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Third Reich Documents and Photo


Skylinechili

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Not sure if the photo is related to documents but it was stored together. The more I look at the photo, I believe it's Rommel. Any help identifying is much appreciated!  Thanks

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Some excellent documents!   The red folder looks very important! This was probably for passing important documents to Hitler personally.
Everything so far is of great historical significance. On the last photo is Reinhold Heydrich (centre, seated), who later became Reichsprotektor von Böhmen und Mähren in Prag, this seems to be a somewhat earlier photograph, but he is already wearing a fieldgrey uniform, hard to say the exact date. I don't recognise any of the other persons.

Bildergebnis für reinhold heydrich briefmarke

SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhold Heydrich, asassinated 4. June 1942 (Internet photo)

The first document is a promotion document to Rittmeister Helmuth von Bülow as Major, first signature is Hitler - usually facsimile (check this)
seconded by von Brauchitsch, Generalfeldmarschall, 17.June 1940

The second document is a letter from the Oberbefehlshaber (Hitler) presently in Berchtesgaden, 30.5.1942  to
Korvettenkapitän Brandis (Kriegsmarine) thanking for sending of photographs of Bergen (Norway). The photos will be a nice souvenir of the visit to Bergen, they show the unique nature of the Norwegian coastline around Bergen.
With best greetings and HH!
(signature) Generalfeldmarschall - possibly Keitel?

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Fritz, many thanks again. Under magnification the Adolf Hitler signature is definitely live ink. Not sure if that confirms authentication, however it does match other examples I've seen. Yes the photo is for sure Heydrich. A very identifiable nose! The photo is marked "Friedrich Bauer Munchen" but no date unfortunately. 

I'll research the General FM signature further and see if I can come up with a match.

Lastly, one more signature/ Photo if you might recognize. Cheers! 

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The first document / letter signature is Franz Gruber - he writes on behalf of his father-in-law, replying about the request for the addresses of those listed in the request, but due to ill health cannot comply with request. 

19.7.1970
"Sehr geehrter Herr Marbach,
.............Von der Übersendung einer Sahnetorte oder sonstiger Aufmerksamkeit bittet er Sie abzusehen.
Mit besten Grüßen
Ihr
Max Gruber"

Photo is an early post-war photo, signature not legible.
The last document is headed by a poem by Goethe. The card is addressed as a thankyou for well wishes for a 90th birthday - no mention of person concerned, regarding birthday wishes dating from 19.7.1970, so the person involved was born around 1890, refers likely to the first document above, the photo is probably of the person in question (signature illegible.....izt (?))

P.S.: I asked one further opinion on this signature, I was told as a guess: Rist
So I looked through the internet, found nothing suitable, but this name seems to originate from the South-West of Germany, Württemberg and around Stuttgart, but that doesn't really help us. Interesting to note in the picture background, through the window is mountainous and in snow, so definitely somewhere South, or just a Winter holiday stay?

There was a book published some years ago: Wer war wer im Dritten Reich?  A glossary of names and short biography of many notable persons in the Third Reich. In the GDR there was also a "Brown Book" published listing all "War Criminals", or those branded as such by the GDR, these were on the "wanted" list, names included Wernher von Braun, Joachim Peiper, Bolko von Richthofen, Wolfram von Richthofen, generals, officers, scientists, "capitalists", industrialists, bankers, politicians, party members, petty officials, etc. and many others, having an aristocratic background was also another crime in the GDR category. To the point, such a name may be listed in one of these works.

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Fritz, 

I may have more to offer in some time as I'm just going through a massive book collection that belonged to my father. Mixed in are more documents, photos ect. I may find more information within on the signature. I appreciate your efforts and will update any information I come across that may relate.

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So I was going through probably 300 books when I came across a very large one that was wrapped special. This lead to my discovery of the signature in question. All large photos of GFM with signatures. I'm flipping through and come across a signature that looked familiar. Sure enough, General Field Marshal- Wilhelm List, 1880-1971 . Commanded 12th Army, 14th + Army Group A.

If you zoom in on photos you'll notice a transparent page covering photos. It has a spiderweb texture to it. I found this very interesting as well. 

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Very nice!   I assume these are all facsimile signatures?  The name Hasso von Wedell also rings a bell. He can be found in the army officers list of 1939
"Das Deutsche Heer", also in reprint by Podzun Pallas Verlag around 1960s 1970s, as most originals were destroyed for obvious reasons.

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Well done Skyline, that was a lucky find otherwise it could have taken for ever to identify, without doubt it is the signature of List, you should keep that document and the book together. What is the second List signature you have (post 4) it looks like a book from 1970?     

