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monuments men and nazi treasures U.S. Occupation Forces Faced a Myriad of Problems In Sorting Out Riches Hidden by the Third by GreG Bradsher n late Januar y 1945, Russian troops moved closer to the massive near IHohenstein, in what is now in northern near the Baltic Sea. It commemorated the German soldiers killed there in .And it was a battle in which the German commander, Paul von Hindenberg , who was later elected president, became a hero.

Colonel-General Hans Reinhardt, commander of Army In a room measuring roughly 45 x 17 feet, they placed Group Center, ordered the memorial to be blown up, but the caskets of Prussian kings Frederick William I (reign not before certain things were removed. Those things were 1713–1740) and (1740–1786), both the bodies of Field Marshal and Weimar President von of whom had been buried in the of the Hindenburg and his wife. Lt. Gen. garrison, and of Field Marshal and Frau Gertrud von supervised the evacuation of the flags of the Prussian regi­ Hindenburg. Three of the caskets were made of wood; the ments and the coffins of his parents, which were moved to fourth, containing the remains of Frederick the Great, was . metal and larger than the others. Each casket bore a paper Thus began what a 1950 Life magazine article called “one label fastened with cellophane tape. of the most curious and complicated enterprises the U.S. In the same room the soldiers also placed treasures from Army of Occupation ever undertook.” the Hohenzollern Museum in Berlin. Each item had an It was perhaps one of the most unlikely and interest­ identifying card attached. Most of the items had been ing World War II German cultural property evacuation made for or used at the coronation of King Frederick I and endeavors. The story involves four caskets; military flags; Queen Sophie in 1701. More than 200 German regimen­ famous artwork; the Hohenzollern Museum treasure (from tal flags, some painted and some embroidered, were hung the Monbijou in Berlin), including the above the coffins. They dated from the early Prussian wars and the coronation paraphernalia of Frederick William I; and included many from the World War I era. A variety and cultural treasures. of other cultural items were placed in the room, and the In , the German Army transported the entrances were sealed with brick and mortar on April 2. caskets of the Hindenburgs, Frederick the Great, and Frederick William I, as well as the cultural items named Officers with Art Expertise above, to a one-time salt mine in the northern reaches Arrive to Supervise Operations of the Thuringian Forest, about 18 miles southwest of The items were not concealed for long. By the end of Nordhausen, that had been converted to a munitions plant April, the mine treasure would be in American hands. Not and storage depot. long afterward, the caskets, paintings, and flags would be There, German Army officers supervised 2,000 Italian, stored in , awaiting political decisions as to what French, and Russian forced laborers working in the plant. to do with them. About 400,000 tons of ammunition and other military Marburg is situated on a hillside along the River, supplies were stored in the mine. 60 miles north of Frankfort. From a military standpoint in A group of large warehouses adjacent to the entrance 1945, Marburg was important for its marshalling yards at into the shaft contained munitions, signal supplies, cloth­ the south end of town, which were used for the transship­ ing, and other military stores. A large store of dynamite was ment of German military personnel and supplies. located in relatively close proximity to the depository in the The U.S. Army Air Forces bombed the yards four times mine. Two rooms in the mine already stored records. in March. The historic buildings in the central part of the German officers sent all civilians out of the area in mid- town were undamaged from these bombings, but the new March. Working with great secrecy and using only military Staatsarchiv Building (occupied in 1938), suffered moder­ personnel, they brought objects into the mine. ate damage. Not long after the last aerial bombardment of Marburg, Opposite: The casket of Frederick the Great is removed from the the American military forces entered the town and cap­ Bernterode cave southwest of Nordhausen, , in April 1945. tured it by the end of March.

Monuments Men and Nazi Treasures Prologue 13 When American forces entered the Bernterode salt mine in April 1945. they found four caskets in a chamber. The coffin of Frederick Wilhelm I is not pictured. Left, top: Frederick the Great; bot- tom: Frederick's bronze coffin draped with a Nazi flag. Center, top: Field Marshal and President ; bottom: von Hindenburg's coffin. Above: The casket of Frau von Hindenburg in the Bernterode cave.

Soon thereafter, in early April, Capt. through masonry and rubble to a depth of dramatic display of the splendid flags, Walker K. Hancock inspected the pri­ more than five feet, uncovered a latticed hung in deep rows over the caskets mary cultural institutions and locations. padlocked on the opposite side. and stacked with decorative effect in Hancock was an officer specialist with Breaking through, they entered a room the corners; the presence of the caskets the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives divided into a series of compartments hung themselves; all suggested the setting for (MFA&A) Section, whose members were with brilliant flags and filled with paintings, a modern pagan ritual. The pictures in known as the “Monuments Men.” As a re­ boxes, and . The contents were the entrance bay . . . seemed to have nowned sculptor, Hancock had won the grouped around four caskets, one of which been brought in as an afterthought. prestigious Prix de before the war and had been decorated with a wreath and red Two hundred and seventy-one artworks, designed the Army Air Medal in 1942. At silk ribbons bearing Nazi symbols and the many of them 18th-century court portraits the , he found three great halls packed name . and paintings apparently from the Sans with parcels from the Staatsarchiv and An inspection of the room the following Souci palace at Potsdam, lay scattered about. Marburg town archives. At the Staatsarchiv day, April 28, brought to light a richly jew­ There were also several works of Lukas he found that the building and its archival eled scepter and orb, two crowns, and two Cranach the Elder from a 1937 Berlin exhi­ holdings had sustained greater damage from swords with finely wrought and silver bition, and works by noted artists Boucher, the occupying troops than from the bombs. scabbards. Hancock inspected the deposi­ Watteau, and Chardin. While Hancock was dealing with the situ­ tory the next day and later wrote: On the right of the central passageway ation in and around Marburg, other U.S. Crawling though the opening into were three wooden coffins, with the iden­ troops came across the Bernterode salt mine. the hidden room, I was at once forcibly tifications indicating they contained the During their inspection of the mine, they struck with the realization that this was Hindenburgs and Frederick William I. In observed a masonry wall built into the side no ordinary depository of works of art. the last compartment on was the of the main corridor about 550 yards from The place had the aspect of a shrine. The great metal casket of Frederick the Great. the elevator shaft. symmetry of the plan, a central passage­ Near that casket was a small metal box, Noticing that the mortar was still fresh, way with three compartments on either from the Kriegschule in Potsdam, contain­ they made an opening and, after tunneling side connecting two large end bays; the ing 24 photographs in color (with copies

14 Prologue Summer 2013 in black-and-white) of portraits of German Fourteen French laborers, former plant military commanders from Frederick workers, helped move the objects to the William I to Hitler. elevator shaft. German crews operated the A large heap of tapestries and cloths elevators. The cage of the elevator was too lay damp and unwrapped by the door. There small for a few of the objects—large paint­ were 65 steel ammunition boxes and cases of ings and the caskets—and the engineers had books, some with the stamp of the Crown to make temporary alterations to accommo­ Prince’s Library, and some in boxes. date them. The last to be hoisted was the cas­ ket of Frederick the Great, which weighed The Art Experts Find at least 1,200 pounds and filled the elevator, Treasures of a Nazi Future with not a half-inch to spare. Hancock telephoned another Monuments As Frederick the Great’s casket neared the Man at 12th Army Group Headquarters, top of the shaft, a radio in the distance blared This Prussian crown was part of a collection of cor- Navy Reserve Lt. George Stout, one of onation paraphernalia found at Bernterode. Below: forth the “Star-Spangled Banner,” and just America’s foremost experts in the field of art Two finely wrought swords of Frederick the Great. as the coffin came into view, the radio band conservation. He told Stout that he was at a struck up “God Save the King.” It was May mine “with 400,000 tons of explosives in it. 8, V-E Day; the war in was over. I can’t tell you what else is down there, not over the phone, but it’s important, George. Captured Nazi Documents Maybe even more important than Examined at Marburg Castle [another mine that contained works of art A convoy carried the objects from and treasures].” Bernterode to Marburg, some 100 miles to Because of the precarious conditions at the southwest. The military government at the depository, the Army ordered its evacu­ Marburg took temporary custody of the ation, with the coronation paraphernalia bodies and the regimental flags in going to headquarters and everything else (Castle) Marburg, pending their final dispo­ moved to a place of safety. Stout was ordered sition. All other objects were delivered to the to go to Bernterode to give technical advice Jubiläumsbau, or Jubilee Building, which was on the removal of the artworks and other the home of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. historical holdings. Stout noted in his report that although When Hancock and Stout went into the the municipal archives in the mine did not mine and reviewed the treasures on May 1, need to be evacuated immediately, they Stout observed that the Germans were hiding were repacked and deposited in the bank. would face preservation problems over the “the most precious artifacts of the German The boxes contained, among other objects, next several months. He also noted the pres­ military state. This room wasn’t intended for the Prussian coronation paraphernalia. ence of explosives in the area of the mine. Hitler; it was intended for the next Reich, so Back at Bernterode, Stout was planning Hancock suggested the Army consider re­ they could build upon his glory.” Laughing, the evacuation of the remaining items in the moving the flags from Germany. Hancock replied, “And it didn’t even stay hid­ mine. Under the arrangement with the mili­ In addition to housing the four caskets and den until the end of this one.” tary government and local civilians, power archives, Marburg Castle became home to a Hancock borrowed Stout’s Jeep and, with­ was kept up to operate the elevator in the Political Document Center, operated by the out a military guard, returned to First U.S. mine shaft. Power at the mine, however, was American State Department and the British Army headquarters at Weimar with the three intermittent and the lighting insufficient. Foreign Office. Throughout May, a collec­ boxes from the Hohenzollern Museum. Two shifts of soldiers working daily for three tion of German Foreign Office documents After inspecting the contents, Hancock took days packed paintings, flags, and other tex­ from other evacuation centers were moved the boxes to the at — tiles into 180 packages and 40 bundles. The to the castle. There an Anglo-American team this time with an armed escort. Another caskets were sewn and lashed in carpet wrap­ examined and sorted the documents. thorough inspection concluded that the ob­ ping to facilitate handling and to conceal The Supreme Headquarters Allied jects had suffered no damage, and the boxes their identity. Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF) directed the

Monuments Men and Nazi Treasures Prologue 15 Army Groups to store, safeguard, preserve, Depository at Frankfurt. The U.S. Group and inventory art treasures discovered in Control Council’s MFA&A Branch doubt­ areas occupied by their forces. Hancock es­ ed the wisdom of returning the regalia tablished the first central collecting point in to Potsdam, and they were transferred on Marburg in late May 1945. September 17 to the Central He set up primary operations of the collect­ Collecting Point instead. ing point in the relatively vacant Staatsarchiv During the last week of the month, all building and in the Jubiläumsbau. The the paintings recovered at Bernterode, with Staatsarchiv building eventually housed paint­ the exceptions of the ones that were to be ings from the Suermondt Museum in , exhibited in Marburg, were moved to the the treasure, and numer­ Staatsarchiv as the beginning of a program ous other cultural properties from , to consolidate the collecting point under , and other western German cities. one roof. In the latter part of October, there To help Hancock deal with the art, 2nd was some consideration of moving the battle Lt. Sheldon W. Keck (formerly an art con­ flags stored in Marburg Castle to the collect­ servator at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and ing point, but it was decided that, since they a fellow Monuments Man) arrived to pro­ were trophies of war, they would be kept vide expert care and emergency treatment separate from the art. for works of art at Marburg. While Hancock spent most of his time Some Artwork is Displayed; during the summer getting the collecting Fate of Flags Still Unclear point up and running, he found time for When Hancock returned to Marburg the Bernterode treasure. Hancock had the in November, after two weeks’ leave, he 225 regimental flags transferred from the saw his long-desired exhibit of Jubiläumsbau to the castle, where they were take place. Through joint efforts of the staff stored in the room with the caskets. of the Kunsthistorisches Institut, the rec­ The treasures stored in the Jubiläumsbau tor of the university, and the Monuments included masterpieces from the Berlin State Men, the Marburg Central Collecting Point museums. The paintings retrieved from the mounted its first art exhibit, “Masterpieces Bernterode mine included two paintings by of European Paintings.” The exhibit fea­ Watteau that had belonged to Frederick the tured 30 paintings of very high quality from Great and other works by Boucher, Chardin, among the artworks found at the Bernterode Cranach, Rubens, Van Dyck, Ruysdael, and and Siegen mines. The exhibit opened in Walker K. Hancock, an officer specialist with the Van Goyen. mid-November at the Jubiläumsbau. Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFA&A) On September 15, the Headquarters of Keck, the former Brooklyn Museum of Section inspected Bernterode on April 29. He re- ported on the discovery, that officers “entered a the Military Government of Land Hessen- Art conservator, took charge of the Marburg room divided by partitions into a series of com- Nassau recommended that the regimental Central Collecting Point in early November. partments, filled with paintings, boxes and tapes- flags be transported to the , The transfer of cultural objects from the tries, and hung with brilliant banners.” either as trophies of war or held in custody Jubiläumsbau to the Staatsarchiv was com­ for future disposition. They further recom­ pleted in mid-December. America as trophies of war and housed at the mended that, “Because of their propaganda At the same time, the Department of State U.S. Military Academy at West Point. On value as symbols of the military tradition, requested that the caskets not be turned over to December 17, however, there was a change of . . . they should not be permitted to remain the German authorities. State further asked au­ heart regarding the disposition of the flags by in Germany. The caskets can be stored in­ thorities of the Office of Military Government, the MFA&A sections in Seventh Army, and definitely in their present location [in U.S. (OMGUS) to arrange for the safekeeping shipment to the United States was postponed Marburg Castle].” of the caskets for some time to come. until further notice. There was similar concern about the royal The regimental flags, still stored in Marburg Col. John H. Allen, the chief of the regalia of in the Foreign Exchange Castle, were prepared to be shipped back to Restitution Branch, wrote to the OMGUS

16 Prologue Summer 2013 the best possible solution for the caskets. Riddleberger believed that if they waited too long, the reinterment might conceivably be- come the occasion for some kind of nation- alistic demonstration. There was much to be said in favor of returning the bodies of the Hohenzollern rulers to Potsdam, but they should be fairly certain of what uses might be made of the occasion before proceeding. An alternative would be to ask the govern- ment of Greater to take over the re- sponsibility for a dignified reburial. As for the bodies of the Hindenburgs, Riddleberger advised Ambassador Murphy that the reinterment should be strictly for

Monuments Men (from left) George Stout, Sgt. Travese, , and Steven Kovalyak during the family, “thereby at least symbolically remov- excavation of Bernterode. ing the aura of national possession which the Nazis attempted to fasten on the old chief of staff that the flags appeared to be all that they could remain under U.S. military Marshal.” He added that he did not know of German origin and that the MFA&A offi- guard. The caskets were placed in a locked, if this idea would be feasible since he had cer at the Marburg Central Collecting Point fireproof room with barred windows on the been unable to glean information about was attempting to obtain from scholars a list ground floor. Hindenburgs who still might be alive. of exact descriptions of each banner, in the The disposition of the German flags was Col. John H. Allen, chief of the hope that the flags would not have to be un- still unsettled. German consultants had rec- Restitution Branch, informed Murphy that packed and then repacked before shipment. ommended that the flags be preserved, es- the Marburg Central Collecting Point and The chief of staff responded on December pecially 14 dating from the 18th century, all of its German-owned contents housed in 20, asking Allen for a more detailed list and because of their historical interest and their the Staatsarchiv Building were to be turned description of the flags. He stated that it was artistic value. While awaiting a reply from over to the appropriate German authori- doubtful all of the flags would be sent to West Point regarding the flags, the OMG ties no later than June 1. He added that West Point. Some might be turned over to for Greater Hesse reminded OMGUS that no MFA&A personnel would be stationed the French or other Allies, and some, pos- it had 225 military flags and requested in Marburg after this transfer and that the sibly a large part, should be destroyed. OMGUS make a decision regarding their caskets could not be considered strictly as A museum expert was found, and he de- disposition. By early April no decision had “cultural objects.” He asked Murphy to ad- termined that the regimental and battalion yet been made. Pending a decision, the vise him what disposition was to be made flags were all of German origin, with the ma- flags would remain at the Marburg Central of the caskets. jority from the 19th and 20th centuries. On Collecting Point. Murphy responded to Riddleberger in January 3, the collecting point sent OMGUS Finally in May, the Central Collecting early April that the Berlin office had been a list of the flags and recommended that, in Point sent two shipments to the Wiesbaden seriously considering the problems of the view of the artistic and historic significance Central Collecting Point, which included four caskets. He agreed with Riddleberger’s of the flags, they be held in custody until the flags, libraries, paintings, and furniture view that they should rid themselves of the their return to the German Government was that had been recovered at Bernterode. responsibility before it became a political deemed advisable. liability. Murphy said they had instituted When it became known that the Political The Four Caskets Remain a search to discover the nearest living rela- Documents Unit, and the accompanying A Problem for the Americans tive of the Hindenburgs for a quiet, private guard, were leaving Marburg Castle, the four And what about the caskets? reinterment. caskets, flags, and other articles were moved At the State Department, Division of As for the two Hohenzollerns, OMGUS to the Marburg Central Collecting Point at Central European Affairs chief James W. favored the proposal to turn over these bod- the Staatsarchiv building on February 8 so Riddleberger and his colleagues talked about ies, together with those of Hindenburgs if

Monuments Men and Nazi Treasures Prologue 17 George Stout, MFA&A Specialist Officer, reported in May 1945 on the removal of the coffins and other artifacts from the mine and their delivery to the Marburg Collecting Point. no relative could be found, to the Greater could reinter the bodies in either the U.S. The first two issues relating to Operation Hesse government for simple, dignified or British Zone, but the ceremony must Bodysnatch were to find places to rebury the reburial, devoid of anything resembling be strictly a private family affair with no caskets and to inform the Hohenzollern and a public demonstration. It would only be publicity. Hindenburg families about the matter. As a necessary, Murphy observed, to state how Clay directed that the bodies of the two first step, Lesley went to Burg Hohenzollern, the bodies came into U.S. possession. The Hohenzollerns be delivered to the govern­ , Württemberg, in the French decision not to return the Hohenzollerns ment of Greater Hesse, acting as interim Zone of Occupation, where former Crown to Potsdam could easily be explained by the trustee in absence of any German govern­ Prince Wilhelm, son of the late Kaiser, lack of any government able ment. Reinterment in Greater Hesse, he was acquainted with the substance of the to take custody. wrote, may be official without being open OMGUS instructions. He concurred in any The War Department now had concurred to the general public, and the OMG for future steps that might be taken, so long as with the State Department that there should Greater Hesse had to approve the plans. these were respectful and observed the req­ be quiet reinterments of the bodies before On May 17, the OMG for Greater Hesse uisite solemnity. they became political liabilities. summoned the minister president of Greater Next, the Americans looked for a place to Meanwhile, 62-year-old Oskar von Hesse, Dr. , to its headquarters, bury the Hohenzollerns. They learned that Hindenburg, residing in northern Germany where he was told to await instructions con­ the family owned only two pieces of prop­ at Medingen, wrote to the Burgermeister of cerning the caskets and to be prepared to erty in Germany. The first, near Wiesbaden, Marburg on March 22, stating that he was execute those instructions as soon as he re­ was deemed unsuitable. The other was Burg trying to locate the coffins of his parents. He ceived them. Before initiating action through Hohenzollern, a mountain-peak fairy-tale had received unconfirmed news that they the German civil government, OMG for castle. But the castle was in the French were supposed to be in Marburg, and he Greater Hesse would consult with Wilhelm, Zone. When queried about its possibility asked if this was correct, adding that the mat­ the former Crown Prince of Prussia, the cur­ for the reinterment, the French answer was ter was of great concern to him. A month lat­ rent head of the . The unequivocal: they wanted no Hohenzollerns er, the OMG for Greater Hesse sent the letter two officers who would deal with the four buried in the zone. to the MFA&A Section, Restitution Branch, caskets were 1st Lt. Theodore A. Heinrich, Then the three explored other possibilities which forwarded the correspondence to the the MFA&A officer for , and Capt. in the U.S. Zone without success until their Office of the Political Adviser. Everett P. Lesley, Jr., then with the MFA&A investigation disclosed the Elisabethkirche detachment at Frankfurt. Both had academ­ in Marburg. As the burial place of the “Operation Bodysnatch” ic credentials in art history. Landgraves of Hesse, related by marriage Nears an Ending Once Lesley became aware of Clay’s in­ to the Hohenzollerns, it appeared doubly On May 3 Gen. Lucius Clay, deputy mili­ struction, he “immediately dubbed the proj­ appropriate. tary governor, directed OMG Greater Hesse ect Operation Bodysnatch.” Thereafter the The place chosen to bury the two to turn over the bodies of the Hindenburgs codename “Operation Bodysnatch” was of­ Hohenzollerns was below the floor at the east to Oskar von Hindenburg. Hindenburg ten used in official communications. side of the north , near a medieval

To learn more about � • The A llies’ discovery of cultural treasures in a German mine after World War II, go to www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1999/spring/. • Restitution of Nazi looted art, go to www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2002/summer/. • The discovery of Nazi documents in a cave in , go to www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2007/winter/.

