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European Mission and Cooperative Acquisitions Project at the Library of Congress

European Mission Representatives

Members of the Library of Congress European Mission in Germany. 1946. Manuel Sanchez, Joseph Groesbeck, Reuben Peiss, Verner Clapp, Janet Emerson, [two unidentified persons], Alexander Toth, Harriet Bing. One of 30 photographs donated by Richard S. Hill, Library of Congress Music Division Representative to the Mission. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Germany was occupied by Allied forces from 1945-1949 and divided in four sectors under control of Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States. The United States Occupying Military Government (OMGUS) controlled all activities in the American sector, where the Library of Congress European Mission was headquartered and operated.

Ruben Peiss, the first Chief of the Library of Congress European Mission, initially recruited military intelligence personnel to assist him, including Max Loeb, Douwe Stuurman, and Jacob Zukerman. The first group of Library of Congress European Mission representatives from the U.S. arrived in early 1946. They made arrangements with book sellers and publishers to purchase books for American libraries and assisted the War Department in screening materials created by the Nazi regime. Other librarians, archivists and document experts joined the Mission and served for periods of time during the twenty month-long project.

Below is a listing of the military units where LC European Mission representatives were stationed and information on each representative.

American Sector of the Allied Occupational Authorities

Governor of the Occupying Military Government of the United States:

  • General Lucius Clay

LC European Mission Main Office:

  • Frankfurt, Fechenheim, Mission HQ, under command of the G-2 (Intelligence) Headquarters.
  • Reuben Peiss, David H. Clift, Harriet Bing, Janet Emerson, Richard S. Hill, Sgt. Alfred H. Hable, Sgt. Dietrich Schwarzwäelder, and Sgt. Hans W. Schmidt

Detachments:

  • Baden Baden, under command of the American Military Liaison Mission
  • Berlin, under command of the G-2 Berlin District Headquarters, Harry M. Lydenberg and Jacob Zuckerman.
  • Munich and Stuttgart, under command of the OMGUS, MFA&A, Julius Allen, Douwe Stuurman and Don C. Travis. Vienna, Austria, under command of the G-2 Headquarters, Austria, Lt. Max Loeb and Daniel Shacter

Individual Members of the Mission - Alphabetical Listing

The roster below was compiled from the Library of Congress European Mission and Cooperative Acquisitions Project, 1942-1957 series of the Library of Congress Archives and published reports by Mission representatives.

Name Life Dates   Home Agency Dates of Service Location of Service
Adams, Scott 1909–1982 Chief, Acquisitions Division, Army Medical Library Sept. 3, 1946–
Nov. 1946
Headquarters at Frankfurt (Fechenheim)
Allen, Julius W. 1916–2002 LC, Legislative Reference Service Jan. 1, 1946–
Sept. 4, 1946
Frankfurt, helped establish Stuttgart detachment in Wuerttemberg-Baden
Beilhack, Hans 1897–1970 German Librarian 1946 Munich
Bing, Harriet 1908–2002 Office of Secret Service Jan. 2, 1946–
Oct. 17, 1946
Headquarters at Frankfurt (Fechenheim), Serials
Birnbaum, Henry 1917–1999 Military Intelligence Service, U.S. Army Administrative Assistant, Army Document Center Nov. 28, 1945–
Nov. 8, 1946
Frankfurt (Fechenheim), Berlin, Vienna detachments; later translator for Nuremberg Tribunal
Born, Maj. Lester K. 1903–1969 Archives Advisor, Monuments, Fine Arts & Archives (Assistant Archivist HRS) 1945–1946 Archivist Specialist Officer, worked with Sargent B. Child, helped coordinate archival operations at the Ministerial Collecting Center in Fuerstenhagen
Breitenbach, Edgar 1903–1977 Monuments, Fine Arts & Archives Oct. 1945–1955 Acting Director Munich Central Collecting Point
Cannon, Marie Willis 1926– Publications Procurement Officer, U.S. State Department, Madrid 1946–1952  
Child, Sargent Burrage 1900–1972 Archives Advisor, MFA&A (former National Director, Historic Records Survey) 1945–1946 Established archival Collecting Center in Fuerstenhagen
Clapp, Verner 1901–1972 Chief Assistant Librarian of Congress July–
August 1946
Berlin, Frankfurt (Fechenheim)
Clift, David Horace 1907–1973 Interdepartmental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publications Nov. 5, 1945–
July 13, 1946
Acting head of LC European Mission, Feb. 25, 1946-May 21, 1946, Frankfurt (Fechenheim)
Emerson, Janet 1925–2013 LC, Acquisitions Department Jan. 1, 1946–
Sept. 15, 1947
Frankfurt (Fechenheim)
Brig. Gen. (NLM) Fleming, Thomas P. 1907–1992 Assistant Director of Libraries, Columbia University; Head of Joint Committee on Importations May 10, 1946–
Oct. 10, 1946
British zone
Glennen, James W. 1911–1973 Interdepartmental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publications Aug. 1, 1945–
Sept. 17, 1946
Deputy Chief, Frankfurt (Fechenheim), Baden-Baden
Groesbeck, Joseph 1916–2009 University of Michigan Library, Detroit Public Library March 25, 1946–
Oct. 1, 1946
Deputy Chief, Frankfurt
Hill, Richard S. 1901–1961 LC, Music Division Jan. 5, 1946–
Aug. 2, 1946
Berlin
Horan, Major James 1915-1982 Coordinator of Libraries, War Department 1944-1947  
Lerner, Daniel 1917–1980 Hoover Library on War, Revolution, and Peace Oct. 14, 1946–
May 14, 1947.
Frankfurt (Fechenheim); Chief of Intelligence of the Information Control Division,1945-1946
Lochner, Louis P. 1887–1975 Hoover Library of War, Revolution, and Peace July 26, 1946–
Oct. 11, 1946
 
