“The confiscation of Jewish homes was effected in most cases in such a way that the so-called confiscation officials went from house to house when no records were available of the addresses of Jews who had departed or fled, as was the case for example, in Paris * * * They drew up inventories of these homes and subsequently sealed them . . . . . . . . .
“The goods are dispatched first, to large collecting camps from where they are turned over, sorted out and loaded for Germany.
“* * * work shops were established for cabinet-makers, watchmakers, shoemakers, electricians, radio experts, furriers, etc. All incoming goods were diligently sorted out and those not ready for use were repaired. Moreover special boxes were dispatched for the use of special trades * * *
“For the sorting out of the confiscated furniture and goods on the invisible assembly line and for the packing and loading, exclusive use was made of interned Jews. Because of its experience as to confiscation, as to working systems within the camps, and as to transportation, the Office West was able to reorganize their entire working system and thus to succeed in providing for the use in Germany of even things which appeared to be valueless such as scrap paper, rags, salvage, etc. * * *” (L-188).
F. Nature, Extent, and Value of Property Seized.
(1) Books, manuscripts, documents, and incunabula. A report on the library of the “Hohe Schule,” prepared by Dr. Wunder, lists the most significant book collections belonging to the library and confiscated by the Einsatzstab Rosenberg in accordance with the orders of the Fuehrer, as follows (171-PS):
| (approx.) | ||
| Alliance Israelite Universelle | 40,000 | Vols. |
| Ecole Rabbinique | 10,000 | Vols. |
| Federation de Societé des Juifs de France | 4,000 | Vols. |
| Lipschuetz Bookstore, Paris | 20,000 | Vols. |
| Rothschild Family, Paris | 28,000 | Vols. |
| Rosenthaliana, Amsterdam | 20,000 | Vols. |
| Sefardischen Jewish Community, Amsterdam | 25,000 | Vols. |
| Occupied Eastern Territories | 280,000 | Vols. |
| Jewish Community, Greece | 10,000 | Vols. |
| “Special Action”, Rhineland | 5,000 | Vols. |
| Other sources | 100,000 | Vols. |
| ——— | ||
| 552,000 | ||
An undated report on the activities of the Einsatzstab Working Group, Netherlands, lists Masonic Lodges and other organizations whose libraries and archives have been seized. The report states that 470 cases of books had already been packed and reports materials seized from 92 separate lodges of the “Droit Humain”, the “Groot Oosten”, the “IOOF” and the “Rotary Club”. An additional 776 cases containing approximately 160,000 volumes were seized from the International Institute for Social History at Amsterdam. An additional 170 cases were seized from the “Theosophischen Society” and other organizations. (176-PS)
The report further states that the value of the above works is between 30 million and 40 million Reichsmarks. Additional materials to be derived from other sources, including 100,000 volumes from the “Rosenthaliana” collection, are estimated to have a value of three times that of the above, or an additional 90 million to 120 million Reichsmarks. The estimated over-all value is thus between 120 and 160 million Reichsmarks. (176-PS)
(2) Household furnishings. The entire furniture seizure action, known as “Action M”, is summarized in a report of Von Behr, Chief of the Office West, dated 8 August 1944. The report furnishes the following statistics on results up to 1 July 1944: