Mystery of the Hungarian “Gold Train”
(October 7, 1999)
Introduction
U.S.
Restitution Policy
History
Of The Gold Train
The
Efforts Of The Hungarian Jewish Community To Reclaim The Gold Train
Property
Appropriations
Of The Gold Train Treasures By The U.S. Forces In Austria
The
Auction Of The Gold Train Treasures
The
Fate Of Paintings From The Gold Train
Conclusion
Endnotes
INTRODUCTION
In May 1945, forces of the American Army seized a train
in the town of Werfen, Austria containing valuables spirited out of Hungary by members of the pro-Nazi
Hungarian government in an attempt to escape the advancing Soviet Army.
This train – carrying gold, jewelry, art and other treasures confiscated
from the Hungarian Jewish population – became known as the Gold
Train.1 The story of the Gold Train provides both a comprehensive illustration
of the questions that arose from the United States’ restitution
policy and its implementation, and a mysterious example of one egregious
failure to follow that policy.
The illustration is comprehensive in that it documents the consequences
of the general policy decision to make restitution to governments and
organizations rather than to individuals. In addition to the works of art,
the Gold Train carried many other valuables – indeed, the whole gamut of
moveable assets. The disposition of all of these assets was subject to
this decision. (Top of Page)
The mystery of the Gold Train revolves around the fate of the works of
art that fell into the hands of the American authorities when they
captured the train in Austria. It is unique in that it describes an as yet
unexplained departure from the general policy of returning cultural assets
to the country of origin.
For complicated reasons, including Austria’s ambiguous status as a
Nazi-occupied country, the vast array of treasures stored in its mines and
castles, and its proximity to the growing Soviet sphere of influence, the
conduct of the American forces occupying Austria was less disciplined than
that of the American forces occupying Germany. There is, for example,
documentary evidence that American forces in Austria misappropriated
so-called "unidentifiable" property of Hungarian Jews found on
the Gold Train while refusing to allow leaders of the Hungarian Jewish
community access to the Gold Train to identify the property. High-ranking
American officials took assets from the Gold Train for their own personal
use and assets from the train were sold through the Army Exchange. There
is also evidence that assets from the Gold Train were stolen outright. (Top
of Page)
In addition, although the general American policy required restitution
of cultural property to the country of origin, more than 1,100 works of
art belonging to Hungarian Jews were eventually transferred to the custody
of the Austrian government. Despite the pleas of the Hungarian Jewish
community to return the contents of the Gold Train to their rightful
owners, American forces, under their general policy of ceding such items
to the designated refugee organization, transferred carloads of
non-cultural property from the Gold Train to the United Nations
International Refugee Organization (IRO) for disposal.
In the end, the treasures of the Gold Train, as with other identifiable
valuables belonging to Holocaust victims, were so dispersed that
restitution of these treasures, except perhaps the collection of paintings
transferred to Austria, is now virtually impossible. (Top
of Page)
The United States policy on restitution of the assets on the Gold Train
was determined in part by the political status of Austria, the country in
which the assets were seized, and in part by the nature of the assets
themselves.
In 1946, the United States signed two international agreements that
bore directly on the disposition of the Gold Train assets: the Final Act
of the Paris Reparation Conference and the Five-Power Agreement for Non-Repatriable
Victims of Germany. These agreements laid the basis for the creation of
the Preparatory Committee for the International Refugee Organization (PCIRO)
and permitted the sale of non-monetary gold and other ownerless property
for the benefit of non-repatriable refugees.
The United States followed a different policy towards works of art and
other cultural property of either religious, artistic, documentary,
scholastic, or historic value. In accordance with longstanding
international agreements, the United States adhered to the principle of
restitution of such national cultural heritage to the country of origin.
Within this principle there were no limitations based on a nation’s
status – as former enemy, military ally, or neutral. The United States
determined that "[i]dentifiable looted works of art and cultural
material will be restituted to the governments of the countries from which
they were taken."2 (Top of Page)
Reflecting this decision, the United States extended restitution of
cultural property encountered in Germany and Austria to Italy, Hungary,
Romania and Finland by an order issued by the State-War-Navy Coordinating
Committee (SWNCC) on March 4, 1946. Pursuant to this order, property had
to be "restored to the government of the country from which it was
taken or acquired in any way…."3 (Top of Page)
The story of the Gold Train was summarized in a poignantly written
report by the Central Board of Jews in Hungary to the State Department, on
July 28, 1947:
In April 1944, after the invasion of Hungary by the Germans, the
Fascist Government of Hungary of those days issued a discriminatory
decree against the Jewish population obliging them to deposit their
gems, their golden jewels ornamented with gems, and generally all
their valuables made of gold with the Authorities. This provision went
so far, as to oblige Jewish individuals to deliver their wedding
rings.
Accordingly the jewels and other valuables of 800,000 Hungarian
Jews were seized by the Fascist Government.
On the approach of our liberators, the Nazi government of Szalasi
had these valuables laden on a train consisting of 44 cars and had
them abducted westward under military escort. This railway train was
seized in May 1945 by the U.S. troops of occupation. This was the
so-called 'Gold Train'. The wagons contained other valuables, too,
besides the jewels e.g. oriental carpets silver, furs, etc....[T]he
Hungarian military escort handed over the train pushed into the
railway tunnel near Boeckstein intact apart from minor cases of theft
and blackmail and without its doors having been forced open, to the
American troops of occupation at the railway station of Werfen. 4
The Central Board also referred to various reports available on the
Gold Train:
There is a report available on the jewels and golden valuables
ordered by Commander Arpad Toldy to be laden on two lorries and
carried to the French zone, where they were seized by the French
troops.
According to these reports the following valuables were taken under
control by the United States Military Authorities:
10 Cases with markings indicating contents of gold. Average weight
of cases 45 kg.
1 case containing golden coins. Average weight 100 kg.
18 cases marked as containing golden jewels. Average weight
35 kg.
32 cases containing golden watches, weight varying from
30 to 60 kg.
The following amounts of foreign currencies were handed over in a
closed trunk: $ 44, 600, Swiss Francs 52, 360, L 84, Palestinian L 10,
Canadian Dollars 66, Swedish Kronen 5, Reichsmark 15, Pengo 260,484.
This trunk contained a sealed package, containing brilliants.
1560 cases containing silver with different weights.
