Piece
Transferred to T 2/209
Catalogue reference: IND 1/12652
Transferred to T 2/209
Item
Detailed Interrogation Report No 9 by the Art Looting Investigation Unit of the OSS...
Catalogue reference: T 209/29/8
What’s it about?
This record is about the Detailed Interrogation Report No 9 by the Art Looting Investigation Unit of the OSS... dating from 1945 in the series British Committee on the Preservation and Restitution of Works of Art, Archives and.... It is held at The National Archives, Kew.
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Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- T 209/29/8
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1945
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Description (What the record is about)
- <p>Detailed Interrogation Report No 9 by the Art Looting Investigation Unit of the OSS on Walter Andreas Hofer divided into seven sections, dated 15 September 1945. </p> <p>Parts I and II include an introduction noting that Hofer had been interrogated at Alt Aussee between June and September 1945 and an overview of Hofer's personal life and lucrative career as Goering's chief art dealer. Part III describes Hofer's activity as director of the Reichsmarschall's collections, his relationship to Goering and his role in building up and shaping the collection through confiscations, purchases and sales. Part IV sets out details of Hofer's activity as a private art dealer and his transactions with other dealers such as Hans Wendland, Theodore Fischer, Achilles Boitel, Hubert Menten, Walter Paech and Hoogendijk from Amsterdam, with references to the traded works of art and the methods of acquisition. </p> <p>Part V provides an overview of Hofer's personal possessions and lists six repositories where his collection was kept. </p> <p>Parts VI and VII summarise Hofer's role and recommend he be prosecuted in his own right as a war criminal since 'as regards looting, Hofer is in every way as guilty as Goering', and that he be used as a material witness in Goering's trial. </p> <p>Includes three attachments. Attachment 1 is a list of Hofer's total of c 40 clients, organised according to their status either as purchasers of presents for Goering or private purchasers, with details of their rank, purchases and value of the transactions. Attachment 2 lists the dealers from whom Hofer made purchases in France [35 works of art], Holland [13], Italy [9] and Germany [12], with details of the artists and values of the works concerned. Attachment 3 is a detailed list of the contents of each repository where Hofer's belongings were kept. </p> <p>Detailed Interrogation Report No 11 by the Art Looting Investigation Unit of the OSS on Walter Bornheim divided into eight sections, dated 15 September 1945. </p> <p>Parts I and II include an introduction noting that Bornheim had been interrogated at Alt Aussee between August and September 1945, and an overview of Bornheim's personal life and career, initially as the owner of an antique shop specialising in prints in Cologne and later as partner of the Aryanised art dealership, Drey of Munich, which, according to Bornheim's account, was offered to him in 1936 as a consequence of the recent death of Franz Drey's father and of Franz Drey's decision to leave Germany because 'of the increasing difficulties which were being made for German Jews'. </p> <p>Part III focuses on Bornheim's activity as buyer for Goering since 1938, with details of his relationship with Goering and his methods of acquisition of works of art for the Reichsmarschall. </p> <p>Part IV provides information on Bornheim's activity as an independent dealer, mostly in Munich, with details of his staff, purchases made in France, dealer contacts in France, clients and the acquisition of the 'Madonna and Child' from the Ile St Louis in Paris, bought in 1942 and given to the Cologne museum in exchange for 16 paintings, four of which were taken by Goering 'as payment for having ceded his rights'. </p> <p>Parts V and VI describe Bornheim's flourishing financial situation and the location of his personal possessions. Parts VII and VIII summarise his role and recommend he testify as a material witness in the trial of Goering and be subsequent put 'at the disposition of the French government for purposes of restitution'. States that 'Bornheim has made a good impression on his interrogators. [...] In his role as an agent for Goering and an independent buyer, he acted essentially as an art dealer. There is no evidence that he was ever connected in any way with German confiscation or looting activities. [...] In spite of the rather favorable [sic] impression which Bornheim has given, it is important to remember certain basic aspects of his case. He was a small German dealer who rose to considerable prominence and wealth under the Nazi regime, and with the help of one of its foremost exponents, the Reichsmarschall. Although the "Aryanization" of the Drey firm may have been carried out with the consent of its former owners, and may indeed have protected their interests in some respects, as far as Bornheim was concerned it was a great step forward, and one made possible by the Nazi anti-Semitic laws'. </p> <p>Includes five attachments [mostly in German with English translation]. Attachment 1 is a letter written by Bornheim to Drey in New York giving 'an account of the present state of their business', dated June 1945. Attachment 2 is a list of almost 60 dealers from whom Bornheim made purchases in Paris, with details of their whereabouts and the value of the available receipts. Attachment 3 is a list of Bornheim's clients with details of the objects purchased, the dates of purchase and the objects' provenance, for a total of around 90 clients including the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin, the Wallraff-Richartz Museum in Cologne and the Linz Museum. Attachment 4 provides detailed lists of the art objects stored by Bornheim in three main repositories. Attachment 5 lists c 110 works of art bought by Bornheim in France which were destroyed in the Galerie fuer alte Kunst in Munich on 24 April 1944, which included antique furniture, faience, statues and paintings, with details of their origin and the dealers who sold them to Bornheim. </p>
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English
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Closure status (Whether the record is ‘open’ (available to the public) or ‘closed’ (not available due to a legal exemption))
- Open Document, Open Description
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C11645684/
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Series information
T 209
British Committee on the Preservation and Restitution of Works of Art, Archives and...
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Detailed Interrogation Report No 9 by the Art Looting Investigation Unit of the OSS...
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