Loeb, Lt. Max (AUS) 1901–1950 Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, Strategic Services Unit, U.S. Army Dec. 1, 1945–
May 1, 1946
Agent, Frankfurt (Fechenheim)
Lydenberg, Dr. Harry Miller 1874–1960 Director, International Relations Office, American Library Association Dec. 3, 1945–
July 13, 1946
Frankfurt (Fechenheim)
Nachman, Lothar 1922–1993 Military Intelligence Service, U. S. Army, G-2 Documents Center, Berlin July 26, 1946–
Oct. 11, 1946
Berlin
Peiss, Reuben 1912–1952 Chief Representative in Europe Interdepartmental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publications Sept. 16, 1945–
Dec. 17, 1946
Chief, LC European Mission, Frankfurt
Pomrenze, Seymour J. 1916–2011 Monuments, Fine Arts & Archives, Offenbach Archival Depot June 6, 1947–
Sept. 20, 1947
National Archives consultant
Reichmann, Felix 1899–1987 Librarian, Carl Shurz Foundation 1946 Chief, Publications Section, OMGUS, Wuerttemburg Baden
Sanchez, Manuel 1908–1973 OSS, MFA&A 1943–1945 purchased foreign publications for Library of Congress
Schacter, Daniel 1923- Interdepartmental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publications Nov. 19, 1945–
July 29, 1946
Frankfurt (Fechenheim)
Sgt. Schwarzwaelder, Dietrich H. 1922–1987 U. S. Chief of Counsel, OMGUS May 17, 1946–
Oct. 11, 1946
Transportation coordinator, Frankfurt (Fechenheim), directed LC European Mission warehouse and shipping
Stauch, Susanne   German 1947 Frankfurt (Fechenheim)
Sgt. Stuurman, Douwe 1910–1991 Military Intelligence Service, U. S. Army, Third Army Intelligence Center Nov. 29, 1945–
July 26, 1946
Field representative, Freising G-2 Document Center, merged with LC European Mission
Taub, Dr. Mortimer 1910–1965 LC, Assistant Director for Operations of the Acquisitions Department Oct. 7, 1946–
Jan. 12, 1947
Frankfurt (Fechenheim)
Alexander B. Toth 1918–1995 LC, Assistant Chief, Exchange and Gift Division 1946 Publications Procurement Officer, U.S. State Department, London
Travis, Don C., Jr. 1911–1996 Office of Censorship Nov. 23, 1945–
Sept.11, 1947
Vienna; later Chief of the LC European Mission
Vanderbilt, Paul 1905–1992 LC, Prints & Photos 1945 MFA&A, Assistant to Archives Advisor Sargent B. Child, Offenbach Archival Depot
Zuckerman, Jacob 1908–1993 Chief, G-2 Documents Center Headquarters, Berlin
Press analyst, British Embassy, Lisbon; Documents Office, Inter-Allied Committee
Dec. 26, 1945–
Oct. 1, 1946
Chief, Berlin
Zuckerman, Elfride   German May 2, 1946 –
Oct. 1, 1946
Berlin