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Sektionschef Dr. Rudolf Wran
Bundesministerium für Unterricht
und kulturelle Angelegenheiten
Minoritenplatz 5
A-1014 Vienna, Austria

Re:  Bloch-Bauer Estate

Dear Dr. Wran:

 In advance of your meeting, I wanted to let you know that Mrs. Altmann and I were not the source for Mr. Czernin's article in tomorrow's "Der Standard" (which became available today via the internet). It was Mrs. Altmann's intention that her letter not be published.  Therefore, we did not send it to Mr. Czernin, nor did we tell him anything about it.  We also specifically declined an invitation from Mr. Czernin to publish something in his newspaper before the June 28 meeting.  It was our hope that the Beirat would simply consider Mrs. Altmann's views, along with Dr. Lintl's opinions and all the other materials we have sent, when it discussed the Bloch-Bauer matter tomorrow.

 Notwithstanding this fact, we are not upset about the article, and hope that you do not spend too much effort worrying about who told Mr. Czernin about Mrs. Altmann's letter. In English we say, "No use crying over spilled milk."  The fact is that it is primarily through Mr. Czernin's reports that we have learned about the status of the case and the concerns of certain members of the Beirat. For this we can only thank Mr. Czernin and the people who have spoken to him.  As I have said many times before, it is only through complete openness that Minister Gehrer's goal of a "reinen Tisch" can be accomplished.

 I spoke to Mr. Czernin today after reading his article, and he told me that he is expecting that the Beirat will make a final decision tomorrow. I also hope this is the case. Mr. Czernin mentioned to me that some members of the Beirat may still be troubled by the reference to Adele's will in Dr. Führer's October 3, 1941 letter to Prof. Grimschitz. In case Mr. Czernin's information is correct, I thought it would be wise to let you know my views on that particular letter, some of which I may have mentioned before in my previous letters.

 First of all, one must be very careful not to put too much reliance on statements made by many of the individuals involved in the handling of the Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer estate in the 1940s. It is better to rely on original source materials, and when possible determine what information the author of a letter had at the time he made a statement, and what his motivations were.  With regard to Dr. Führer's October 3, 1941 letter, for example, I find it hard to believe that the Beirat would put much reliance in a letter signed "Heil Hitler."

 The contents of the October 3, 1941 letter can be disregarded because it is clear that Dr. Führer never knew the contents of Adele's will, but relied completely on the inaccurate representations of Prof. Grimschitz.  Prof. Grimschitz confirms this in his March 1, 1948 report to Dr. Garzarolli.  Additionally, Dr. Führer wrote on November 29, 1957 (with regard to the sale of the painting Birkenwald to the Städtische Sammlungen):

Mir war im Zeitpunkt des verkaufes keinerlei Bestimmung bekannt, dass dieses Bild der Modernen Galerie zugedacht war, wobei ich bemerke, dass ich zum gleichen Zeitpunkt dem Direktor der Modernen Galerie, Herrn Professor Grimschitz, ebenfalls ein Bild von Klimt, damals betitelt "Dame in Gold", darstellend die Gattin des Industriellen Bloch-Bauer, zur Verfügung gestellt habe, da mir dieser von der Widmung desselben an die Moderne Galerie Mitteilung gemacht hatte.

As further evidence that Dr. Führer was unaware of the truth about Adele's will, one can see from Dr. Garzarolli's and Dr. Rinesch's correspondence in 1948 that they could not find Adele's will in Dr. Führer's files, but had to ask the Finanzprokuratur to obtain it from the probate files.  So, Dr. Führer's statements in his 1941 letter were made without any knowledge of the true contents of the will, but solely in reliance on Prof. Grimschitz's inaccurate claims.

 Prof. Grimschitz presumably told Dr. Führer the same incorrect story he told Dr. Garzarolli and Dr. Rinesch in 1947-48, namely, that Adele had donated the paintings to the Österreichische Galerie and that the museum had allowed Ferdinand to keep them during his lifetime.  This was very simply not true, as Adele's will and the related documents from her probate files establish. The paintings belonged to Ferdinand, not Adele, and her will only made an unenforceable request (Bitte) that the paintings be donated after Ferdinand's death. Prof. Grimschitz's self-serving statements about Adele's will, which are the source for much incorrect information repeated throughout the documentation, cannot change the fact of what Adele actually wrote, or that the paintings were not part of her estate.

 It should also be noted that Adele had stated that she wished that her husband donate the paintings after his death, but in 1941, Ferdinand was very much alive, and the Klimt paintings along with all of his other property had been stolen from him to pay illegal taxes levied by the Nazis. Further, Ferdinand had already donated Klimt's Schloss Kammer am Attersee III to the Österreichische Galerie in 1936, so it could not have been in fulfillment of Ferdinand's or Adele's wishes for Dr. Führer to obtain the return of that painting in exchange for the two other paintings.  Rather, it is obvious that the 1941 trade was negotiated solely by Dr. Führer and Prof. Grimschitz without any regard for the true wishes of Ferdinand or Adele Bloch-Bauer.

 In my view, the Beirat should focus solely on the legal (in)significance of Adele's will, and the fact that Ferdinand owned the paintings as his separate property and was not bound to fulfill Adele's wishes. (Dr. Lintl's opinions explain this very well.)  All of the statements and transactions after 1938 (other than Ferdinand's last will) are void and of no significance. Dr. Garzarolli realized this already in March, 1948, when he wrote to Prof. Grimschitz criticizing his failure to obtain anything in writing from Ferdinand which would have given the Österreichische Galerie a legal claim to the paintings. (A copy of this letter is attached.) Of course, Dr. Rinesch did not learn of the weakness of the Österreichische Galerie's legal position until after he had already agreed on April 10, 1948 to donate the Klimt paintings to the museum, in the hope that Dr. Garzarolli would help the heirs get export permits for other paintings.

 The truth is that Ferdinand's heirs were not legally required to donate the Klimt paintings to the Österreichische Galerie, but only did so in order to obtain export permits for other paintings.  Any other conclusion is simply insupportable.

 Once again, if there are any questions the Beirat has about the legal or factual issues in this case, please do not hesitate to contact me. You may call me during the meeting (do not worry about the time) at home (310) 472-3122, or later at work (213) 473-2045.

 Thank you again for your careful consideration of this matter.  With the confidence that this time it will not fall on deaf ears, I would like to close with a quote from Dr. Rinesch's letter to Dr. Garzarolli of April 13, 1948:

  "Ich verlasse mich auf Ihr Gerechtigkeitsgefühl."

     Yours,

     E. Randol Schoenberg

cc:    Bundesministerin Elisabeth Gehrer

 Dr. Manfred Kremser

 Univ.Prof. Dr. Ernst Bacher

 Dr. Freund

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