1 case of silver bricks
About 100 artistic pictures
About 3000 knotted Persian and Oriental carpets and some home-
manufactured carpets sporadically, among them.
I cannot tell exactly the number of the cases. According to the
reports received from the officials, there were also clothes,
fur-coats, made of noble furs, stamp-collections, collections of
laces. Cameras, gramophons [sic], silver-jewels, porcelains, pocket
and wrist watches (about 8-10.000) laden into the wagons. The contents
of two wagons were not assorted, they contained every sort of
valuables mixed. 5 (Top
of Page)
According to the Central Board, the following assets were transported
into the French Zone where they were seized by French troops in St. Anton:
31 cases with markings of gold
2 cases containing golden coins
3 cases containing golden watches
8 cases of brilliants
2 cases containing selected pieces of brilliants and pearls.6
On July 27, 1948 Secretary of State George C. Marshall described his
own understanding of the fate of the Gold Train in a cable sent to the
U.S. Legation in Budapest:
Prior to their withdrawal from Hungary the Nazis had collected a
considerable quantity of movable property belonging to Jewish victims
of Nazi action. It is understood that this property belonged to Jewish
victims in all parts of so-called Greater Hungary. It was removed by
train to Austria, where, having been separated into two trains, it was
found by American and French forces. 7
The U.S. forces removed the assets found on the Gold Train to storage
facilities in Salzburg, Austria. The majority of the assets were stored in
the Military Government Warehouse (also referred to as MG Warehouse or the
Property Control Warehouse). The paintings from the Gold Train were stored
elsewhere, according to undated notes from Ardelia Hall, the State
Department’s Advisor for Restitution issues. Hall’s notes detail the
storage of the Gold Train paintings:
Train - Wurfen - stopped there in Wurfen [sic]. Mostly property
Nazis looted from Jews. Paintings brought to Salzburg in storage in
Karabinersaal in Residenz.8
The paintings stored in the Residenz were ignored and not inventoried
until 1947, but the assets stored in the MG warehouse attracted the
immediate attention of the American forces.
Marshall’s July 1948 cable described the assumptions that lay behind
U.S. treatment of the assets on the Gold Train:
American Forces having examined the portion of the Hungarian train
in the American Zone of Austria, the U.S. Commander [General Mark
Clark] determined that the contents therefore were unidentifiable as
to owners and, in view of the territorial changes in Hungary, as to
national origin; restitution to Hungary being therefore not feasible,
it was determined, with the approval of this government, that the
property in question would be given to the Intergovernmental Committee
for Refugees [IGCR]. The basis for this action was the decision of
this Government to apply to so-called non-monetary gold found in
Austria the principle of Article 8 of the Paris Reparation Agreement
of December 1945 and of the Power Agreement of June 1946 for the
implementation of this provision.9
The U.S. Government and military authorities maintained that it was not
possible to identify the ownership of the property on the Gold Train. The
representatives of the Hungarian Jewish community and the Hungarian
Government, however, vigorously protested otherwise. (Top
of Page)
III.
Leaders of the Hungarian Jewish community knew before the end of 1945
that United States troops had intercepted the Gold Train. On December 20,
1945, the Temporary Managing Committee of the Central Bureau of Hungarian
Jews sent a letter acknowledging that fact to the U.S. Legation in
Budapest. The Committee presented its version of the assets on the Gold
Train:
In the country, all valuables in Jewish property - even golden
wedding rings - have been collected by official persons before the
Jews have been transported to gathering places in order to be
deported. The valuables deposited by Jewish persons or by the
authorities that have collected them have been loaded up, later in
railway-cars and carried away in western direction, and, as the defeat
of the German Army became evident, transported to Austria, after
having been tithed several times.10
The Committee noted that some looting of the train had taken place in
Austria, but said that "the remainders of these valuables, namely 24
railway cars loaded with gold, jewels, etc. were surrendered to the
American troops in Austria."11 The Committee argued "as these valuables were considered, even in
terms of the Nazi-decrees, as Jewish deposits, they never ceased to be the
undoubted property of their original owners."12 (Top of Page)
The Temporary Managing Committee sought support for its proposal that a
delegation of the Central Bureau of Hungarian Jews negotiate the
"delivery of the above cited values [sic]" from American
Headquarters.13 In making its
case for restitution, the Temporary Managing Committee relied not only on
the history of the ownership of the train’s assets and America’s legal
obligations to return them, but on a strong emotional appeal:
The Jews having been robbed also of everything else they possessed,
all clothes, underwear, furniture, etc. it is not only their undoubted
right to claim that the objects stored in the railway-cars under
American Control, should be rendered to them, but their demand is
justified from humane standpoint too. By recovering a part of the
valuables lost, many of them could begin to rebuild their homes and
their existence.14
The U.S. officials nevertheless ignored the Hungarian Jewish proposal
to send a delegation to review the property. (Top of
Page)
On January 2, 1946, H.F. Arthur-Schoenfeld, the U.S. Envoy to Hungary,
informed the State Department of the letter from the Temporary Managing
Committee and reported that: "in conversation, on December 27, 1945,
with the gentlemen who presented the letter, I told them the matter seemed
to be one for the Hungarian Foreign Office."15
In July 1946, Nikolaus Nyaradi, the Hungarian Minister of Finance,
visited Berlin in an attempt to convince American authorities not to
dispose of the property found on the Gold Train. Nyaradi informed the U.S.
authorities that about 200,000 Jews remained in Hungary and that the
Hungarian government, in cooperation with Jewish organizations, had formed
the Jewish Rehabilitation Agency.16 This initiative of the Hungarian government did not, however, change the
opinion of the American authorities.
By 1947, it was well known in the international community that the U.S.
government was planning to sell certain contents of the Gold Train at
public auction. The proceeds of the auction were to be used for the
benefit of the IRO. The leadership of the Hungarian Jewish community tried
many times to convince the Americans not to auction their property but to
return it to its rightful owners.
