The confiscation of Jewish homes was carried out as follows: so called requisitioning officials
went from house to house, where no records were available of the addresses of Jews who
had departed or fled as was the case, for instance in Paris. In order to collect information
as to abandoned Jewish homes, they drew up inventories of those homes and subsequently
sealed them. In Paris alone, about 20 confiscation officials confiscated more than 38,000 homes.
The transportation of the contents of these homes was completed with all the available vehicles
of the Union of Parisian Moving Contractors who had to provide up to 150 trucks, twelve to
fifteen hundred French laborers. Now if your Honor, please, I am omitting the rest of the details
of that report because our French colleagues will present the details later.
Looting on such a scale seems fantastic. But I feel I must refer to another statement.
For though the seizure of the contents of over 71,000 homes and their shipment to the
Reich in upwards of 26 thousand railroad cars is by no means a petty operation.
The quantities of plundered art treasures and books and their incalculable value as revealed
in the documents I am about to offer will make these figures dwindle by comparison.
I next refer to the stacks of leather bound volumes in front of me. Some of them are here,
to which the justice referred in his opening statement. These 39 volumes which are before
me, contain photographs of works of art secured by the Einsatzstab and are volumes which are
prepared by members of the Rosenberg staff. All of these volumes bear our number 2522-
PS and I offer them in evidence as Exhibit USA-388. I am passing to your Honors eight of these volumes so that
each one of you, they are all different, but so that each one of you might see a sample
of the inventory. I call your Honors attention to the inside
cover page most of them have an inventory in German of the contents of the book. And
then follows a true photograph of each one of these priceless objects of art separated
by fine tissue paper. There are 39 of these volumes that were captured by our forces when
they overran a part of southern occupied German area.
In an underground cavern most of them in the I believe the southern part of Bavaria. And these
books, these books were found by our staff in connection with a group of US Army people
who have assembled these objects of art and are now in the process of returning them to
the rightful owners. That's where we got those books.
21,903 pieces of art. These included 5,281 paintings, pastels, watercolors and drawings.
684 miniatures, glass and enamel paintings, books and manuscripts. There are 2,477 articles
of furniture, of value to art history. Some of your Honors have volumes showing those
antique
The mere statement that 21,903 artworks have been seized does not furnish an adequate conception
of their value. I refer again to the statement in the document just quoted, quote "that the
extraordinary artistic and material value of the seized artworks cannot be expressed
in figures" unquote and that there are objects of such a unique character that their
valuation is entirely impossible. These 39 volumes are by no means a complete catalog.
They presented most pictures of about 2500 of the art objects seized. And I ask you to
imagine that this catalog had been completed and in the place of 39 volumes, we had 350
to 400 volumes. In other words, if they were prepared in inventory form as these 39 volumes
to cover all of them it would take 350 to 400 volumes. "I beg of you, my Furher, to give
me a chance during my next audience to report to you orally on the whole extent and scope
of this art seizure action. I beg you to accept a short-written preliminary report of the
progress and the extent of the art seizure action, which will be used as a basis for
this later oral report. And also accept three copies of the provisional picture catalogs,
which too only show a part of the collection you own. I shall deliver further catalogs
which are now being compiled when they are finished." Rosenberg then closes with this
touching tribute to the aesthetic tastes of the Fuhrer. Tastes which were satisfied at
the expense of a continent, and I quote "I shall take the liberty during the requested audience to give you,
my Fuhrer another 20 folders of pictures with the hope that this short occupation with the
beautiful things of art which are nearest to your heart will send a ray of beauty and
joy into your care-laden and revered life." Unquote. Just a moment, sir.
That's just a few of them. I call your attention again that each of the
pictures you have just seen is merely representative of a large number of similar items illustrated
in the 39 volume catalog which is in itself only partially complete. It's taken from the
publication which is entitled "The Face of the Party" and this chart emphasizes clearer than
I can state the total and thorough control over the life of the German beginning at the
age of 10 at the bottom of the chart and continuing through the various categories on up through.
Notice the age of 10 to 14, the Jungvolk. And then goes to the Adolf Hitler School on the
right, 12-18. The Hilter Jugend, 15 to 18. The SA, the NSKK, the NSFK, 19-20. And
then the labor services over at the left. And then again to the SA, the SS, the NSKK,
the NSFK and then into the Wehrmacht and on up through to the top box on the left the
top row of men, the political leaders of the NSDAP. And then finally all of those buildings
up there as I understand are the academies of the NSDAP.
And then finally at the top to the political leaders of the German Volk showing the evolution.
In one of previous documents, 090-PS which is in the other document book.