Hans Schleif
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Hans Philipp Oswald Schleif (23 February 1902 in Wiesbaden – 27 April 1945 in Berlin) was a German architect, architectural and classical archaeologist and member of the SS (member number 264,124), last occupying the rank of Standartenführer (since 30 January 1945). He was a member of the Nazi Party since 1937, with membership number 5,380,876.[1]
Greece
In 1936, the government of Germany provided a considerable sum of money to reactivate a moribund project of archaeological excavation on the site of Olympia, Greece. Schleif was chosen as one of the principal archaeologists in this prestigious project.[2] His Greek work produced a number of books, notably Alt-Olympia (1935), Alt-Athen (part one 1937; part two 1939) and Erechtheion (1942).
Poland
In 1939, Schleif worked as "General Trustee for securing of German cultural goods in the former Polish territory" together with Ernst Petersen in the plunder of the Warsaw archaeological museum in Łazienki Park.[3] He transported five crate loads to Poznań on 30 November, after Standartenführer Mühlmann had given the order for such activity to cease, and founded a new collection and museum in Poznań. He was suspended in September 1940 from the position of a general trustee in Poznań due to his misunderstanding of his function, because the Gestapo expected him to plunder public and private art and cultural objects, that he did not follow.[clarification needed][citation needed]
