Otto Wittmann papers relating to the Art Looting Investigation Unit of the United States Office of Strategic Services

Reports related to art looting during World War II, Series I. 1944-1950

Physical Description: 1.67 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Language of Material: English.

Arrangement

Series I. Reports related to art looting in Europe during World War II is arranged into two subseries: Series II.A. Reports of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU); Series I.B. Other reports.

Scope and Contents

The series consists of reports related to art looting that were prepared by the Art Investigation Looting Unit (ALIU) of the OSS and reports prepared by other allied agencies, including the Commission for the Protection and Restitution of Cultural Material in London. It appears that the reports were received by Otto Wittmann during his employment at the OSS and also gathered in 1990-1991, when he placed orders with the National Archives to receive copies of all the reports prepared by the ALIU.

Reports of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU), Series I.A. 1945-1946

Physical Description: 1.25 Linear Feet (3 boxes)

Scope and Contents

The primary work accomplished by the ALIU of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was to issue twelve Detailed Interrogation Reports (DIRs), three Consolidation Interrogation Reports (CIRS), and a Final Report, issued in May 1946, all of which are included in the collection of papers. Several other reports were prepared after Spring 1946, such as an unnumbered DIR on Hans Wendland, which was produced by Otto Wittmann in collaboration with Bernard Taper of the MFA&A and a report of the mission that Otto Wittmann accomplished between June and September 1946 in Europe.

To see online these reports and further descriptions of the mission of the ALIU, see the National Archives, where the reports were deposited, and related descriptions of these reports: https://www.archives.gov/ In particular, see: https://www.archives.gov/research/holocaust/art/oss-art-looting-investigation-unit-reports.html

Arrangement

Series I.A. Reports of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU) is arranged into four groupings: Detailed Interrogation Reports (DIRs), Consolidated Interrogation Reports (CIRs), Final report; Other reports.

Detailed Interrogation Reports (DIRs), 1945-1946

Scope and Contents

Included here are DIR nos. 1-7, 9-13, which were issued by the ALIU. A DIR no. 8 on Kajetan Muehlmann's role in the organized German looting of art of Poland and the Netherlands was also contemplated, but became a US-Dutch collaborative endeavor that had not issued a report at the time of the ALIU's final report. A DIR no. 14 on Maria Dietrich was planned, but in the end not issued, with the account of her activities incorporated into CIR no. 4. A DIR no. 15 on Rose Bauer, the secretary of Kajetan Muehlmann, was contemplated, but ultimately not issued.

Box 3, Folder 1

DIR no. 1: Heinrich Hoffmann, 1945 July 1

Scope and Contents

Author: Theodore Rousseau, Jr. Lieutenant, USNR.

Box 3, Folder 2

DIR no. 2: Ernst Buchner, 1945 July 31

Scope and Contents

Author: Theodore Rousseau, Jr. Lieutenant, USNR.

Box 3, Folder 3

DIR no. 3: Robert Scholz, 1945 August 15

Scope and Contents

Author: J. S. Plaut, Lieutenant, USNR Director.

Box 3, Folder 4

DIR no. 4: Gustav Rochlitz, 1945 August 15

Scope and Contents

Author: J. S. Plaut, Lieutenant, USNR Director.

Box 3, Folder 5

DIR no. 5: Gunther Schiedlausky, 1945 August 15

Scope and Contents

Author: J. S. Plaut, Lieutenant, USNR Director.

Box 3, Folder 6

DIR no. 6: Bruno Lohse, 1945 August 15

Scope and Contents

Author: Theodore Rousseau, Jr. Lieutenant, USNR.

Box 3, Folder 7

DIR no. 7: Gisela Limberger, 1945 September 15

Scope and Contents

Author: Theodore Rousseau, Jr. Lieutenant, USNR.

Box 3, Folder 8

DIR no. 9: Walter Andreas Hofer, 1945 September 15

Scope and Contents

Author: Theodore Rousseau, Jr. Lieutenant, USNR.

Box 3, Folder 9

DIR no. 10: Karl Kress, 1945 August 15

Scope and Contents

Author: J. S. Plaut, Lieutenant, USNR Director.

Box 3, Folder 10

DIR no. 11: Walter Bornheim, 1945 September 15

Scope and Contents

Author: Theodore Rousseau, Jr. Lieutenant, USNR.