Their attempts began with a telegram from the Central Board of Jews in
Hungary to the Department of State on February 21, 1947:
Undersigned legal representative bodies of the Hungarian Jewry were
informed with deep consternation of the fact that the United States
Government is planning to transfer the value of so called Golden Train
which forms the property of Hungarian Jewry to the Refugee Committee
of the UNO [United Nations].17
Instead of transferring the objects to the IRO, the Central Board
requested "emphatically" that the U.S. Government place the
"valuables abducted with so-called Golden Train" at the disposal
of the lawful representative bodies of Hungarian Jewry.18 (Top of Page)
A second letter, sent in February to the U.S. Legation by the Central
Board of Jews in Hungary and the Autonomous Orthodox Israelitic Religious
Bodies, again appealed on humanitarian grounds for the return of the Gold
Train property:
Hungarian Jewry suffered immeasurable losses in human lives and
property owing to Fascistic inhumanity. 600,000 Hungarian Jews lost
their lives in Nazi concentration camps. The remaining valuables of
the 200,000 Hungarian Jews, who survived, are on the ‘Train of
Gold’ and we think that the greatest injustice would befall these
people if they could not get back even their remaining few valuables
after what they have been through.19
Hungarian Jewish leaders feared that an auction would create a bad
precedent. They knew that some of the goods had been taken into the
custody of French forces and worried that if the Americans auctioned the
valuables found in Werfen, the French government would follow suit.20 Importantly, the letters emphasized that the property to be auctioned
could be identified and traced to specific owners and heirs.21 The Central Board believed that the auction would violate U.S. restitution
policy.
The United States ignored the pleas of the Hungarian Jewish community
and eventually directed them to seek answers elsewhere. On May 19, 1947,
the U.S. Legation to Hungary, in a reply to the Central Board, defended
the decision to auction property from the Gold Train:
With the approval of the United States Government, the Commanding
General, U.S. Forces, Austria, determined, that the property should be
turned over the [sic] Intergovernmental Committee of Refugees for
relief and rehabilitation of non-repatriable victims of German action.
This means in practice, that ninety percent of proceeds will be
disposed of by American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the
Jewish Agency for Palestine. This decision was based on the fact that
it was impracticable to return individual items to the original owners
or heirs and is believed to be in best interest of [the] class who
were despoiled.22
If the Central Board of Jews in Hungary had retained any hope of
appealing this decision, it was dispelled when Secretary Marshall cabled
the U.S. Legation on May 19, 1947 that:
Nyaradi was informed of this decision on visit here and was told no
disposition to reconsider. If representatives Central Board inquire,
you should inform them accordingly. You may suggest that so far as
their interests are involved they may wish to consult with the above
two Jewish organizations.23
This notification to Nyaradi would have been the first notification to
the Hungarians of the United States’ decision.24 On May 29, Secretary Marshall cabled the U.S. Legation in Budapest that
"action not necessary until additional inquiries made."25 (Top of Page)
Despite the position articulated by the U.S. Legation, Hungarian Jews
refused to give up. In a letter dated July 28, 1947, the Central Board
informed the U.S. State Department that they had not heard from French
authorities about the fate of the assets captured by the French troops in
Austria. They again asked the Americans to change their decision.26
The Central Board continued to argue that at least a portion of the
assets were identifiable:
A fraction of the deported Jews returned to Hungary - another
fraction escaped at home - these lay a legitimate claim to the
valuables they or their relatives were robbed of. So, where the
possibility of identification exists beyond doubt and is proved, the
owner reclaims his valuables rightfully on the basis of the principle
of private property.27
It requested permission from American authorities for representatives
of the Special Commission of the Hungarian Ministry of Finance on the
Restitution of Jewish Property to visit and examine the stored valuables.
The Hungarians hoped that such an examination would start the process of
restitution to Hungary of identifiable property.28
Once again, the United States refused their request. In a telegram that
suggests a difference of opinion between U.S. representatives in Budapest
and State Department officials in Washington, the U.S. Legation questioned
U.S. policy stating that "after further reflection," the
Legation
ventures suggestion that our proposal to turn over identifiable
Jewish property at Salzburg to IGCR might be inconsistent with our
previous liberal policy for restitution of identifiable Hungarian
displaced property and with the spirit of Articles 27 and 30 of the
treaty [1947 Treaty of Peace with Hungary].29
Despite these misgivings and the repeated requests of the Hungarians
for reconsideration, certain contents of the Gold Train were auctioned in
New York by the PCIRO in July 1948. The Department of State wrote to the
U.S. Legation in Budapest explaining the U.S. position:
The basis for this action was the decision of this Government to
apply to so-called non-monetary gold found in Austria the principles
of Article 8 of the Paris Repatriation Agreement of December 1945 and
of the Five Power Agreement of June 1946 for the implementation of
this provision.30
The letter informed the Legation that:
On May 29, 1948, the Hungarian Restitution Mission in Geneva wrote
to the Preparatory Commission of the IRO requesting that the property
in question be withheld from disposition and returned to Hungary,
indicating in the same time that an official restitution claim
therefore had been filed with American authorities in Austria on
October 17, 1947, and had not been acted upon....PCIRO replied to the
effect that it could not question the determination of
unidentifiability which the U.S. military authorities had made
concerning the gold train…31
The decision of General Mark Clark, the Commanding General of U.S.
Forces in Austria (USFA) in 1945 as to the "unidentifiability"
of the train’s contents thus governed every subsequent decision on
possible restitution of these assets to Hungary. When asked by the
Hungarians, PCIRO officials said they could not revoke the Clark’s
initial determination of the nature of the objects’ ownership. (Top
of Page)
1. Requisitions of the Gold Train Property
U.S. military personnel recognized from the beginning that the art and
cultural property assets of the Gold Train were valuable and impressive
and could be used in their offices and homes. On July 13, 1945, Major
General Harry J. Collins, Commander of the 42nd ("Rainbow") Division in western Austria received objects of
"furniture and furnishing…supplied by Office of Property Control,
Land Salzburg."32 Collins
was given property for his headquarters identified as "U.S.
Government Property (from Hungarian Train, Military Government
Warehouse)" including "different objects made of onyx, 5 rugs
and 8 paintings."33
General Collins also requisitioned valuables from the Gold Train for
his home. An August 28, 1945 memo from one of Collins’ aides to the
Property Control Officer in Salzburg made the following demand:
1. The Commanding General directs that you give first priority to
obtaining without delay the following listed household furnishing:
a) Chinaware (all types for formal banquet and other meals.)
Sufficient for 45 people.
b) Silverware (Same qualifications as above and to include serving
forks and spoons).
c) Glassware (To include water glasses, highball glasses, cocktail
glasses, wine and champagne glasses, and liqueur glasses. Sufficient
for formal banquet involving several kinds of wine for 90 people.)
d) Thirty (30) sets of table linens, each set to consist of one
table cloth and 12 napkins.)
e) Sixty (60) sheets, sixty (60) pillow cases, and sixty (60) large
bath towels.
