dtufail/nuremberg-trials-corpus huggingface dataset:
STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M.Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): I quote: "His" -- Rosenberg's -- "Einsatzstab for the occupied territories has the right to investigate libraries, archives, and every other kind of cultural establishment for corresponding materials, and to confiscate these materials for the realization of the ideological aims of the National Socialist Party. ..." I omit one paragraph and quote the last paragraph of this document: "The regulations for the co-operation with the Armed Forces are issued by the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces in agreement with Reichsleiter Rosenberg. "The necessary measures for the eastern territories under German administration will be taken by Reichsleiter Rosenberg in his capacity as Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories." This decree of Hitler's was issued, as is clear from the document quoted, to all departments of the Armed Forces, the Party, and the Government. But it is not 1 March 1942 which should be considered as the beginning of Rosenberg's predatory activities. I shall submit several excerpts from a letter of Rosenberg to Reichsleiter Bormann in confirmation. The letter is dated 23 April 1941. This document was presented to the Tribunal on 18 December 17945 by the United States Prosecution, and it was accepted by the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USA-371 (Document Number 071-PS). This document -- which Your Honors will find on Page 4 of your document book -- is interesting also for the fact that the plunder, referred to as "confiscation" in the letter, was carried out by the Defendant Rosenberg in close collaboration and contact, based on a written agreement, between the departments of Rosenberg and Himmler.
STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M.Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): I cite extracts from Page 1 of the Russian translation of this letter: "I have" -- wrote Rosenberg -- "transmitted to you a photostatic copy of my agreement with the Security Police (SD), concluded with the express approval of GruppenFuehrer Heydrich." And further -- you will find this on Page 5 in your document book: "Questions bearing on works of art" -- as stated in this letter -- "were considered of secondary importance. Of primary importance was the Fuehrer's directive regarding the twice-issued order from the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, for the occupied territories of the West, to the effect that all archives and all scientific property belonging to our ideological opponents, be placed at my disposal. This, too, was carried out on a wide scale and in close co-operation with the SD and the military leaders." The importance attached by the Hitlerite conspirators to Rosenberg's predatory staffs is shown in Goering's special circular of 1 May 1941, addressed to all Party, Government, and military institutions, which had been ordered to co-operate with the Einsatzstab Rosenberg. This document was presented by our American colleagues on 18 December of last year and accepted by the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USA-384 (Document Number 1117-PS). Even at that time the scale on which the pillage was conducted was already enormous. As Rosenberg stated in his letter of 23 April 1941, at that time, that is, in April 1941, 7,000 cases of looted works of art had already been dispatched to Germany. To conclude with this document I shall, with your permission, read one further brief quotation into the record. It consists of one paragraph only. You will find this paragraph on Page 6 of the document book: "And thus" -- wrote Rosenberg -- "these problems practically solved themselves and the work has followed its own course.
STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M.Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Here I would like to ask for a confirmation that these decisions, already adopted in the West, should, in the present circumstances, be rendered valid in the other occupied territories, or in those which are to be occupied." This document in which pillage is referred to as "work," proves that Rosenberg's criminal activities were carried out in close contact with the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces; and, finally, that as early as April 1941 plans were being made for plundering the territories about to be occupied. The speech of the Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R., General Rudenko, and the speech of the representative of the United States Prosecution, Mr. Alderman, defined what Rosenberg meant in his letter by "territories about to be occupied" at that time. That was the period of the practical realization of the evil Hitlerite schemes, planned in the so-called Plan Barbarossa, the period when the German fascist hordes were hurled against the frontiers of the Soviet Union, the period of the attack on the U.S.S.R. Lastly, it is necessary to point out that, in April 1941, the Defendant Rosenberg placed Utikal at the head of all operational staffs, "the creation of which may become necessary during the course of this war." In this connection Rosenberg referred to the "successful work" and to the "experience gained" by his operational staff in the western occupied territories and in the Netherlands. This fact is confirmed by a certificate issued to Utikal, dated 1 April 1941, and signed by Rosenberg. The authenticity of this document -- which bears Document Number 143-PS -- was confirmed by Rosenberg at his interrogation on 26 September 1945. I present this document to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-371. In reporting on the organization for the looting and destruction of cultural treasures, it is necessary to indicate yet another department which combined diplomacy with pillage. I have in mind the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M.Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): The Chief Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R., General Rudenko, in his opening speech pointed out that the general pillage in the occupied regions of the U.S.S.R., carried out on the direct orders of the German Government, was directed not only by the Defendants Goering and Rosenberg and by the various "staffs" and "commands" subordinated to them; the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, headed by the Defendant Ribbentrop, also participated through a "special formation." The creation of such a formation -- the so-called "Ribbentrop Battalion" -- and its practical activities in the looting of cultural treasures in the territory of the U.S.S.R. are testified to in a written statement of 10 November 1942 by ObersturmFuehrer Dr. Forster, who was captured by Red Army units in the region of Mosdak. In this statement Forster likewise indicated the task of Rosenberg's staff in the plunder or, as he expressed it, in the "withdrawal" of museum treasures and antiques. A certified photostat of this statement I present to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-157 (Document Number USSR-157). It is stated in Forster's statement, I read: "In August 1941 while in Berlin, I, with the assistance of my old acquaintance from the University of Berlin, Dr. Focke, then employed in the press section of the Foreign Office, was transferred from the 87th Tank Destroyer Division to the special purpose battalion attached to the Foreign Office. This battalion had been created on the initiative of the Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ribbentrop, and was under his direction. The officer commanding the battalion is Major of the Waffen-SS, Von Kunsberg. "The task of the special purpose battalion was to seize and to secure, immediately after the fall of large cities, their cultural treasures and all objects of great historic value, to select valuable books and films, and finally to dispatch them all to Germany. "The special purpose battalion consists of four companies.
STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M.Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): The first company is attached to the German Expeditionary Corps in Africa, the second company to Army Group North, the third to Army Group Center, and the fourth to Army Group South. The first company is located at present in Italy, in Naples, awaiting possible deployment to Africa. Battalion staff headquarters are in Berlin, Hermann Goering Strasse, Number 104. The confiscated material is stored in the premises of the Adler firm, in the Hardenbergstrasse. "Prior to our departure for Russia, Major Von Kunsberg transmitted to us Ribbentrop's order, thoroughly to 'comb out' all scientific establishments, institutions, libraries, and all the palaces, to search all the archives, and to lay our hands on anything of a definite value. "I heard from my comrades that the second company of our battalion had removed valuable objects from the palaces in the Leningrad suburbs. I myself was not there at the time. At Zarskoje Selo the company seized and secured the property belonging to the palace-museum of the Empress Catherine. The Chinese silk draperies and the carved gilt ornaments were torn from the walls. The floor of artistic ornaments was dismantled and taken away. From the palace of the Emperor Alexander antique furniture and a large library containing some 6,000 to 7,000 volumes in French and over 5,000 volumes and manuscripts in Russian, were removed. "The fourth company, to which I was attached, confiscated the Klev laboratory of the Medical and Scientific Research Institute. The entire equipment, as well as scientific material, documents and books, was shipped to Germany. "We reaped a rich harvest in the library of the Ukrainian Academy of Science, treasuring the rarest manuscripts of Persian, Abyssinian, and Chinese literature, Russian and Ukrainian chronicles, the first edition books printed by the first Russian printer, Ivan Fjodorov, and rare editions of the works of Schevtchenko, Mickiewicz, and Ivan Franko.
STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M.Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): "From the Kiev museums of Ukrainian art, Russian art, Western and Eastern art and from the central Schevtchenko museum numerous exhibits which still remained there, including paintings, portraits by Repin, canvases by Vereschagin, Fedotoff, Goe, sculptures by Antokolsky and other masterpieces of Russian and Ukrainian painters and sculptors were dispatched to Berlin. "In Kharkov several thousand valuable books in de luxe editions were seized from the Korolenko library and sent to Berlin. The remaining books were destroyed. From the Kharkov picture gallery several hundred pictures were secured, including 14 pictures by Aivasovsky, works by Repin and many paintings by Polienov, Schischkin, and others. Antique sculptures and the entire scientific archive of the museum were also taken away. Embroideries, carpets, Gobelin tapestries, and other exhibits were appropriated by the German soldiers. "I also knew" -- testified Dr. Forster in his statement -- "that the staff of Alfred Rosenberg used special kommandos for the confiscation of valuable antique and museum pieces in the occupied countries of Europe and in the territories of the East. Civilian experts were in charge of these kommandos. "After the occupation of any big city, the leaders of these kommandos arrive, accompanied by various art experts. They inspect museums, picture galleries, exhibitions, and institutions of art and culture, they determine their condition and confiscate everything of value." I omit the last paragraph of this statement. With your permission, Your Honors, I shall read two more excerpts into the record from a letter of the Reich Minister for the Occupied Territories, dated 7 April 1942, and signed by order of the Minister, by Laibrandt, closest assistant of the Defendant Rosenberg. This letter, Your Honors, is in your document book, on Pages 12 and 13, and was submitted on 18 December last year by the United States Prosecution as Exhibit Number USSR-408 (Document Number USSR-408).
STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M.Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): This document is very revealing in that it indicates the scale of the projected pillage and disguises this pillage which, in the document, is shamelessly referred to as "the preservation of objects of culture, research material, and of scientific institutions in the Occupied Eastern Territories." This document is also characteristic in that Rosenberg, fearing that he might miss some of the booty, established his own monopoly to plunder and only made concessions to the quartermaster general of the Army, in conjunction with whom -- as the letter reveals -- Operational Staff Rosenberg carried on its "work." I read the first excerpt of this letter. I quote: "I have entrusted the Einsatzstab Rosenberg for the Occupied Territories with the listing and detailed handling of all cultural valuables, research materials, and scientific work in libraries, archives, research institutions, museums, et cetera, found in public and religious establishments, as well as in private houses. The Einsatzstab, instructed once again by the Fuehrer's order of 1 March 1942, begins its work jointly with the quartermaster general of the Army immediately after the occupation of the territories by combat troops and executes this work after the establishment of civil government, in co-operation with the competent Reich Commissioner, until such time as the task is completed. I request all the authorities of my department to support, as far as possible, the representatives of the Einsatzstab in the execution of these measures and to supply them with all essential information, especially in connection with the registration of objects in the occupied territories, whether or not they have been removed, and if so, where this material is located at the present time." As you see, Your Honors, the looting of libraries, archives, scientific research institutes, museums -- both public and private -- and even of church treasures, was already being planned.
STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M.Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): The fact that this is not a question of preserving cultural treasures, but of plunder, is revealed by the following excerpt from the letter mentioned. You will find it on Page 12 of your document book. I quote: "Insofar as seizures or transports have already taken place contrary to these provisions . . . Reichsleiter Rosenberg's Einsatzstab, Berlin-Charlottenburg (2), Bismarckstrasse 1, must be informed without delay." I shall not burden you by enumerating the many addresses to whom copies of this letter were sent. I shall merely name some of them: OKH, the Reich Minister of Economics, the Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan, the Reich Commissioners for the Baltic regions, the Ukraine, et cetera. Thus this document reconfirms that both Goering and Funk, as well as the representatives of the OKH, actively participated in this pillage. The priceless works of art plundered in the occupied countries were removed to Germany, now transformed by the Hitlerites into a robber's den. The Extraordinary State Commission of the Soviet Union established that, in January 1943, the Commander of the 1st Tank Army, Cavalry General Mackensen, in the presence of the head of the propaganda department of the 1st Tank Army, Muller, removed from the Rostov Museum of Pictorial and Plastic Art, which had been evacuated to the town of Piatigorsk and which was then on the premises of the Lermontov Museum, the most valuable canvases of Ribera, Rubens, Murillo, Jordaens, Vereshtshagin, Korovine, Kramskoy, Polenov, Repin, Lagorio, Ayvasovsky, and Shishkin, sculptures by Donatello, and other exhibits. This statement, Your Honors, has already been presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-37 (Document Number USSR-37). With your permission I should like to read into the record only one paragraph on Page 5 of this document. The quotation is on Page 18 of your document book.
STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M.Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): I quote: "The Rostov Museum of Pictorial Art had been looted and its contents carried off into Germany by the commander of the 1st Tank Army, Cavalry General Mackensen, and by the chief of the propaganda section of the 1st Tank Army, Muller.'' From the affidavit of the Plenipotentiary of the Polish Government, Stefan Kurovsky, it has been established that the Defendant Frank, in looting the cultural treasures of the Polish State, was also striving after his own personal gain. Pictures, porcelain, and other works of art from the plundered museums of Warsaw and Krakow, particularly from Vavel Castle, were transferred to the estate of the Defendant Frank. The affidavit to which I referred is an appendix to the report of the Polish Government and is presented to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-302 (Document Number USSR-302). This document, Your Honors, is to be found on Pages 19-20 of your document book. In this document registered under Document Number 055-PS, which is a letter from the head of the Political Leadership Group P 4 of the Reich Ministry for the Eastern Occupied Territories, dated 14 September 1944, there are indications as to where the looted treasures were taken and stored. This letter, addressed to the "Reich Minister through the Chief of the Political Leadership Staff" is headed, "Objects of Art Evacuated from the Ukraine." This letter is to be found in your document book on Page 21. I present this letter as documentary evidence and submit it as Exhibit Number USSR-372 and I quote the text. I read: "The Reich Commissioner for the Ukraine has stored the objects of art and the pictures evacuated from Kiev and Kharkov, in the following shelters in East Prussia: 1. The Richau family estate, near Wehlau; 2. Wildenhoff Manor (owner, Count Schwerin)." I read further from the text of this letter: "There are 65 cases, the exact contents of which are enumerated on the attached list. As to the other 20 cases, 57 portfolios, and one roll of engravings, their inventory has not been taken to date.
STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M.Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): Among the pictures there are a great number of very ancient icons, works by famous masters of the German, Italian, and Dutch schools of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, as well as the works of the best Russian masters of the 18th and 19th centuries. On the whole, this property consists of extremely valuable works of art, which had been removed from public Ukrainian museums and whose value, even at a rough estimate, amounts to a sum of many millions. In addition, this is the sole collection of such international value on German territory...." I omit the last paragraph of this letter since it has no material bearing on the subject, and will continue by quoting an excerpt from Page 2 of Rosenberg's letter, of which I have already read one quotation earlier in the day. You will, Your Honors, find it on Page 5 of the document book. I quote. Rosenberg wrote: "In the process of these confiscations we have, of course, found also many other works of art. Among them there are some of great value and, in order to preserve them, the Chief of the High Command of the Army, at my request and in accordance with the Fuehrer's directives, ordered me to draw up a catalogue of these works of art and to keep them for the Fuehrer." You have heard, Your Honors, of Hitler's attitude towards the property of the people and the works of art in the countries seized by the Germans. This episode is to be found in the Czechoslovakian Government report, presented to the Tribunal; excerpts from this report were read yesterday into the record. Therefore, I consider there is no necessity for reading it into the record once more. However, it is necessary to note that not only Hitler but Goering was an ardent adherent of this policy of "acquisitions." You also heard, Your Honors, yesterday how Goering acquired valuable Gobelin tapestries in France. However, Goering did not acquire Gobelin tapestries only.
STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M.Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): He wrote in one of his letters to Rosenberg -- I refer to Document Number 1985-PS, which I submit to the Tribunal as Exhibit Number USSR-373, and which is in your document book on Pages 156 to 158 -- Goering wrote that he "by means of purchases, presents, bequests, and barter owns perhaps the most important private collection, at least in Germany, if not in Europe." The document presented is a copy of a typewritten letter and includes a series of corrections and notes in ink, evidently in Goering's own hand. This copy was captured, together with Goering's other correspondence, by units of the American Army, a fact which was confirmed and in due time presented to the Tribunal by our American colleagues. This document, Your Honors, reveals, to a remarkable extent, the nature of the "acquisitions" effected by Goering and also confirms Ribbentrop's part in the "preservation" of cultural treasures in the occupied territories. For this reason, I shall, with your permission, read a few extracts from this document. I read the extract from the first page of this letter. I quote: "After prolonged search" -- wrote Goering to Rosenberg -- "I was much gratified that an office was at last charged with the collection of these things although I want to point out that other departments are also claiming the authority of the Fuehrer. First of these was the Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs, who, several months ago, sent a circular to all departments, in which he, inter alia, stated that he had received full authority for the preservation of cultural objects in occupied territories." I now read an extract from Page 2 of the letter, the last paragraph: "In order to avoid misconceptions regarding these articles, part of which I want to claim for myself, part of which I have purchased, and part of which I wish to acquire, I want to inform you as follows: "1.
STATE COUNSELLOR OF JUSTICE OF THE SECOND CLASS M.Y. RAGINSKY (Assistant Prosecutor for the U.S.S.R.): I have now obtained by means of purchase, presents, bequests, and barter, perhaps the greatest private collection in Germany at least, if not in Europe." I omit one paragraph and I read Subparagraphs 2 and 3 of the next one. Subparagraph 2 enumerates the objects which Goering would like to acquire. It refers to a very extensive and highly valued collection of Dutch artists of the 17th century, while Subparagraph 3 mentions "a comparatively small though very good collection of French artists from the 18th century, and finally, a collection of Italian masters." You have heard, Your Honors, what was meant, in practice, by "the personal material interest of soldiers in the war." All this established irrevocably that the Hitlerites engaged in pillage and brigandage and that everybody, from the privates to the criminal leaders of Hitlerite Germany, participated in the plunder. The same must be said regarding the destruction of cultural treasures. Decrees and directives concerning the destruction of cultural treasures came from the leaders of Hitlerite Germany and from the highest ranks of the Military Command. I shall refer, as evidence, to the order of the Commander of the German 6th Army, signed by Field Marshal Von Reichenau, approved by Hitler and entitled, "On the Behavior of the Troops in the East." This order was presented to the Tribunal as Document Number USSR-12. This document, contrary to the usual Hitlerite custom, contains direct and entirely undisguised instructions for the destruction and suppression of culture in the occupied territories. With your permission, I shall quote just one paragraph of this order. It is on Page 161 of your document book. I quote: "The Army is interested in extinguishing fires only in such buildings as may be used for Army billets...." All the rest to be destroyed; no historical or artistic buildings in the East to be of any value whatsoever.