German Railway photos

[don1]

Copyright of confiscated German WW2 railway photographs
Hi, I am writing a book about the German Railways pre-WW2 and would like to use some confiscated pictures taken by Henrich Hoffman and his colleagues. Hoffman was Hitler's personal photographer. The images are of the record breaking locomotives 05 001 and 05 002 and some German officers on the train.
There seems to be some conflict over who owns the copyright of some images. The National Archive Records and Administration in Washington are said to be claiming the copyright of the railway photos, whilst the German Reichsbahn and Bavarian State Library in Munich, also claim copyright. I understand that the Washington organisation obtained the images during WW2 and that they are now free of copyright and in the public domain in America.
Does anyone have any information or confirmation? If it is free to use in America, is it also free to use in the UK or Europe?
Many thanks,
Don Hale