Letter to Alfred Rosenberg on the confiscation of the property of "ideological opponents" (including churches and monasteries, noting objections by Heydrich and Hitler's instructions about art works in the Balkans and libraries

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Authors

Martin Bormann (Chief, Party Chancellery, deputy to Hess, then Hitler)

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Martin Bormann

German Nazi Party official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery (1900-1945)

Image of Martin Bormann
  • Born: 1900-07-17 1900-06-17 (Halberstadt)
  • Died: 1945-05-02 (Berlin)
  • Country of citizenship: German Empire; Nazi Germany; Weimar Republic
  • Occupation: farmer; military personnel; politician
  • Member of political party: Nazi Party
  • Member of: Schutzstaffel
  • Participant in: Aryanization; International Military Tribunal (role: defendant; since: 1945-11-19)
  • Military rank: Obergruppenführer; soldier

Date: 19 April 1941

Defendants: Martin Bormann, Alfred Rosenberg

Total Pages: 1

Language of Text: English

Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)

Evidence Code: PS-072

Citations: IMT (page 255), IMT (page 6122)

HLSL Item No.: 450426

Notes:Another copy of PS 72 was entered as US exhibit 357.

Trial Issues

Art and cultural treasures, plundering of (Rosenberg; Linz project) (IMT) Conspiracy (and Common plan, in IMT) (IMT, NMT 1, 3, 4) IMT count 1: common plan or conspiracy (IMT) Nazi regime (rise, consolidation, economic control, and militarization) (I… Persecution of political, religious, and ethnic ("racial") groups (IMT, NM…

Document Summary

Red Series Doc Descriptions

PS-72: Letter from Bormann to Rosenberg, 19 April 1941, concerning the treatment of property belonging to opponents of national socialist ideology

NATIONAL SOCIALIST GERMAN WORKERS PARTY The Deputy of the Fuehrer, Staff Commander
Fuehrer Headquarters 19 April 1941
Fuehrer Bureau (Bo/Fu) Chancellory Rosenberg No 4609 H, 21 April 41 Shown to the Reichsleiter on the 22. 4 [rubber stamp]
To Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg Berlin W 35, Margaretenstr. 17 Copy to Utikal
Dear party member Rosenberg!
In connection with the received draft of the decree I attended, as ordered, a speech made by SS Brig. Gen. Heydrich. The latter called attention to the fact that the sentence, "In the confiscations undertaken, or to be undertaken in the Reich area, of the property of ideological opponents, the same rules apply", anticipates a regulation which has so far not been introduced and would for the first time set a precedent through this decree-draft. Moreover, the regional governments [Gauleitungen] are never allowed to carry out confiscations.
Gruppenfuehrer Heydrich further pointed out that he could under no circumstances recognize the attempted regulation in the final sentence of your decree-draft, since there existed some objections to it. The scientific treatment of the ideological opposition could only be done in conjunction with the political police work. Only the material should be handed over to you, and the seminar respectively. If a speedier treatment through your office is necessary, duplicates and photocopies should be put at your disposal.
The Fuehrer emphasized that in the Balkans the use of your experts would not be necessary, since there were no art-objects to be confiscated. In Belgrade only the collection of Prince Paul existed, which would be returned to him completely. The remaining material of the lodges, etc. would be seized by the agencies of Gruppenfuehrer Heydrich.
The libraries and art objects of the monasteries, confiscated in the Reich, were to remain for the time being in these monasteries, insofar as the Gauleiters had not determined otherwise. After the war, a careful examination of the stock could be undertaken. Under no circumstances, however, should a centralization of all the libraries be undertaken, the Fuehrer has repeatedly rejected this suggestion. signed: M. BORMANN
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