of a report and a letter concerning the activities of MFA&A  personnel in the immediate postwar period.  Box 97 location: 350/77/3/03

Other Records

Name Indexes to the Geographical Working Files 1943-1945 (Entry UD1)

        Boxes 1-2 location: 350/77/3/05

Unidentified Card File on German Personnel, n.d (Entry UD 2)

        Box 1 location: 350/77/2/07

Summary Cards Relating to Allied Military Government (AMG) Reports 1943-1945  (Entry UD 3)

        Box 1 location: 350/77/2/07

Miscellaneous Unidentified Card Indexes (Entry UD 4)
        Box 1 location: 350/77/4/01

Microfilm Copies of Reports from the Mediterranean and European Theaters of  Operations Received from the Allied Military Government (Entry UD 5)

        Box 1-4 location: 631/14/2/06 (23 rolls of 16mm negative microfilm)

Non-Record Microfilm Copies of Reports from the Mediterranean and European Theaters  of Operations Received from the Allied Military Government (Entry ZZ1)

        Boxes 1-4 location: 631/14/1/06 (25 rolls of 16mm positive microfilm)

Non-Record Material Relating to Record Group 239; Non-Record Finding Aids
(Entry ZZ2)

        Box 1 location: 350/77/4/02

{1}Return to text For basic readings on the subject of cultural restitution see Kurtz, Nazi Contraband: American Policy on the Return of European Cultural Treasures, 1945-1955, op. cit.; Nicholas, The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War, op. cit.; Hecter Feliciano, The Lost Museum: The Nazi Conspiracy to Steal the World's Greatest Works of Art (New York: Basic Books, 1997); and, Elizabeth Simpson, ed., The Spoils of War: World War II and Its Aftermath: The Loss, Reappearance, and Recovery of Cultural Property (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1997).

{2}Return to text The American Harvard Defense Group was established by a group of Harvard faculty shortly after the fall of Paris in June 1940, to serve as a clearinghouse which could direct available resources to the most useful areas.

{3}Return to text It established a committee in January 1943 to investigate cultural theft and restitution.

{4}Return to text Hermann Bunjes served as the director of the German Institute of Paris.

{5}Return to text Before the war he was a classics professor at Harvard. Once drafted he worked with Air Force Intelligence.

{6}Return to text See Report of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas (Washington, DC, 1946).

{7}Return to text The German Commission for the Protection of Works of Art in the Occupied Countries (under direction of the German Army High Command).

{8}Return to text Researchers may find useful James S. Plaut, "Investigation of the Major Nazi Art-Confiscation Agencies," in Elizabeth Simpson, ed., The Spoils of War, op. cit., pp. 124-125.
   

{9}Return to text They were joined by Jan Vlug, a Dutch intelligence officer.

{10}Return to text Kajetan Muhlmann served as Austrian art commissioner and as Special Commissioner for the Protection of Art in the Occupied Territories.
   

{11}Return to text Herman Voss in March 1943 was appointed by Hitler to be the director of the Wiesbaden Museum.