18 Prologue Summer 2013 decided to inter the Hindenburg bodies in Workers digging under the north tower the Elisabethkirche as well. hit bedrock 24 inches below the floor. This Geiler sent von Hindenburg a discreet tele­ meant that the large Hindenburg caskets gram inviting him to Wiesbaden to discuss could not rest beneath the floor as planned. a private business matter. On June 12, von Blasting the bedrock was out of the question Hindenburg was taken to Marburg to view once someone pointed out that the same the prospective site for his parents’ graves. dynamiting might bring down the 236- As the north transept would not read­ 14th-century tower. ily accommodate four new graves, and von Consequently, a local architect was in­ Hindenburg stated that his father would structed to raise the church floor in the tow­ have considered burial in the company of er by several steps so that the large caskets two kings of Prussia to be “ostentatious,” it could be accommodated. Carrying out such was decided that the Hindenburgs should extensive alterations within the church while be interred in the chamber (“Turmhalle”) in keeping their purpose secret, and keeping the base of the north tower, at the eastern the structure open for normal services at the end of the church. same time, called for a “maximum of dis­ More than 200 German regimental flags, dating Von Hindenburg was pleased with the simulation” by the various officials. from both the early Prussian wars and the World site, as well as to hear that the state of Hesse War I era, were hung above the coffins. would bear most of the costs for reburying Marburg Operations Closing; his parents. “My family,” he said, “is now as Cultural Items Go to Wiesbaden shrine marking the supposed resting pace of poor as church mice.” While Operation Bodysnatch progressed, St. Elizabeth, a Hohenzollern ancestor. The During the afternoon, the four cas­ the Marburg collecting point was clos­ north transept, cut off from the , nave, kets were unwrapped in the Marburg ing down. The remaining cultural items in and crossing by screens and metal gates, Central Collecting Point, those of the von the Staatsarchiv were moved to Wiesbaden could thus be kept closed to public view Hindenburgs being identified by Oskar von in early August. The Wiesbaden Central without arousing curiosity or impairing the Hindenburg. All caskets were found to be Collecting Point now had custody of all fabric of the building. in good condition, though “somewhat bat­ the Bernterode treasure and responsibility tered.” The bodies were contained in sealed for its disposition. An unexpected glitch in Burial Sites Are Found lead inner coffins, which were not opened. the form of a new state secretary arose af­ But There Are Problems Each of the four gravestones measured ter the June 30 elections. Dr. Hugo Swart, Minister President Geiler was informed two meters by one meter and weighed two the only official in the Civil Government of the arrangements for the interment of the tons, sealing the graves and discouraging any fully possessing all information about the Hohenzollerns in the Elisabethkirche and fanatic who might want to steal the bodies. Bernterode treasure, was succeeded by Dr. was directed to make arrangements for the Digging the four graves was not as simple Hermann Brill, who objected to Operation transportation of the caskets and for pro­ a procedure as first thought. The north tran­ Bodysnatch itself. viding simple and dignified markers for the sept of the Elisabethkirche is built over the When Dr. Brill was first fully briefed on graves. site of an earlier structure, the - his responsibilities, he voiced strenuous ob­ The two Hohenzollern kings had a fi­ shrine and tomb of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. jections to the entire plan. Without consult­ nal resting place, but where would the Though the remains of St. Elizabeth were ing the Military Government, he decided to Hindenburgs be laid to rest? then kept in a shrine in the sacristy, excava­ send the Hindenburg remains to . Oskar von Hindenburg was to receive tions had to be carried out with care, in case The Military Government stopped this, the bodies of his parents for burial, but in other should be uncovered. The exca­ and days of angry argument ensued. Brill’s June, British military government authori­ vation uncovered masses of bones under the opposition was due chiefly to his conviction ties made it clear that they would oppose flooring, where none should have been. The that Germany’s misfortunes were as easily any attempt to bury the bodies in the British spot had evidently been used for unrecorded attributable to Hindenburg as to Hitler. He Zone of Occupation. In order to avoid in­ burials of pre-Reformation monks attached did not particularly object to the two kings; ter-zonal difficulties, and to simplify trans­ to the church. The old bones were carefully although he made it plain that he thought portation concerns, OMG of Greater Hesse moved over a few feet and reconsecrated. burial in a church was too good for any of

