“I confirm that it was the official policy of the Governor General, Hans Frank, to take into custody all important art treasures which belonged to Polish public institutions, private collections, and the Church. I confirm that the art treasures mentioned were actually confiscated; and it is clear to me that they would not have remained in Poland in case of a German victory, but they would have been used to complement German artistic property.”—Signed and sworn to by Dr. Mühlmann.
On the 15th of November 1939 Frank issued a decree, which is published officially in The Law of the Government General, (1773-PS, Exhibit USA-376). It is E 800, Article 1, Section 1. It is not in the document book. It is just a short quotation of which we ask the Tribunal to take judicial knowledge. Quoting:
“All movable and stationary property of the former Polish State . . . will be sequestered for the purpose of securing all manner of public valuables.”
In a further decree of 16 December 1939, appearing as E 845 of the same publication, Frank provided that all art objects in public possession in the Government General were to be seized for the fulfillment of public tasks of common interest, insofar as they had not already been seized under the decree of 15 November. The decree provided that, in addition to art collections and art objects belonging to the Polish State, there would be considered as owned by the public, those private collections which have not already been taken under protection by the Special Commissioner, as well as all ecclesiastical art property.
On the 24th of September 1940 Frank decreed that all property seized on the basis of the decree of 15 November 1939 would be transferred to the ownership of the Government General; and this decree is found as E 810 of the same publication.
It is impossible for me to furnish this Tribunal a complete picture of the vastness of the program for the cultural impoverishment of Poland carried out pursuant to the directives, as I cannot read into the record the 500-odd masterpieces catalogued in Document 1233-PS (Exhibit USA-377) or the many hundreds of additional items catalogued in Document 1709-PS (Exhibit USA-378). Now Document 1233-PS, which I hold in my hand, is a finely bound, beautifully printed catalogue, in which Defendant Frank proudly lists and describes the major works of art which he had plundered for the benefit of the Reich. This volume was captured by the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Division of the 3rd United States Army and was found in Frank’s home near Munich. The introductory page describes the thoroughness with which the Government General stripped Poland of its cultural possessions. That is quoted in Document 1233-PS.
THE PRESIDENT: Will you hand that up?
COL. STOREY: I am quoting now from the introductory page, the English translation, the first paragraph. I might say by way of explanation, that this book lists the valuable art treasures by titles. I now quote from the introductory page:
“By reason of a decree of 16 December 1939 by the Governor General of the occupied Polish territories, the Special Commissioner for collecting objects of art and culture was able to collect within 6 months almost all of the art objects of the country, with one exception: a series of Flemish tapestries of the Castle of Kraków. According to the latest information these are now in France, so that it may be possible to secure these later.”
Leafing through this catalogue, we find that it included references to paintings by German, Italian, Dutch, French, and Spanish masters; rare illustrated books; Indian and Persian miniatures; woodcuts; the famous Veit Stoss hand-carved altar (created here in Nuremberg and purchased for use in Poland); handicraft articles of gold and silver; antique articles of crystal, glass, and porcelain; tapestries; antique weapons; rare coins and medals. These articles were seized, as indicated in the catalogue, from public and private sources, including the national museums in Kraków and Warsaw, the cathedrals of Warsaw and Lublin, a number of churches and monasteries, university libraries, and a great many private collections of Polish nobility.