Walter Fleischer

Walter Fleischer, born in Vienna, joined the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) through his connection to his cousin, Robert Scholz, the head of the ERR’s Sonderstab Bildende Kunst (Office for Pictorial Art). His initial duties involved the transport of looted art objects from Paris to Germany. He played an increasingly active role in art confiscation operations carried out by the ERR. Fleischer became Bruno Lohse’s right-hand man (aide-de-camp) especially at the Jeu de Paume in German-occupied Paris. On 25 April 1943, Fleischer participated in a meeting between Lohse, the Munich art dealer Maria Almas-Dietrich and Hermann Voss. During the meeting, Voss discussed the Schloss case with Lohse and informed him that Hitler had authorized the acquisition of Schloss paintings for the Sonderauftrag Linz. At the same time, Voss informed Lohse and Fleischer that personnel from the German Embassy in Paris and Vichy officials were overseeing the transaction. American troops captured Fleischer in 1945 and sent him to the 3rd U.S. Army Civilian Detention Center in Deggendorf, Bavaria. Nothing else is known about his postwar fate. Literature: Petropoulos, Jonathan. Göring’s Man in Paris. The Story of a Nazi Art Plunderer and His World. Yale University Press, 2021.   M1944 - Records of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historical Monuments in War Areas (The Roberts Commission), 1943-1946. Card File on Art-Looting Suspects, compiled 1943-1946. Series: Card File on Art-Looting Suspects. Category: Card File on Art-Looting Suspects, E-F. Online at: https://www.fold3.com/image/270107338. Accessed on 7 May 2021. M1782- OSS Art Looting Investigation Unit Reports, 1945-46. Consolidated Interrogation Reports (CIR). Report Nr. 1: Activity Of The Einsatzstab Rosenberg In France. Online at: https://www.fold3.com/image/231998100; https://www.fold3.com/image/231998113. Accessed on 7 May 2021.