Monuments Men and Nazi Treasures Prologue 19 dispatched to Medingen in the British Zone to pick up the Hindenburgs. The car, how­ ever, returned without them. A Royal Family Assembles For the Graveside Service During the morning of August 21, mem­ bers of the Hohenzollern family assem­ bled in the Liaison and Security Office at Marburg. Also present were Robert Hager of the United Press; Francis Bilodeau; Lt. Heinrich; and Capt. Lesley. The 64-year-old former crown prince, Wilhelm, declined the invitation to attend, saying, “I have reached an age when funerals only depress me.” All entrances to the church had been blocked off by German civilian police to guarantee privacy. The graves and surround­ The Office of Military Government reported in August 1946 on the completion of “Operation Bodysnatch” with the reinterment of the four coffins from Bernterode in the Elizabethkirche at Marburg. ing area were banked with fresh pine boughs and potted trees, and flowers brought by the the four. He also raised the objection to the 12 the Marburg Building Department was Hohenzollerns. interment of the Hindenburgs in so vener­ informed to be ready for the arrival of the As the von Hindenburg family had not ar­ able an edifice. four slabs in the next few days. When they rived by 3 p.m., it was decided to postpone To forestall more debate on the matter, did not appear, a frantic check of German their family services. Military transportation on the morning of August 8 the Military railroad stations was launched, and finally was then sent to them in Medingen, and they Government ordered Brill to immediately the flatcar with them was found. The slabs arrived at 9 p.m. on August 24. The next day, carry out the plans as agreed upon by his were quickly routed to Marburg, where they a service practically identical with the earlier predecessor. arrived on August 14. Two days later, they one took place. Present were seven members General Clay grew impatient over the were moved by trucks to the Elizabethkirche. of the Hindenburg family, including Oskar delays. The actual burial of the four caskets “was von Hindenburg. Also present were various “The execution of this project was too slow noteworthy for the reason that for once noth­ American and German officials. and detrimental to Military Government ing whatsoever went wrong.” On August 19, The OMG Greater Hesse Deputy Director inasmuch as press correspondents already with the edifice locked to outsiders, a five- in Charge of Operations, Lt. Col. Francis E. had the complete story and were pushing man crew of German workers lowered the Sheehan, with Operation Bodysnatch com­ this headquarters for a release,” he reported. coffins into the open graves. The graves were pleted, wrote a report for General Clay. He The next day, August 9, the OMGUS sealed with a sheet of steel, and a layer of stated that both families expressed to the Chief of Staff ordered that the preparations cement was then added. The sandstone slabs Military Government their deepest gratitude be finished and services held as soon as pos­ were laboriously pushed over the opening. A for its magnanimity and delicacy of feeling sible. A representative of the United Press stonecutter was immediately brought in and and for the choice of Elisabethkirche as the was to be present at the services and was to engraved the stones with the desired inscrip­ site of the interment, and their satisfaction have exclusive news rights to the story. tions. These consisted simply of the names with the manner in which all arrangements Getting the four burial slabs to Marburg, and dates of the personages buried: Frederick were carried out. He also mentioned that as everything else associated with Operation William I (1686–1740); Frederick II (1712– Oskar von Hindenburg would shortly be Bodysnatch, was not easily accomplished. 1786); Paul v. Hindenburg (1847–1934); sending a letter to the general. Because of the strict 80-kilometer limit on and Gertrude v. Hindenburg (1860–1921). Sheehan observed that, in the opinion of motor transport, the slabs had to be freight­ Arrangements were made the same OMG Greater Hesse, the conduct of the en­ ed by rail from to Marburg day for the attendance of members of tire operation was over a fairly circuitous route. On August the Hohenzollern family, and a car was a great credit to the Office of Military

20 Prologue Summer 2013 Government as a whole, as well as to been felt that insufficient recognition German civilian authorities in Marburg, was given this installation. Note on Sources who were charged with an exceedingly Two documents most useful for telling the delicate and potentially compromising A Postscript: first part of the story were the reports prepared by George L. Stout and Walker Hancock, both task. Any delays encountered could Another Move of which are contained in the : ETO— not well have been overridden with­ Of course, a story like this needs a post­ Monthly Reports for May and June [AMG-159], out giving the impression that Military script. And indeed there is one. Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFA&A) Government was too anxious to dispose In early September 1952, the cas­ Field Reports, 1943–1946, Records of the American Commission for the Protection and of an awkward situation, an impression kets of Frederick the Great and his fa­ Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in which in turn might have been used to ther, Frederick William I, were taken War Areas, Record Group (RG) 239, National advantage by seditious elements. It is from the Elisabethkirche to the ancient Archives at College Park, Maryland. believed that any questions arising in near Hechingen, Also useful for the early part of the story are the future concerning the propriety of where it was intended they remain, accord­ the MFA&A Field Reports, 1943–1946, RG 239, and File: SHAEF/G-5/751, Public Monuments— the undertaking can be more than suf­ ing to the words of one family member, Fine Art, Numeric File August 1943–July 1945, ficiently answered by referring to the “until Germany is united again and they Secretariat, G-5 Division, General Staff, Supreme expressed appreciation of the two fami­ can return to Potsdam.” Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces lies, the ecclesiastical authorities and Of course something would go wrong. (SHAEF), Allied Operational and Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Record Group 331. the German people as represented in Frederick the Great’s coffin collapsed and Information regarding much the story can be the city of Marburg. a new one had to be built. On September found in various series of records of the Records of On August 28, Oskar von Hindenburg 14 the bodies were laid to rest in the castle’s the Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point, Records wrote General Clay a letter thanking him in the presence of about 200 mem­ of the Marburg Central Collecting Point, and the for the successful reinterment of his parents. bers of Germany’s royalty, headed by Prince records relating to Central Collecting Points, all of which can be found in Records of the Office of He wrote: “This deepest gratitude extends Louis Ferdinand, head of the House of Military Government (U.S.) OMGUS, Records also to the time that American troops had -Prussia, and Prince Oskar of of United States Occupation Headquarters, World brought the coffins of my parents to safety in Prussia. War II, Record Group 260. Marburg and had them turned over to me, But the story does not end here. The diplomatic aspects of the story can be fol­ lowed in the Classified General Correspondence, and to the fact that a reinterment was made With Germany reunited in 1991, the cof­ 1945–1949, Office of the U.S. Political Adviser for possible by the kind help and initiative of fins of Frederick the Great and Frederick Germany, Berlin, Germany, Records of the Foreign the U.S. Military Government.” William I were moved a final time to Service Posts of the Department of State, Record With the shutdown of the Marburg Potsdam. Frederick William I received a Group 84 and File: 862.1233, Decimal Files, Central Collecting Point, the OMG Greater simple reinterment in a church; Frederick 1945–1949, General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59. Also useful is Will Hesse informed OMGUS that the Great’s coffin lay in a courtyard of his Lang, “The Case of the Distinguished Corpses,” Under the successive direction of Sans Souci palace, where he had asked in his Life (vol. 28, no. 10), , 1950, and Walter Capt. Walker Hancock, Lt. Sheldon will to be buried next to his favorite dog. A Hancock, “Experiences of a Monuments Officer in Keck and Mr. Francis W. Bilodeau, German military honor guard stood at at­ Germany,” College Art Journal 5 (May 1946). this installation with its splendid fa­ tention during the rest of the day as 60,000, cilities and expert staff had not only including Chancellor Helmut Kohl, walked Author completed its directed mission, but had by to pay their respects. Greg Bradsher’s previous contribu­ maintained fruitful relations with the At midnight the coffin, draped in Prussia’s tions to Prologue have included articles celebrated Kunsthistorisches Institut black and white colors, was brought to the on the discovery of in the of Marburg University and performed gravesite and lowered into the grave that Merkers Mine (Spring 1999); the a distinguished community service in Frederick had picked out over 200 years story of Fritz Kolbe, 1900–1943 (Spring 2002); Japan’s secret “Z Plan” in 1944 (Fall 2005); Founding Father its vigorous contributions to the revival before. Elbridge Gerry (Spring 2006); the third Archivist of the of cultural life. Its closing was officially Thus ends Operation Bodysnatch. Or United States, Wayne Grover (Winter 2009); Operation regretted by Marburg authorities and does it? Blissful, a World War II diversionary attack on an island together with private expressions of The remains of the Hindenburgs are still in the Pacific (Fall 2010); the Laws (Winter gratitude for the work done indicated at Marburg, not in Hanover as the former 2010); and the Homestead Act of 1862 (Winter 2012). the esteem it had earned. It has long Field Marshal and President had wished. P Dr. Bradsher is a senior archivist at the National Archives.

Monuments Men and Nazi Treasures Prologue 21