"In Trust?"

The War Department had assured everyone that it was not out for loot: the 202 masterpieces from destroyed or damaged German museums were being stored in the air-conditioned vaults beneath Washington's National Gallery of Art "in trust for the people of Germany or the other rightful owners."

This week this assurance was challenged, and from a surprising source. In the February Magazine of Art, 32 out of 35 officers of the U.S. Army's Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives staff in Germany--the men responsible for forwarding the masterpieces--declared that the paintings would have been perfectly safe in Germany. Said they: "Depots and personnel, both fully competent, have been inaugurated and are functioning."

Andrew C. Ritchie, director-on-leave of Buffalo's Albright Art Gallery, suggested the best way "to avoid any suspicion between the powers [would be] a repository in a neutral country like Switzerland."

The State Department seemed to think the whole discussion unpatriotic. Said the Department's Chief of Central European Affairs, James W. Riddleberger: "The decision to remove these works of art to this country was made on the basis of a statement by General Clay that he did not have adequate facilities and personnel. ... It was hoped that the President's pledge that they would be returned to Germany would satisfy [everyone]."

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