Walter Hofer

[1] In 1942, Hofer helped his brother-in-law Kurt Bachstitz, who was Jewish, obtain a visa so that he could flee the Netherlands to Switzerland.

He also arranged a divorce for Bachstitz so that his art dealing firm became fully Aryan, thus avoiding confiscation.

[7] He travelled on Göring's special art trains and could get essential foreign currency (Devisen) for his purchases which was in short supply for ordinary Germans.

[6] Hofer claimed that on one occasion in Paris, he beat an agent acting for Adolf Hitler to a Rembrandt by one day.

[9] Hofer is mentioned 162 times in the OSS Art Looting Intelligence Unit's 1945-1946 Reports and List of Red Flag Names.

[12] Immediately after V-E Day,[6] Hofer was at Berchtesgaden where he displayed Göring's collection to U.S. soldiers and visiting journalists.

He was later convicted in absentia by a French military tribunal and sentenced to ten years in prison which he did not serve.

Hermann Göring (left) & Walter Hofer (right) at Karinhall
Göring in captivity 9 May 1945