My dear Mr. President:
Permit us to thank you for your kind attention to the resolution, signed by us and ninety-five of our colleagues prominent on the staffs of museums or experts in the history and preservation of art, relative to the shipment to this country of two hundred famous paintings formerly in the Kaiser Friedrich and other museums of Berlin.
In addressing the resolution in question to you we felt that we were following the time-honored American custom of bringing to our government’s attention a consensus of opinion on the part of those who have special practical familiarity with old pictures and personal, sometimes long, acquaintance with European history and culture in its emotional and intellectual aspects.
Should you, in the course of events, undertake further inquiries into the problem created by the shipment referred to in our resolution, we shall be happy to be so informed.
Respectfully yours,
June 3, 1946
Dear Mr. Hassett:
In reply to your letter of the twenty-second permit us to say that should the President make further inquiries into the subject covered by our resolution with reference to two hundred pictures selected chiefly from the collections of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum and brought to this country, we should be pleased to be kept informed.
We, and our ninety-five colleagues in museums and universities who have had long experience with old paintings and are interested in the history and preservation of works of art, would also be glad to know when the pictures referred to are returned to Germany since we are as yet uninformed whether the conditions which are held not to warrant their return are of a practical or a political nature.