Eventually after several months of discussions between d'Ors and the German Embassy, d'Ors was told that the drawings would no longer be available since their withdrawal to Berlin had been ordered by a higher authorithy: his ceaseless representations availed nothing.
What is totally unclear is whether the order to the German Embassy in Madrid came from Hitler or from Goebbeld the Reich Minister of Propaganda and what the purpose of the order was. There are two conjectures: first, that that Hitler had heard that the drawings were of architectural interest and sought them in his 'artistic' capacity- since he regarded the Paris Opera as the height of architecture. Perhaps he had even seen the drawings on their journey from Warsaw to Madrid. The second possibility is that Goebbels required the drawings for for wartime propaganda purposes. Certainly the suggestion that the drawings might have propaganda value makes eminently good sense. topolski was an official British War Artist and at least one of his Blitz drawings, nemly that of a tired ARP Warden, which was originally reproduced in Illustrated London News, and subsequently as one of the Penguin 'Topolski Prints', was used by the Nazis ( without payment of royalties) in some of their propaganda to demonstrate the plight of wartime Britain.
Unfortunately, our best potential sources of information have run dry: none of the German ambassadors to Madrid during the war ( Dr. Eberhard von Stohrer, Hans Adolf von Moltke, and Dr Hans Heinrich Dieckhoff) is still alive; both José Janés and John Marks died about six years ago; and Eugenio d'Ors died in 1954.
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