“All sections of Party and State are requested to cooperate with him in this task.” (136-PS)
What began as a project for the establishment of a research library developed into a project for the seizure of cultural treasures. (141-PS)
On 1 March 1942 Hitler issued a decree in which he asserted that Jews, Freemasons, and affiliated opponents of National Socialism are the authors of the War against the Reich, and that a systematic spiritual battle against them is a military necessity. The decree thereupon authorized Rosenberg to search libraries, archives, lodges, and cultural establishments, to seize relevant material from these establishments as well as cultural treasures which were the property or in the possession of Jews, which were ownerless, or the origin of which could not be clearly established. The decree directed the cooperation of the Wehrmacht High Command and indicated that Rosenberg’s activities in the West were to be conducted in his capacity as Reichsleiter and in the East in his capacity as Reichsminister. (149-PS)
This decree was implemented by a letter from Dr. Lammers, Reichsminister and Chief of Chancellory, directed to the “Highest Reich Authorities and the Services directly subordinate to the Fuehrer.” The letter reiterated the terms of the Hitler decree and requested support of the Reich authorities in Rosenberg’s fulfillment of his task. (154-PS)
B. Scope of Activities.
Rosenberg’s activities in fulfillment of the above decrees were extended, in the West, to France (138-PS), Belgium (139-PS), the Netherlands (140-PS), Luxembourg (137-PS), and Norway and Denmark. (159-PS)
In the East activities were carried out throughout the Occupied Eastern Territories (153-PS), including the Baltic states and the Ukraine (151-PS), as well as in Hungary (158-PS), Greece (171-PS), and Yugoslavia. (071-PS)
The function of the Rosenberg Organization included not only the seizure of books and scientific materials specified in the original Hitler Order (171-PS), but the seizure of private art treasures (1015-B-PS), public art treasures (055-PS), and household furnishings. (L-188)
C. Cooperating Agencies.
On 5 July 1940 Keitel (Chief of the OKW) informed the Chief of the Army High Command (OKH) and the Chief of the Armed Forces in The Netherlands that the Fuehrer had ordered that Rosenberg’s suggestion be followed, to the effect that certain libraries and archives, chancelleries of high church authorities, and lodges be searched for documents valuable to Germany or indicating political maneuvers directed against Germany, and that such material be seized. The letter further stated that Hitler had ordered the support of the Gestapo and that the Chief of the Sipo (Security Police), SS-Gruppenfuehrer Heydrich, had been informed and would communicate with the competent military commanders. (137-PS)