Box 3, Folder 11

DIR no. 12: Herman Voss, 1945 September 15

Scope and Contents

Author: S. L. Faison, Jr., Lieutenant, USNR.

Box 3, Folder 12

DIR no. 13: Karl Haberstock, 1946 May 1

Scope and Contents

Author: Theodore Rousseau, Jr. Lt. Comdr., USNR.

Box 3, Folder 13

Report A: Wildenstein

Box 3, Folder 14

Report B: Adolf Wuester, 1945

Box 3, Folder 15

Combined Index of Detailed Reports

Scope and Contents

Combined Index of Detailed Reports including Wildenstein (A) and Wuester (B); nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, A, B.

Box 3, Folder 15

Indices

Scope and Contents

Indexes to DIR nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12; Index to Miedl Reports; B (Adolf Wuester)

Consolidated Interrogation Reports (CIRs), 1945

Scope and Contents

Included here are the three CIRs that were issued: CIR no. 1, 2, 4. The ALIU did not compile CIR no. 3 on German methods of acquisition, due to serious limitations in time and personnel, as stated in the unit's final report.

Box 1, Folder 1-2

CIR no. 1: Activity of the Einsatzstab Rosenberg in France, 1945 August 15

Scope and Contents

Author: J. S. Plaut, Lieutenant, USNR Director.

Box 1, Folder 1

Index

Box 1, Folder 2

Report

Box 1, Folder 2

Attachments 1-19

Box 1, Folder 3-11

CIR no. 2: The Goering Collection, 1945 September 15

Scope and Contents

Author: Theodore Rousseau, Jr. Lieutenant, USNR.

Box 1, Folder 3

Index

Box 1, Folder 2-8

Report

Box 1, Folder 9-11

Attachments 1-70

Box 2, Folder 1-2

CIR no. 4: Linz: Hitler's Museum and Library, 1945 December 15

Scope and Contents

Author: S. L. Faison, Jr., Lieutenant, USNR.

Box 2, Folder 1

Index

Box 2, Folder 2

Report

Box 2, Folder 3-6

Attachments 1-82

Box 2, Folder 7

Supplement

Scope and Contents

Author: S. L. Faison, Jr. Lt., Comdr. USNR.

Box 3, Folder 16

Final report, 1946 May 1

Other reports, 1945-1946

Scope and Contents

Other reports, including reports prepared by Otto Wittmann and Bernard Taper after the ALIU had issued its final report in May 1946, are found here.

Box 3, Folder 17

Report on progress of special art loot investigation at Alt Aussee during the period 8-30 June 1945, 1945 June 30

Scope and Contents

Author: James S. Plaut, Lieutenant, USNR.

Box 3, Folder 18

Report: Subject: Hans van Meegeren, 1945 November 8

Box 3, Folder 19

DIR: Hans Wendland, 1946 September 18

Scope and Contents

Authors: Otto Wittmann, Jr. for SSU and Bernard Taper for MFA&A.

Box 3, Folder 20

ALIU: Final mission to Europe (10 June 1946-24 September 1946), 1946 October 14

Scope and Contents

Author: Otto Wittmann, Jr.

Other reports, Series I.B. 1944-1950

Physical Description: 0.42 Linear Feet (1 box)

Scope and Contents

The archive includes reports prepared by agencies other than the ALIU of the OSS, in the United States, England, and France, including reports from the Roberts Commission, the Commission for the Protection and Restitution of Cultural Material in London and the DGER in France.

Arrangement

Series I.B. Other reports is arranged according to the following groupings: United States, England, and France.

United States

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Contents

The reports are listed in chronological order.

Box 4, Folder 1

Civil Affairs Guide: Field Protection of Objects of Art and Archives, 1944 May 12

Scope and Contents

Report of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas.

Box 4, Folder 2

German Universities. Faculties of Art History, 1944

Scope and Contents

Corrections and additions are from AMG-77, Revised list of German personnel, dated 27 November 1944.

Box 4, Folder 3

Appreciation of Enemy Methods of Looting Works of Art in Occupied Territory, 1945 March 20

Scope and Contents

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force G-5 Division.

Box 4, Folder 4

Collection of German Letters and Memoranda Pertaining to Confiscation of European Art Treasures, 1945 May 19

Scope and Contents

Secured by 1st Lt. James J. Rorimer, G-5 Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Officer, Seventh Army from Dr. Schiedlausky and Bruno Lohse.

