Office of Alien Property Records (RG 131)

Vesting Orders and Vesting Order Case Files

During and after World War II the Office of Alien Property (OAP) held responsibility for assuming control over foreign-owned property in the United States and for the administration and disposition of such property. This served the double purpose of eliminating any benefit to the enemy countries from these assets and also of making the profits and products of these enterprises available for the U.S. war effort.

Taking control of enemy-owned property was done through a Vesting Order issued by the OAP. Between 1942 and 1953, 19,555 such vesting orders were issued. The property vested fell primarily into these main groups: business enterprises; patents, trade-marks, and copyrights; real and personal property; estates and trusts; securities; bank accounts, currency, and coin; notes, claims, and credits; and life insurance and annuity contracts.

Although the Vesting Orders were published in the Federal Registrar and are also found in the series “Orders, Notices, and Related Records, 1942-1973” (National Archives Identifier 7431189), the “Vesting Order Case Files, 1942-1966” (National Archives Identifier 7329938), provide a fuller and more complete listing of what was seized. In addition, case files provide the Government’s rationale for the seizure, as well as additional background on its handling of the case. These files were known as the “vault files” of the OAP because they were kept for years in a secure vault, amongst other Department of Justice sensitive and classified records. The collection is composed of individual folders for each vesting order that contain a copy of the vesting order and any original or other document considered important.

In addition, a list of the vesting orders and a description of each one were published annually in the Annual Report of the Office of Alien Property for the years 1943-1953. The list below is a sampling of the descriptions that appear in the Annual Reports.

Selected Vesting Orders from "Vesting Order Case Files, 1942-1946" (National Archives Identifier 7329938)

Please note:

• that the table below utilizes the abbreviation "IGF," which stands for I. G. Farbenindustrie A.G.
• that while various arrangements including "Du Pont," "DuPont," and "duPont" have all been employed in the original records, the table below utilizes "du Pont" for consistency.