English Translation

7 In May 1936, the draft treaty was criticised by the New York branch and called for its revision ("The proposed would irrevocably commit us, considerless of when our client died, war occurred or the dollar depreciated, for six months to buy the picture in gold before export permission is given. The contract I suggest would certainly bind the owners to offer us the picture at an agreed price upon export permission is being given and we would have then thirty days or so to decide where to buy it.) This meant that the negotiations were stalled again. Prior to a commitment, it was necessary to ensure that the painting could be passed on to Andrew Mellon. With the death of Andrew Mellon on 27 August 1937, Duveen Brothers broke off his negotiations. Friedrich Kammann, a lawyer working for Duvee Brothers in Vienna, re-emerged in February 1938, claiming to Eugen Czernin that Duvean Brothers was about US$ 1 million. He said that he was willing to pay for the picture and told Duveen Brothers that Eugen Czernin would be willing to sell by this amount (plus 10% export tax). However, this letter was not answered by Duvean Brothers. 3. Buying interests, sales intentions after March 1938 The "connection" of Austria to the German Reich of 1938 also brought substantial changes for a sale of the present painting. On the one hand, as mentioned above, the Reichsgesetz on the extinction of the Fideikommissis, the extinctions of the Fideikommitisse with 1. On the other hand, a report by Eugen Czernin's lawyer Anton Gassauer of January 15, 1939, making an application for the annulment of the Fideikommissis under the (Austrian) Fideiskommisregierungsgesetz of 1932 became obsolete. On 24 September 1938, he expected a stricter handling of the export regulations, but on the other hand he also assumed that the present painting would be sold – albeit at a low price – within the German Reich. Eugen Czernin's lawyer Anton Gassauer met on 24 September. In a report he wrote of Karl Haberstock's connections, which he could "unfortunately not communicate in writing, nor suggest, but which he judged "very useful". After further correspondence, Karl Habrstock received on 7 September 1938, together with the art dealer also for Adolf Hitler, Karl Haberstock in Berlin. In February 1939 Eugen Czernin made a copy of the painting on behalf of Olga Fleissner, the sister-in-law of Gassauers. Eugen Czernin's diary entries show that he knew that Karl Haberstock was in a very good relationship with Adolf Hitler and had a "very high interest in the picture". Eugen Czernin did not consider it to be