Box 4, Folder 5

Looted Art in Occupied Territories: Neutral Countries and Latin America, 1945 August

Scope and Contents

Revised. Foreign economic administration. Enemy Branch: External Economic Security Staff.

Box 4, Folder 6

Decision of the ERR in answer to the protest of the 26 July 1941 made by the general commission for Jewish questions of the French government made against the confiscation of art treasures in Jewish possession, 1945 August 9 (1941)

Scope and Contents

Gerhard Utikal, ERR, 3 November 1941; translation by Mrs. R. Phelps, 9 August 1945

Box 4, folder 7

Report of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas, 1946

Box 4, Folder 7

MFA&A address list, 1946

Scope and Contents

Author: Edith Standen; Received: October 1950.

Box 4, Folder 8

Report: Subject: Carl W. Buemming, 1947 January 17

Scope and Contents

Author: Bernard B. Taper, Art Intelligence Officer.

Box 4, Folder 9

Temporary retention in the United States of certain German paintings, 1948 March 4, April 16

Scope and Contents

Hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate.

England

Scope and Contents

Included is a report by Douglas Cooper and reports from the Commission for the Protection and Restitution of Cultural Material, London.

Box 4, Folder 10

Report on the German Kunstschutz In Italy between 1943 and 1945, 1945 June 30

Scope and Contents

Author: Douglas Cooper.

Box 4, Folder 11

List of French valuers, auctioneers and auction firms, based on Volume II. Kunstpresverzeichnis (1940-1941), Berlin, 1943. 1946 July 16

Box 4, Folder 11

List of French art dealers, 1945 July 16

France

Scope and Contents

Included are reports from the DGER (Direction générale des études et recherches).

Box 4, Folder 12

Liste des membres de l'organisation Rosenberg à travers les pays occupés et en Allemagne à la date du 9 novembre 1943

Box 4, Folder 12

Personnel Linsatzstat Rosenberg

Box 4, Folder 12

Main mise allemande sur les œuvres d'art françaises

Scope and Contents

Ref: 32-1-10/DocVII/RC. Organe de recherches des criminels de guerre: section des études culturelles: bulletin de renseignements.

Box 4, Folder 13

Recueil de documents français et allemands

Scope and Contents

Recueil de documents français et allemands classés chronologiquement concernant la saisie des œuvres d'art et matériel culturel en général, en contravention avec la convention de La Haye (Article 46).

Personal papers, Series II. 1933-1997

Physical Description: 1.25 Linear Feet (3 boxes)

Scope and Contents

In the personal files are kept documentation on Otto Wittmann's military draft beginning in 1941, papers related to the work he performed during his employment in the OSS, which was dismantled and folded into a unit named Strategic Services Unit, and files that testify to his career-long interest in the mission of the OSS related to art looting in Europe during World War II. The series includes the Detailed Interrogation Report that Wittmann prepared on Wendland in collaboration with Bernard Taper of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section (MFA&A); the report on Wittmann's mission in Europe during the summer of 1946; as well as background material to the reports. The files related to ALIU are in folders labeled ORION, named after the hunter in Greek mythology, which was the code name for the unit.

Arrangement

Series II. Otto Wittmann personal papers are arranged into two subseries: Series II.A. Personal files related to World War II; Series II.B. Post-war papers. For further documentation on Otto Wittmann, see his papers held at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian. Note: the files for the war years are often labeled Strategic Services Unit, rather than OSS, as this was the official name of the unit during Wittmann's employment.

Personal files related to World War II, Series II.A. 1933-1946

Physical Description: 0.83 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Scope and Contents

Otto Wittmann personal files related to World War II document his military service and the mission in Europe during his employment in the Stragetic Services Unit.

Arrangement

Series II.A. Papers related to World War II is divided into three groupings: General; Army records; Employment in the Strategic Services Unit.

General, 1933-1946

Box 5, Folder 1

Resumes, 1944, 1946

Box 5, Folder 2

Address books, 1933-1944, 1939, 1944

Army records, 1944-1952

Box 5, Folder 3

Summary notes, undated

Box 5, Folder 4-5

Appointment documents, 1942-1952

Employment in the Strategic Services Unit, 1946

Arrangement

Employment in the Strategic Services Unit is arranged into four groupings: General; Correspondence; Writings; Research files.