-
The General desires that all of the above listed items be of the
very best quality and workmanship available in the land of Salzburg.
He specifically told me to say that he intended to hold you
responsible for securing these items."34
The Property Control Officer responded to this request by taking these
items from the MG warehouse in which the Gold Train properties had been
stored. Subsequent requisitions by Collins for Gold Train property
included 12 silver candlesticks and 11 carpets;35 two rugs to decorate his railroad car;36 and 13 rugs for decoration of his villa, Maria Theresien Schloss.37 (Top of Page)
Nor was General Collins the only military official who used the Gold
Train property for personal use. A "List of Material Loaned from
Property Control Warehouse" prepared by the Property Control Office
indicates that numerous high-ranking officers of the American Forces in
Austria appropriated Hungarian Jewish treasures found on the Gold Train
for the decoration of their residences. For example, General Laude
received china, silverware and linen for his Salzburg home; General Hume
received 18 rugs, table and silverware, table linen and glassware; General
Howard received nine rugs, one silver set and 12 silver plates to decorate
his Vienna apartment; and Brigadier General Linden received 10 rugs for
his quarters on the von Trapp Estate. 38
As more American military families settled in Austria, the Property
Control Officer expressed his concerns to the Repatriation, Deliveries and
Restitution Division (RD & R Division). On March 8, 1946 he reported:
"The problem arrival of families of military personnel in Austria in
the near future, it is believed, will place heavy demands on certain of
the property in the warehouse,"39 because he believed that "General Collins was interested in providing
proper quarters and house furnishing for families of the military;"
and to that end, the procurement of "proper" materials, meant
that, "quite probably demands might be made upon property in the
warehouse."40
2. Sales and Liquidation of the Gold Train Property
Over time, Gold Train assets under U.S. custodianship in Austria also
became
subject to appropriation for sale through Army Exchange stores. In
early November 1945, a representative of the Office of the Army Exchange
Service in Austria wrote to the Property Control Officer and the Legal
Advisor of U.S. Allied Control for Austria (USACA) to request "that
the merchandise now held in Salzburg in the custody of the Property
Control Officer, USACA, from the WERFEN train be made available for
purchase by the Army Exchange Service."41 To clarify the request, the Army Exchange specified "such merchandise
is believed to consist of watches, alarm clocks, cameras, jewelry, etc.,
which would normally be sold through the PX’s."42 The Army Exchange Service added that it would make payment for these items
based "on agreed prices."43 The Legal Division concluded "it [property from the train] may
therefore, in the opinion of this Division, be disposed of
accordingly."44 On November
19, 1945 the Chief of the Legal Division added that "the property
which is the subject of the request by the Army Exchange Office is, as
disclosed by our file, either captured enemy property, or property of a
perishable nature, or both."45 (Top of Page)
This first attempt to dispose of Gold Train Property through the Army
Exchange did not, however, succeed. The Chief of the RD & R Division
challenged the conclusion of the Legal Division on the grounds that the
"goods apparently are not perishable and it is believed there may be
claims from original Hungarian owners for identifiable private
property."46
Nevertheless, one year later, virtually the same plan was approved. On
November 18, 1946, the Property Control Officer in Salzburg recommended
that the Property Control Branch sell "the Werfen Train rugs and furs
which are located in the Property Control Warehouse."47 The Officer defended his recommendation saying that "the property
will lose a great part of its value if it is not disposed of within the
next two or three months." Because it represented an asset of several
thousand dollars the Property Control Officer in Salzburg wanted it to
"be immediately disposed of."48 (Top of Page)
On November 29, 1946 the Chief of RD & R Division concurred with
the recommendation to go forward with the sales:
It is recommended by the Property Control Officer, Land Salzburg,
and also by this Division that in order to realize the maximum value
of the property that steps be taken at once to dispose of this
property either on the Austrian open market, or by sale through the
Army Exchange Service for dollar credits.49
The Army Exchange Service Procurement Division enthusiastically replied
to this letter on December 22, 1946:
The Army Exchange Service is very much interested in the
confiscated Hungarian property stored in Salzburg, which was inspected
by this office…It was requested, from Army Exchange Service (AES)
Headquarters Frankfurt, that permission to dispose of the property be
obtained as soon as possible.50
While the rugs, furs and fine clothing, originally belonging to
Hungarian Jews, were appropriated for sale through the Army Exchange,
their other clothes were distributed more freely. On March 6, 1946 a
Property Control Officer at the Headquarters of USFA in Vienna neatly
outlined the distinction between treatment of the better goods and the
more regular goods:
At present this office has stored at the Military Government
Warehouse various items of clothing and linens, such as pants, coats,
dresses, scarves, gloves, shoes, table linen, napkins, etc…Major
Flaherty 42nd Division Chaplain has submitted to this
office a request for all the clothing. He plans to distribute this
clothing to needy DP-s…It is recommended that the men’s and
women’s clothing be turned over to Major Flaherty, 42nd Division Chaplain for distribution to DP-s and that linens and finer
quality clothes be retained in custody.51
3. Thefts of property from the Gold Train
In addition to requisitions by U.S. forces and sales through the Army
Exchange, property on the Gold Train was also subject to outright theft.
In one case, documented in October 1946, the Property Control Officer
reported that two small suitcases of gold dust had disappeared from the MG
warehouse. The Officer explained that "every apparent possibility for
tracing the gold dust has been exhausted" and concluded that:
…some months ago Property Control Warehouse was burglarized by
military guards. It is possible that the subject gold dust was stolen
at that time. However, the inventory of the warehouse is still being
checked.52
The numerous loans, sales, gifts and thefts of the property of the Gold
Train hampered attempts to identify the ownership of the property. Further
complicating matters, the property was repacked and the original
containers and labels indicating country and names of owners were lost. (Top
of Page)
V. THE AUCTION OF THE
GOLD TRAIN TREASURES
General Clark’s 1945 determination that the Gold Train’s assets
were unidentifiable as to owners and national origin and that restitution
was therefore not feasible withstood challenges from the Hungarians, as
well as from the U.S. Legation. In accordance with the Paris Conference
and the Four Powers Agreement, the determination of "unidentifiability"
opened the door for the transfer of Gold Train assets to the IRO for
auction.
