Copy /B
Reich Ministry for the Occupied Territories of the East
Enclosure 1 Berlin 27 April 1942
To— .
a. Commissar of the Reich for the East Riga
b. Commissar of the Reich for the Ukraine Rowno Subject: Formation of a control unit for the seizure and securing of objects of cultural value in the occupied eastern territories.
There has been established in the Reich Ministry for the occu-
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pied eastern territories a "central bureau for the seizure and securing of objects of cultural value in the occupied eastern territories" to last for a limited period as a special reference department within department I (Political). As head of the central bureau I designate the chief of staff of the "Einsatzstab of Reichsleiter Rosenberg for occupied territories", Party member Utikal. He is directly under the authority of Department I and will carry on this task in addition to his other duties.
On the central bureau devolves the general planning of all projects connected with the seizure and securing of objects of cultural value in the occupied eastern territories and also the supervision of the measures already taken.
Apart from exceptional cases in which the securing of objects of cultural value is exceptionally urgent, the bureau does not concern itself primarily with the securing of objects of cultural value, but rather makes use for the execution of measures of seizure and securing of the "Einsatzstab" of Reichsleiter Rosenberg for the occupied territories; the Einsatzstab will carry on its activities as before in close contact with the competent authorities of the civil administration that come under my jurisdiction.
With the commissars of the Reich a special department within Department II (political) has been set up for a limited time for the seizure and securing of objects of cultural value. This office is under the control of the head of the main work group [Hauptarbeitgruppe] of "Einsatzstab" of Reichsleiter Rosenberg for the occupied territories. The head of this special department is directly responsible to the chief of Department II.
Signed: ROSENBERG
Certified true copy Berlin 13 Dec. 1943 (Dr. Zeiss)
Chief of Staff
[Seal of "Einsatzstab" of RL Rosenberg]
Instructions for the administration of the program to secure "objects of cultural value" in the occupied eastern territories
Authors
Alfred Rosenberg (Commissioner for Ideological Training; Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories)
Alfred Rosenberg
Baltic German architect, Nazi politician and ideologue (1893-1946)
- Born: 1893-01-12 (Tallinn)
- Died: 1946-10-16 (Nuremberg)
- Country of citizenship: Nazi Germany; Russian Empire; Weimar Republic
- Occupation: administrator; architect; journalist; opinion journalist
- Member of political party: German Workers' Party; Nazi Party
- Member of: Corps Rubonia; Militant League for German Culture; Thule Society
- Participant in: Beer Hall Putsch; International Military Tribunal (role: defendant)
- Military rank: Obergruppenführer
Date: 27 April 1942
Literal Title: Subject: Formation of a central unit for the seizure and securing of objects of cultural value in the occupied eastern territories.
Defendant: Alfred Rosenberg
Total Pages: 2
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-153
Citation: IMT (page 1674)
HLSL Item No.: 451246
Trial Issues
Administration & organization (all cases) Art and cultural treasures, plundering of (Rosenberg; Linz project) (IMT)
Document Summary
PS-153: Order Rosenberg's establishing a special branch for the Einsatzstab in the Ministry for Occupied Eastern Territories
PS-153: Certified copy of Rosenberg’s order to the Reich commissioners for the eastern territories and the Ukraine, 27 April 1942, regarding the establishment of a central office for the "seizure and salvage of cultural objects" in the occupied eastern territories
PS-153: Certified true copy dated 13 December 1943 of a memorandum dated 27 April 1942 from Rosenberg to the Reichskommissars for the East and for the Ukraine.