General, 1946

Box 5, Folder 6

Summary notes, undated

Box 5, Folder 7

Photograph, 1946

Box 5, Folder 8-9

Appointment documents, 1946

Box 5, Folder 10-11

Address books, 1946

Box 5, Folder 12

Diary, 1946

Box 5, Folder 13

Travel documentation, 1946

Box 5, Folder 14

Brief dictionary of German intelligence and police terms, undated

Box 5, Folder 15

Pay + tax, 1946

Correspondence, 1946

Scope and Contents

The files include letters sent to and/or received from George Baker, Avery B. Cohan, Harry Conover, A. S. Henraux, Lamont Moore, James S. Plaut, Paul J. Sachs and the following institutions: Department of State, War Department, Fogg Art Museum, National Gallery of Art, and diplomatic services in Europe.

Box 5, Folder 16

1946 February-1946 May

Box 5, Folder 17

1946 June

Box 5, Folder 18

1946 July

Box 5, Folder 19

1946 August

Box 5, Folder 20

1946 September

Box 5, Folder 21

1946 October-1946 November

Box 5, Folder 22

Photocopies

Writings, 1946

Box 6, Folder 1

Typescript, 1946

Scope and Contents

Typescript for article in Magazine of Art.

Box 6, Folder 2

Detailed Interrogation Report: Hans Wendland, 1946 September 18

Scope and Contents

Authors: Otto Wittmann, Jr. for SSU and Bernard Taper for MFA&A.

Box 6, Folder 3

Art Looting Investigation Unit: Final mission to Europe (10 June 1946-24 September 1946), 1946 October 14

Scope and Contents

Author: Otto Wittmann, Jr.

Research files, 1946

Box 6, Folder 4-5

Background material to Wendland report, 1946

Box 6, Folder 6

France and Germany, 1946

Box 6, Folder 7-10

X2 Project (Orion), 1946

Post-war papers, Series II.B. 1946-1998

Physical Description: 0.42 Linear Feet (1 box)

Scope and Contents

The post-war records include correspondence in which Wittmann discusses his war experience, as well as lecture notes and research files related to the topic of art looting during World War II.

Arrangement

Series II.B. Post-war papers is arranged into five groupings: Correspondence; Lectures; Writings; Research files; Miscellaneous.

Correspondence, 1958-1998

Box 7, Folder 1

Archives of American Art, 1990

Box 7, Folder 2

Erburu, Robert and Paul Gottlieb, 1995

Box 7, Folder 3

Hall, Ardelia, 1958

Box 7, Folder 4

Naftali, Timothy, 1997-1998

Scope and Contents

Relates to Oral History Project.

Box 7, Folder 5

National Archives, Washington D.C., 1990-1991

Scope and Contents

Relates to the declassification of OSS reports.

Box 7, Folder 6

Sawyer, Charles. H., 1985

Scope and Contents

Charles H. Sawyer letters related to his role in the OSS, with copy of letter from Sawyer to Naftanali, 1985.

Box 7, Folder 7

Smyth, Craig H., 1990 August 31

Box 7, Folder 8

Miscellaneous, 1986-1992

Lectures, 1949-1971

Scope and Contents

The files include lectures related to the traveling exhibition European Masterpieces from Berlin Museums, whose ten-day venue in Toledo attracted over 100,000 visitors, and for which heightened security had to be organized in part because of the lingering animosity of visitors against Germany.

Box 7, Folder 9

Toledo Chapter, Reserve Officers Association, 1949 March 7

Box 7, Folder 10

Toledo Artists Club, 1949 May 29

Box 7, Folder 11

Aides, 1971 May 3

Scope and Contents

Lecture titled "Art and War."

Writings, 1995-1997

Box 7, Folder 12

"Spoils of War: Restitution or Trophy?," The American Society of the French Legion of Honor Newsletter, 1995

Box 7, Folder 13

"The Getty Center: Its Past, Present & Future," The American Society of the French Legion of Honor Newsletter, 1997

Research files, 1945-1997

Box 7, Folder 14

Berlin paintings tour in the United States, 1949-1997

Box 7, Folder 15

Johannes Felbermeyer photographic files, Getty Research Center, 1990, undated

Box 7, Folder 16

Göring files, 1945-1995

Box 7, Folder 17

Lynn Nicholas files, 1993-1995

Box 7, Folder 18

Miscellaneous, 1975-1987

Publications related to art looting during World War II, Series III. 1946-1984

Physical Description: 0.27 Linear Feet (9 folders)

Scope and Contents

The publications are primarily exhibition catalogs that testify to the work done shortly after the war in France, Italy and the United States to advertise the recovery effort of artwork looted during the war. Also included are articles by James Plaut, who served as director of the ALIU of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1944-1946.