Ray C. Kramer, appointed in November of 1947 as the Chairman of the
Advisory Liquidation Committee of the IRO, was responsible for the
organization of the auction sales. The IRO also established a
Merchandising Committee, which was charged with the preparation of two
auctions. Mr. Kramer declared that:
the principal problem facing him and his committee was the manner
in which the goods will be disposed. It was decided that for
miscellaneous items, the auction was the best medium, and that the
results of the June sales at Parke-Bernet will be watched with a view
to setting the pattern for future sales all over the country.53
Crates with Jewish property labeled "unidentifiable as to
ownership" started to arrive at Staten Island in the middle of
December of 1947 with the initial sales to take place at the Parke-Bernet
Galleries in New York in June 1948. The New York Times reported:
"In the first [auction], June 16 to 18, jewelry and diamonds will be
offered, while in the second, June 20 to 25, silver, glass, china, and
gold objects will be put up for bids."54 The Parke-Bernet staff divided the jewelry into 400 catalogue lots, with
three to four pieces in each lot. Items in the jewelry sale included a
large miscellaneous collection of unset diamonds along with other precious
stones, pearls, gold and jeweled watches, and numerous pieces of Victorian
jewelry.55 A month before the
sales, The New York Times wrote that:
neither Mr. Kramer, nor Leslie A. Hyam, the vice-president of
Parke-Bernet…would venture an estimate on the total value of the war
loot. Rough estimates of the total worth of valuables captured by the
United States in Austria and Germany approximated $ 4,000,000. However
what part of that property eventually will be brought into the United
States, and what the potential market for it will be, is impossible to
judge now.56
The exact content of the boxes shipped from Europe "were unknown
until opened" at the warehouse in New York.57 The New York Times described the scene at the warehouse:
Laid out on tables were dozens of tinted and cut glass goblets and
liqueur glasses, decorative porcelain vases, Bohemian cut sapphire
blue and ruby glassware, Meissen, Dresden, Herend, Rosenthal, and
Vienna porcelain statuettes and figure groups, eighteenth and
nineteenth century Continental pewter flagons and tureens…an
estimated 22 tons is on hand, marked and unmarked, used and unused,
plain and ornate, consisting of every conceivable shape of platter,
tureen, tray and dish, and great quantity of candlesticks, vases and
dishes, single and sets."58
The warehouse also contained nearly 4,000 oriental rugs, as well as
cameras, microscopes, tapestries, among thousands of other items.59 (Top of Page)
Press reports indicate that the auctions were successful. The New
York Times reported that the June 22, 1948 sale exceeded expected
revenues by 40 percent 60 and the week’s receipts totaled $152,850.61 The results were a triumph for Ray Kramer and the Advisory Liquidation
Committee of the IRO who had designed the New York auction as an
experiment to determine the best way to dispose of ownerless assets. (Top
of Page)
James Rorimer, a Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives (MFA & A)
officer, was in Austria in 1945 when the Gold Train was found by the
American troops in Werfen. 62 Later he remembered:
In Werfen and vicinity there were concentrations of German soldiers
and ordnance equipment, including small arms and acres of broken-down
trucks. On the railroad tracks were fifty-two box cars, twenty of them
containing miscellaneous loot from Hungary. In an effort to keep this
cargo from the Russians, who had been advancing rapidly in the east,
forty-two Hungarian guards under compulsion from the Nazis accompanied
a gruesome mixture of gold wedding rings (in cases too heavy for two
men to lift), household furnishing, money, watches, diamonds, dress
goods, building stone, carbon, boards, empty cans and rubbish, objects
from the Museum in Gyor, and people. Arpad Toldy, who had accompanied
the shipment from Hungary, escaped with the inventories of the
contents of the train before it fell into American hands. We did not
envy Major Laughlin, the executive officer of the 15th Regiment, 3rd Division, XV Corps, who with the Property
Control officer would have to decide how to handle these carloads of
problems. I recommended that the material of artistic value be sent to
collecting points being established in Salzburg and Munich.63
For the next two years no attention was paid to Rorimer’s
recommendation to send the items of artistic value to collecting points.
Instead the paintings, without inventory, were placed in the MG Warehouse
in Salzburg and forgotten.
In 1947, Evelyn Tucker, MFA & A representative in Austria, was
informed about the existence of paintings in the MG Warehouse. On October
23, Tucker wrote in her monthly report:
Was informed in Salzburg that there are approximately 200 paintings
from the Werfen Train loot which have been set aside and are presently
stored in a small room in the upstairs of the MG Warehouse in
Salzburg. I understand from the men in Salzburg handling this property
that they have no instructions whatsoever concerning these paintings,
and they seem to doubt that they will have.64
Before Tucker was able to visit Salzburg, the Chief of the RD&R
Division issued an order for release of the paintings. On November 5,
1947, he wrote: "You are authorized to release to the custody and
control of Miss Eve Tucker, MFA&A representative of this Division
approximately two hundred (200) paintings presently stored in the Military
Government Warehouse in Salzburg."65 Identification of the paintings was limited to physical location and one
short phrase describing the paintings as being "allegedly of
Hungarian origin."66
Between November 6 and November 11, 1947, Evelyn Tucker made her visit
to Salzburg. Upon returning to Vienna she reported:
Paintings (allegedly Hungarian) in MG Warehouse. Went to the
warehouse in company with Major Langer and Mr. Kennedy to inspect the
paintings (which had been estimated at around 200), which were stored
upstairs in the 'gold room.'67
In the MG warehouse Tucker found not 200, but 1,181 paintings, all of
which were apparently of Hungarian origin. The 200 paintings mentioned in
the November 5, 1947 instruction had not been found on the Gold Train but
in the Castle Fischhorn, where the Nazis established a repository of
artworks looted from Central Europe. In 1946 these paintings were removed
from the Castle and combined with paintings from the Gold Train in the MG
warehouse. (Top of Page)
The military authorities believed that none of the paintings was of
significant value and treated them accordingly. Evelyn Tucker however,
believed otherwise:
The idea that these paintings were worthless is fallacious - how
this idea could have grown and been given any credence is unknown
inasmuch as no inventory appears to exist and very few people seemed
to know of their existence. Major Langer insisted when I first
approached him on these paintings that there were no such paintings in
the warehouse...yet when he dictated the receipt to his secretary the
next day he added (not for inclusion in the receipt) value $10.00. I
smiled and said "You will be surprised Major Langer when I tell
you I found a little etching signed "Rembrandt 1639" and a
van Ruysdael "Seascape"….By the time I left Salzburg we
had inventoried about 300 paintings. While I do not profess to be an
art expert, my opinion for what it is worth, is that as a whole the
paintings are not by the best artists though many of them are very
good.68
On January 5, 1949, the 1,181 paintings in the MG warehouse were
transferred into the custody of the Federal Government of Austria pursuant
to a document signed by the Chief of Property Control and Restitution
Branch of the Headquarters of Zone Command Austria and by Joseph Reith, a
minister of the Austrian Government.69 A January 1951 State Department document entitled: "Disposition of
Art Objects and Scientific Works under USFA Control," explained the
transfer:
It is believed that these works had been in the possession of
middle-class Hungarians, many (but not all) of whom were dead. Some of
the survivors continued to live in Hungary, while others had
emigrated. The Austrian Monuments and Fine Arts Office agreed with the
opinion that the artworks were impressive, primarily because of their
number and not because of their known or possible individual value.
