were not for sale. Even under occupation law, Göring had to
tread very carefully. Her husband agreed if suitably bribed
to persuade her, provided Marshal Pétain himself would sign
the export license. Madame de Sèze, however, fought back: She
persuaded the French Administration des Beaux-Arts to list the
tapestries as historic monuments. When the agents appeared at
the château with Göring’s cash, she announced triumphantly
that she had given the tapestries to the nation. Göring in-
structed his General Hanesse to threaten Prime Minister Pierre
Laval with massive retaliation, but Beaux-Arts now spirited the
treasures away to Aubusson for “restoration,” and the Laval gov-
ernment, refusing to be strong-armed, formally accepted the
“gift” by decree of June indignant, as Hanesse’s adjutant
Major Drees recorded that day, that Göring had larded mil-
lion francs around in bribes to French officials in addition to his
original million-franc offer. “In the absence of further in-
structions,” reported Drees in a revealing message, “I shall re-
frain from making a song and dance with the French govern-
ment, to avoid any of this coming to the ears of the German
embassy here.” Using top-secret Luftwaffe communication
channels, Göring instructed him to tell Pétain that he was “in-
censed” by the tapestry affair and regarded the whole maneuver
as a “swindle” by certain civil servants: “Surely the government
is able to refuse the gift and recognize the sale. I am just asking
for my rights. In Germany something like this would be impos-
sible: The state has enough authority to deal with such a case.”
Laval capitulated. His chief of police seized the tapestries,
and in August they would be shipped to Carinhall. Afrika Corps
commander General von Thoma happened to witness their ar-
rival, accompanied by an unidentified Luftwaffe major, probably
Drees himself. “I’ve just flown in with the Junkers,” Thoma
heard the major announce. “And at last we’ve got those damned