Command Post Division
Std., September 25, 1943
Concerning the evacuation of the museum of Poltawa
When it became known that the evacuation of the city of Poltawa by September 21, 1943, was anticipated, I intended to examine personally the condition of the museum there and to order the necessary measures for preserving them, should the need arise.
Since the 03 of the division, SS Leader Daltweiler, had learned during a stay in P. that the salvaging of the museum through a specialist officer of the armed forces on the basis of a command from the O.B., already had begun, a trip to Poltawa was abandoned.
Heil Hitler!
Signed: H. Jankuhn
Captain in the SS (F)
For the correctness of this copy:
SS Leader
Copy III
Special Command, Fp. 16284
Command Post Division, Std., August 22, 1943
To the personal Staff of the Reich Fuehrer of SS
Office of the SS "Ancestral Heritage" Research Organization, Berlin
Regarding the destruction of the museum in Charkow.
On August 21, upon my suggestion, Sergeant in the SS, Dr. Zarp, from KB unit 5, visited the museum in Charkow. He found that the museum building had been burned down completely.
Since the more valuable pieces had been salvaged—as was pointed out in the report of December 8, 1943—no loss of more important objects of culture was sustained through the destruction of the museum.