There exist doubts here whether they would be of any significance to
any future general exchange agreement of cultural objects among any
nations concerned. In view of their origin and by virtue of the
identity of most of the artists of the oil paintings, insofar as they
are known from signatures, the objects should undoubtedly be
considered Hungarian art. This would place them into the category of
property, which is part of the cultural heritage of a nation and would
ordinarily be returned to that nation. It is believed that it should
be not returned by the U.S. to Hungary at this time in as much as this
would be inconsistent with the action taken in January 1949 under
which the U.S. transferred the matter of restitution claims affecting
alleged Hungarian properties located in the U.S. Zone of Austria to
the Austrian Government. Such transfer would further almost certainly
produce strong objections on the part of the Austrian Government for
the reason that Austria and its nationals have lost many assets of all
types in Hungary by virtue of postwar Hungarian legislation and feel
that they should be given the opportunity of strengthening their
bargaining position in an expected general settlement between the two
nations.70
In another document prepared on March 26, 1952 called
"Confidential Security Information," and subtitled:
"Hungarian Cultural Property in U.S. Custody," the State
Department’s Ardelia Hall wrote:
I would like to propose that all cultural property of Hungarian
ownership will be held indefinitely for eventual return to the
rightful owners and that this fact should be broadcast to Hungary.
Hungarian cultural property includes:
1) Hungarian library, under seizure by the Alien Property
Custodian, stored at Columbia University;
2) The 1176 paintings from the Hungarian Gold Train now in U.S.
control, stored in the Residenz Depot, Salzburg, Austria;
3) The Crown of St. Stephen and related objects.
I was informed by the last MFA&A officer in Austria that the
names of the individual owners and addresses in Hungary were attached
to the paintings. Should I find evidence of ownership of these 1176
paintings when I go to Salzburg, I would suggest that the detailed
list of the objects and owners, painting by painting should be
broadcast to Hungary with the statement that the property is held
under trusteeship for eventual return to the owners"71
No such detailed list of paintings was ever sent to Budapest. The last
mention of the paintings was in the report of a meeting on June 3, 1953,
when Dr. Otto Demus, the Chairman of the Federal Monuments Office of
Austria (Bundesdenkmalamt), visited Washington and met with Ardelia Hall
and George Freimarck of the Department of State. The Memorandum of
Conversation states that:
according to Dr. Demus and Miss Hall, there are two other
‘blocks’ of art objects whose ownership is either in doubt or not
Austrian property. These are a collection of 'some 1500 paintings'
which are presently housed in a mine near Bad Aussee and a collection
of 967 paintings from the former Munich Collecting Point.72
In fact, there is no evidence that the United States government ever
informed the Hungarians about the existence of the paintings.
1. The Exception
Only one fully documented case of restitution of paintings from the
Gold Train exists. On September 20, 1945 trustees for Mrs. Joli Gergely
initiated a claim with the U.S. Legation in Switzerland for the return of
their client’s property. They alleged that jewelry, linen, lace,
clothes, silverware and paintings belonging to Mrs. Gergely had been
loaded on the Gold Train. Her trustees explained that their client, a
"non-aryan," left Hungary to escape persecution and took up
residence in Switzerland some years before. Her husband remained in
Hungary and died there.73 Nikolaus von
Csillaghy, a friend of the Gergely family, took care of their property.
On February 8, 1946 Mrs. Gergely’s trustees sent the American
authorities a detailed list of their client’s property and the results
of their investigation:
Every piece of the luggage is the property of our customer, Mrs.
Joli Gergely. The trunks were, however, marked outside as being the
property of Mr. Nikolaus von Csillaghy, a friend of Mrs. Gergely, and
who at the time attended to the transport of the luggage. The car
55438 containing the property of our client, has been unloaded at the
goodstation in Salzburg-Lehen ("Heereszeugmagazin") on 24th of July 1945. Lieutenant Colonel Heller, an American subject, and his
secretary Miss Schnee dealt with the matter. When submitting the
inventory of the luggage, Mr. Von Csillaghy discussed the matter with
Lieutenant Colonel Heller….Basing on this discussion it should be
possible to proceed with the investigations about the property of our
client’s luggage.74
Although the Chief of RD & R Branch informed the Property Control
Officer that "it is the opinion in this office that this property
could be released to the individual concerned…,"75 the Property Control Officer replied that:
the property of Mrs. Joli Gergely which was taken into custody with
the Werfen Train material is still in the possession of this office;
however, the identification of the subject property will be most
difficult. Officers who were formerly in charge of the Property
Control Warehouse in Salzburg, believed that the material could not be
identified and restituted. Therefore, in order to preserve clothing,
linens, etc., such articles were removed from their original
containers, treated with moth-repellent and placed in new boxes.76
Despite the confusion, on February 2, 1948 the Property Control and
Restitution Section of the Headquarters of the Zone Command of Austria
returned four paintings and one icon to Mrs. Joli Gergely and three
paintings to Mr. Nikolaus von Csillaghy.77 Thus, only eight of the 27 works in the luggage of Von Csillaghy/Gergely,
seized on the Gold Train by U.S. forces in 1945, were ever found and
returned. (Top of Page)
This report on the disposition of the assets of the Hungarian Jewish
community captured by the U.S. forces with the Gold Train highlights some
of the shortcomings in the restitution efforts of the American forces in
Austria. These shortcomings included the designation of victims’ assets
as "unidentifiable" and their restitution as
"impracticable" when that was not necessarily the case; the
appropriation of victims’ assets by American officers for personal use;
the sale of victims’ assets through the Army Exchange; the
unresponsiveness of the American forces to efforts by the Hungarian
government and the Hungarian Jewish community to reclaim their assets; and
the transfer of Hungarian paintings to the Austrian government.
