rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich-william-shirer-pdf

850 THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICHreconstruct any industry in the Government General.” 1160By decree of Dr. Frank, all property in Poland belonging not only to Jewsbut to Poles was subject to confiscation without compensation. Hundreds ofthousands of Polish-owned farms were simply grabbed and handed over to Germansettlers. By May 31, 1943, in the four Polish districts annexed to Germany(West Prussia, Posen, Zichenau, Silesia) some 700,000 estates comprising 15million acres were ”seized” and 9,500 estates totaling 6.5 million acres ”confiscated.”The difference between ”seizure” and ”confiscation” is not explained inthe elaborate table prepared by the German ”Central Estate Office,” 1161 and tothe dispossessed Poles it must not have mattered.Even the art treasures in the occupied lands were looted, and, as the capturedNazi documents later revealed, on the express orders of Hitler and Goering, whothereby greatly augmented their ”private” collections. The corpulent ReichMarshal, according to his own estimate, brought his own collection up to avalue of 50 million Reichsmarks. Indeed, Goering was the driving force in thisparticular field of looting. Immediately upon the conquest of Poland he issuedorders for the seizure of art treasures there and within six months the specialcommissioner appointed to carry out his command could report that he hadtaken over ”almost the entire art treasury of the country.” 1162But it was in France where the bulk of the great art treasures of Europelay, and no sooner was this country added to the Nazi conquests than Hitlerand Goering decreed their seizure. To carry out this particular plunder Hitlerappointed Rosenberg, who set up an organization called Einsatzstab Rosenberg,and who was assisted not only by Goering but by General Keitel. Indeed oneorder by Keitel to the Army in France stated that Rosenberg ”is entitled totransport to Germany cultural goods which appear valuable to him and tosafeguard them there. The Fuehrer has reserved for himself the decision as totheir use.” 1163An idea of Hitler’s decision ”as to their use” is revealed in a secret orderissued by Goering on November 5, 1940, specifying the distribution of art objectsbeing collected at the Louvre in Paris. They were ”to be disposed of in thefollowing way”:1. Those art objects about which the Fuehrer has reserved forhimself the decision as to their use.2. Those . . . which serve the completion of the Reich Marshal’s[i.e., Goering’s] collection . . .4. Those . . . that are suited to be sent to German museums. . . 1164The French government protested the looting of the country’s art treasures,declaring that it was a violation of the Hague convention, and when one Germanart expert on Rosenberg’s staff, a Heir Bunjes, dared to call this to the attentionof Goering, the fat one replied:”My dear Bunjes, let me worry about that. I am the highest jurist in thestate. It is my orders which are decisive and you will act accordingly.”And so according to a report of Bunjes – it is his only appearance in thehistory of the Third Reich, so far as the documents show –those art objects collected at the Jeu de Paume which are to gointo the Fuehrer’s possession and those which the Reich Marshal