Arrangement

Series III.B. Publications is arranged into three groupings: Exhibition catalogs; Other publications; Miscellaneous.

Exhibition catalogs, 1945-1984

Scope and Contents

Includes the modest publication of the exhibition catalog for Les chefs-d'œuvre des collections françaises, an exhibition that Wittmann was able to see and that opened in June at the Orangerie in Paris to display artworks returned from Germany and that Wittmann was able to see.

Box 8, folder 1

Works of Art in Italy, 1945

Scope and Contents

Works of Art in Italy: Losses and Survivals in the War. Part I. South of Bologna. London. H.M. Stationery Office, 1945.

Box 8, Folder 2

Les chefs-d'œuvre des collections françaises, 1946

Scope and Contents

Les chefs-d'œuvre des collections françaises retrouvés en Allemagne par la Commission de récuperation artistique et les services alliés , [exposition, Orangerie des Tuileries, juin-aout 1946].

Box 8, Folder 3

War's Toll of Italian Art, 1947

Scope and Contents

War's Toll of Italian Art. An exhibition sponsored by the American Committee for the Restoration of Italian Monuments, [1947].

Box 8, Folder 3

Paintings Looted from Holland, 1948

Scope and Contents

Paintings Looted from Holland Returned through the Efforts of the United States Armed Forces. Exhibition December 7, 1946-January 1, 1948.

Box 8, Folder 4

Masterpieces on Tour, 1948

Scope and Contents

Masterpieces on Tour: 23 German-owned Paintings. Author: Harry A McBride. Washington, D.C. [National Geographic Society], 1948.

Box 8, Folder 5

Recovered Works of Art, 1984

Scope and Contents

Recovered Works of Art : Dedicated to Rodolfo Siviero, Firenze, Palazzo Vecchio, beginning June 29, 1984, Comune di Firenze, Centro Mostre. [Florence]: Cantini edizioni d'arte, 1984.

Other publications, 1945-1947

Box 8, Folder 6

Matthews, Herbert. "Italian Art under Shellfire," May 1945

Box 8, Folder 7

Meiss, Millard. "War's Toll of Italian Art," 1947

Box 8, Folder 8

Plaut, James S. "Retrieving the Loot: The Story of the Nazi Art Thieving Machine," Artnews (August 1946): 15-17. 1946

Box 8, Folder 8

Plaut, James S. "Loot for the Master Race," The Atlantic (September 1946): 57-64. 1946

Box 8, Folder 9

Miscellaneous, undated

Newspaper clippings, Series IV. 1941-2000

Physical Description: 0.55 Linear Feet (12 folders, 1 box)

Scope and Contents

Otto Wittmann gathered news accounts related to Goering, Hitler, the Nuremberg trials, and the Office of Stragetic Services (OSS), as well as post-war discoveries of art looted during World War II. Wittmann indicated that the source of the newspaper clippings, primarily those from 1945, was the office of OSS in Washington, D.C., while some were gathered in other files of his.

Arrangement

Arranged in two groupings: Chronology; Topics. For further clippings related to World War II that were gathered by Otto Wittmann, see Scrapbook in: Otto Wittmann papers, 1932-1996, Archives of American Art, Box 10, Folder 1.

Chronology, 1944-1997

Box 8, Folder 10

Summary notes

Box 8, Folder 11

1944

Box 8, Folder 12-15

1945

Scope and Contents

Includes Time Magazine Special Commemorative Issue (May 14, 1945), XLV: no. 20

Box 8, Folder 16-18

1946

Box 8, Folder 19

1947

Box 8, Folder 20

1948

Box 8, Folder 21

1949

Box 8, Folder 22-23

1971-1997

Topics 1941-2000

Box 9, Folder 1

Army life, 1941-1996

Box 9, Folder 2

Henry Hyde: Obituary, 1997

Box 9, Folder 3

Faison Lane: Obituary, 1997

Box 9, Folder 4-5

Muchnic, Suzanne. "On the Trails of Spoils of War," Los Angeles Times, 1995 June 4, 1995

Scope and Contents

Biography of Otto Wittmann.

Box 9, Folder 6

OSS, undated

Box 9, Folder 7-12

OSS post-war discoveries, 1993-2000