Responsibility for these actions does not rest exclusively with the
American forces in Austria; in most cases, high-ranking officials in
Washington sanctioned their decisions, and in the case of non-cultural
assets, these decisions legitimately implemented enunciated policy.
But what purposes were served by these policies and decisions? Only
part of the explanation can lie in post-war politics. While documentation
shows that the decision to treat Austria as Nazi-occupied from March 1938
motivated leaving valuables hostage in Austria to be used in war claim
negotiations, this should never have applied to cultural property,
especially that of Nazi victims. Nor does the move toward communist
domination of Hungary provide a total explanation. Until 1948, when the
Hungarian restitution mission was expelled from the U.S. Zones in Germany
and Austria, Hungary was actually treated better than some countries on
the free side of the Iron Curtain.78
In the end, there may be no single explanation of why the property of
the Hungarian Jewish community was so readily dispersed. But the fact
remains that the application of several policies to the various assets
aboard the Gold Train assured that the property was never returned to its
rightful owners.
1 |
There are
other trains in the lore of restitution of assets to Hungary.
There was a so-called "Silver Train," another "Gold
Train" that carried gold from the Hungarian Central Bank, and
an "Art Treasure Train," that bore paintings from the
Hungarian National Gallery back to Budapest. But, none of these is
the Gold Train found in Werfen. |
2 |
NARA, RG 59,
Lot 62D-4, Box 28, Problem: External Restitution of Cultural
Property, "Title 18, Change No. 1, 12 February 1947, Part I.
Policy and Organization." |
3 |
NARA, RG 59,
Lot 62D-4, Box 28, Problem: External Restitution of Cultural
Property, "Extension of Restitution to Austria and Satellite
Countries," March 4, 1946. |
4 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation to Budapest, Box 4, Letter of the
Central Board of Jews in Hungary to the Department of State, July
28, 1947. |
5 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation to Budapest, Box 4, Letter of the
Central Board of Jews in Hungary to the Department of State, July
28, 1947. |
6 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation to Budapest, Box 4, Letter of the
Central Board of Jews in Hungary to the Department of State, July
28, 1947. |
7 |
NARA, RG 84,
POLAD- USCOA Records, Papers of the U.S. Legation to Austria, Box
106, Cable of General Marshall to the U.S. Legation to Budapest,
July 27, 1948. |
8 |
NARA, RG 59,
Box 61, not dated. |
9 |
NARA, RG 84,
POLAD- USCOA Records, Papers of the U.S. Legation to Austria, Box
106, Cable of General Marshall to the U.S. Legation to Budapest,
July 27, 1948. The IGCR was succeeded by the Preparatory Committee
for the International Refugee Organization (PCIRO). |
10 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 65, Letter of the
Temporary Managing Committee of Central Bureau of Hungarian Jews,
December 20, 1945. |
11 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 65, Letter of the
Temporary Managing Committee of Central Bureau of Hungarian Jews,
December 20, 1945. |
12 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 65, Letter of the
Temporary Managing Committee of Central Bureau of Hungarian Jews,
December 20, 1945. |
13 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 65, Letter of the
Temporary Managing Committee of Central Bureau of Hungarian Jews,
December 20, 1945. |
14 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 65, Letter of the
Temporary Managing Committee of Central Bureau of Hungarian Jews,
December 20, 1945. |
15 |
NARA, RG 84,
Box 103, File 840.1, Papers of U.S. Legation in Budapest. Letter
of H.F. Arthur-Schoenfeld, the U.S. Envoy to Hungary to the
Secretary of State, January 2, 1946. |
16 |
NARA, RG 84,
Box 103, File 840.1, Papers of U.S. Legation in Budapest, Telegram
# 43 from U.S. Polad, Berlin, July 7, 1946. |
17 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 4, Telegram of the
Central Board of Jews in Hungary to the Department of State,
February 21, 1947. |
18 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 4, Telegram of the
Central Board of Jews in Hungary to the Department of State,
February 21, 1947. |
19 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 4, Letter of the
Central Board of Jews in Hungary and the Autonomous Orthodox
Israelitic Religious Bodies in Hungary to the U.S. Legation in
Budapest, February 26, 1947. |
20 |
NARA, RG 84,
Box 4, Letter to the Department of State from the Central Board of
Jews of Hungary, July 28, 1947. |
21 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 4, Letter of the
Central Board of Jews in Hungary and the Autonomous Orthodox
Israelitic Religious Bodies in Hungary to the U.S. Legation in
Budapest, February 26, 1947. |
22 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 4, Robert S. Folson
of U.S. Legation in Budapest to Central Board of Jews in Hungary,
May 19, 1947. |
23 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 4, Cable of General
Marshall, May 29, 1947. |
24 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 4, Letter of U.S.
Legation to the Central Board of Jews in Hungary, May 19, 1947. |
25 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 4, Cable of General
Marshall, May 29, 1947. |
26 |
NARA, RG 84,
Box 4, Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest. Letter to the
Department of State from the Central Board of Jews in Hungary,
July 28, 1947. |
27 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 4, Letter to the
Department of State from the Central Board of Jews in Hungary,
July 28, 1947. |
28 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 4, Letter to the
Department of State from the Central Board of Jews in Hungary,
July 28, 1947. |
29 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Budapest, Box 4, Telegram to the
Department of State, October 23, 1947. |
30 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Austria, Box 106, Letter of the
Department of State to the U.S. Legation Budapest July 27, 1948. |
31 |
NARA, RG 84,
Papers of the U.S. Legation in Austria, Box 106, Letter of the
Department of State to the U.S. Legation Budapest July 27, 1948. |
32 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Subject: Inventory of Furniture and Furnishing (Maj. Gen.
H. J. Collins, Military Governor, Land Salzburg) in Room 102-103
Courthouse, Supplied by Office of Property Control, Land Salzburg.
July 31, 1945. |
33 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Subject: Inventory of Furniture and Furnishing (Maj. Gen.
H. J. Collins, Military Governor, Land Salzburg) in Room 102-103
Courthouse, Supplied by Office of Property Control, Land Salzburg.
July 31, 1945. |
34 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Memorandum to Lieutenant Colonel Homer K. Heller. August
28, 1945. |
35 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, List of Objects Received from Lt. Col. Homer K. Heller
from Werfen Train, for the use of Maj. General Harry J. Collins in
his private dining Car. Not dated. |
36 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Subject: Inventory of Furniture and Furnishing (Maj. Gen.
H. J. Collins, Military Governor, Land Salzburg) in Room 102-103
Courthouse, Supplied by Office of Property Control, Land Salzburg.
July 31, 1945. |
37 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Rugs removed from Military Government Warehouse MAXGLAN,
Salzburg by order of Maj. Gen. Harry J. Collins for use in his
villa MARIA THERESIEN SCHLOSS. Not dated. |
38 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, List of Material Loaned from Property Control Warehouse.
Not dated. |
39 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Subject: Property of Werfen-Train in Military Government
Warehouse. March 8, 1946. |
40 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Subject: Property of Werfen-Train in Military Government
Warehouse. March 8, 1946. |
41 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Purchase of Merchandise, November 6, 1945. |
42 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Purchase of Merchandise, November 6, 1945. |
43 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Purchase of Merchandise, November 6, 1945. |
44 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Letter from Legal Division to RD&R Division Property
Control Branch, November 14, 1945. |
45 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Letter from the Chief of Legal Division to RD&R
Division Property Control Branch, November 19, 1945. |
46 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Letter from RD&R Division Property Control Branch to
the Chief of Legal Division. December 8, 1945. |
47 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Subject: Werfen Train Rugs and Furs, November 18, 1946. |
48 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Subject: Werfen Train Rugs and Furs, November 18, 1946. |
49 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Storage Depreciation of Rugs and Furs Taken From Hungarian
Loot Train. November 29, 1946. |
50 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Subject: Werfen Train Clothing, March 5, 1946. |
51 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Subject: Werfen Train Clothing, March 5, 1946. |
52 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 77, USACA Records, RD & R Division, Property Control
Branch, Subject: Missing Property. October 2, 1946. |
53 |
"Vast
Loot of Nazis Will Be Sold Here", NYT, 5/22/48 |
54 |
"Vast
Loot of Nazis Will Be Sold Here", NYT, 5/22/48 |
55 |
"Sale
of Loot Tops All Expectations", NYT, 06/23/48. |
56 |
"Vast
Loot of Nazis Will Be Sold Here", NYT, 5/22/48 |
57 |
"Sale
of Loot Tops All Expectations", NYT, 06/23/48. |
58 |
"Sale
of Loot Tops All Expectations", NYT, 06/23/48. |
59 |
"Sale
of Loot Tops All Expectations", NYT, 06/23/48. |
60 |
"Sale
of Loot Tops All Expectations", NYT, 06/23/48. |
61 |
"Nazi
Loot Brings $31,520," NYT, 06/25/48. |
62 |
The
Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Office operated as a program of
the War Department under the Civil Affairs Division. MFA&A
Officers coordinated protection of European monuments and the
safeguarding of art and cultural property. After the war the
MFA&A Officers worked with the Military Governments of Germany
and Austria on restitution matters. |
63 |
James J.
Rorimer, Survival. The Salvage and Protection of Art in War (New
York: Aberlard Press, 1950), pp. 155-56. |
64 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 160. USFA General Records, Field Report of Evelyn Tucker
to Hq USFA-USCA RD&R Division Repatriation & Restitution
Branch. October 23, 1947. |
65 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 158, USFA General Records, Subject: Paintings (allegedly
Hungarian) Stored in M.G. Warehouse, Salzburg. November 5, 1947. |
66 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 158, USFA General Records, Subject: Paintings (allegedly
Hungarian) Stored in M.G. Warehouse, Salzburg. November 5, 1947. |
67 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 160, USFA General Records, Field Report of Evelyn Tucker
to Hq USFA-USCA RD&R Division Repatriation & Restitution
Branch for the period November 6-11, 1947. |
68 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 160, USFA General Records, Field Report of Evelyn Tucker
to Hq USFA-USCA RD&R Division Repatriation & Restitution
Branch for the period November 6-11, 1947. |
69 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 100, USACA Records, Transfer Receipt from USFA to
Austria, January 5, 1949. |
70 |
NARA, RG 59,
Box 16, Disposition of Art Objects and Scientific Works under USFA
Control. From Walter Dowling, the Deputy High Commissioner to the
Department of State. 01.12. 1951. |
71 |
NARA, RG 59,
Box 17, Confidential - Security Information. Hungarian Cultural
Property in U.S. Government Custody, March 26, 1952. While the
numbers differ, (Hall, 1176 paintings; Tucker 1181 paintings) both
women are referring to the same group of Gold Train paintings. |
72 |
NARA, RG 59,
Box 16, Department of State, Memorandum of Conversation. Subject:
Identification and Restitution of Art Treasures Currently in
Austria. Participants: Miss Ardelia Hall – ICS, Department,
George Freimarck – WE/P, Department, Dr. Otto Demus – Chairman
of Federal Monuments Office of Austria, June 3, 1953. |
73 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 99, USACA Records, USFA Reparation and Restitution
Branch, Letter of Fides Union Fiduciary to the U.S. Legation in
Bern. September 20, 1945. |
74 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 29, USACA Records, USFA Reparation and Restitution
Branch, Letter of Fides Union Fiduciary to the Allied Military
Government, Salzburg, February 8, 1946. |
75 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 99, USACA Records, USFA, RD & R Division, Property
Control Branch, Subject: Personal Property and Werfen Train.
October 3, 1946. |
76 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 99, USACA Records, USFA, RD & R Division, Property
Control Branch, Subject: Personal Property and Werfen Train.
October 18, 1946. |
77 |
NARA, RG
260, Box 99, USACA Records, USFA, Reparations and Restitution
Branch, Restitution Receipt for Paintings Belonging to Nikolaus
von Csillaghy and Joli Gergely, February 2, 1948. |
78 |
For example,
paintings valued at $20 million from the so-called "Silver
Train" were restituted to Hungary. |
Source: Presidential Commission on Holocaust Assets in the US
|