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Very nice you should keep that with the other two items, Max Grueber sounds familiar too but I'm not sure where from, I suppose it will be quite a common name, most likely a veteran of Army group A. Does the signature on the card look original it might well be if the print run was small.  Fritz can you make out what the card says?  

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No the card signature is real. The only List signature that is printed is on the large portfolio of the GFM. Picture of the entire portfolio.

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Your father certainly had good taste and knew what he was looking for , you're very lucky to have such a nice collection    

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Kenny, 

Thank you for saying so. My earliest memories are waking up early morning and having to drive with my father to another city to attend military shows. He had a passion and got me collecting at a young age. I also know he risked much making trips to rescue items out of East Germany during the late 70's and early 80's. Although I haven't been active in this for many years,  I'm beginning to understand that passion he had. Putting the pieces of his collection back together makes me feel close to him. I appreciate the help from everyone on this Forum!

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Well said. I wonder how he managed to get such items out of East Germany? Being an American or other neutral was maybe easier, but for (W.) German nationals very difficult and risky, for East Germans unthinkable, they weren't allowed out anyway, nor were they allowed to possess such things. Some collections did however manage to secretly surivive at great risk in the East, there were a few notable collections which emerged after 1990. I remember once I purchased a Bavarian artillery pickelhaube in Hannover, then travelled by train to Berlin (W.), crossing through the border checks, luckily they never checked me, having a foreign passport was probably also an asset, but I never felt at ease for the long crossing there and back again to the West by train.

Photos:
1st photo, Generaloberst Erhard Milch, 1892-1972, Generalfeldzeugmeister der Luftwaffe and successor to Ernst Udet (+1941)
2nd photo, Generaloberst Günther von Kluge, 1882-1944, suicide near Verdun. Generalfeldmarschall as from 19.7.1940

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Fritz, 

Yes, him traveling to E Germany to retrieve items was very risky. I had many conversations with him later in life about his "business trips" Without going in to much detail, he had a good friend who lived in Stuttgart. This friend was originally from a small village outside of Leipzig near Thale. His family still lived here. This was his connection in the East. He was once telling me of a close call where he was held for three hours being questioned crossing back. Trying to keep his cool while being watched by multiple guards holding machine guns. I'm not implying his entire collection was once smuggled out of Communist territory but I know a few items still around that were. 

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I remember going on a trip to West Berlin (1981) with someone in our firm, he was Danish, he said you can bring your girlfriend along, she had an American passport.
This was a trip to the IFA Messe, Internationale Funkausstellung in W. Berlin. We went by car, all three. No problems going, but on the way back, on leaving W. Berlin, we were checked by the DDR Grenztruppen, passports, etc. The problem was, the American passport of my girlfriend had a residence stamp for the West, which was long expired, in combination with a W.German Personalausweis, dual nationality  - the DDR did not recognise the W-German personalausweis and the residence stamp in the US passport was expired! Complicated situation for the East German border guards, but otherwise all perfectly correct and legal. I don't know why the E.Germans found that to be a problem, but as usual, they want to make a problem out of every situation. They took her papers and left us waiting for about at least half an hour. The Danish person was getting a bit on edge about the situation, and he said, look, I have to be back in time, take this, and gave us a couple of hundred D-Mark for train tickets (paid by the firm), and told us to come back by train when the situation is sorted out. So we did that and had to make our way through the checks at the Bahnhofsübergang Friedrichstraße (Tränenpalast). So we arrived a couple of hours late back in the West.
In the end everything worked out well. I didn't have any fears about the situation, as I was used to travelling to the East and back, but for the others it was nerve racking. I also had some books, which I got in West Berlin (West publications - generally prohibited in the East), which could have caused problems, but they did not check our luggage.

Photos: Similar impressions to the old days, photos are now rare, as photography im Grenzgebiet was strictly verboten.

DDR-Ärzte: Fluchtwillige im Visier des MfS

Travelling by road, not always the best way through. DDR officials could entirely dismantle your car and leave it if they wanted.

Die Festung - Bahnhof Friedrichstraße - Informationen zur Stasi - BStU

50 Jahre Mauerbau: Grenzübergangsstelle Berlin Friedrichstraße - Bilder &  Fotos - WELT

DDR-Geschichte: Der Tränenpalast als Sackgasse im Herzen Berlins - WELT

Tränenpalast, Grenzübergangs- und Kontrollstelle Friedrichstraße

Bildergalerie: Der Tränenpalast - ein Ort der Geschichte und Aktivität -  Bildergalerien - Mediacenter - Tagesspiegel

The same building in a more recent photo.

10 | Januar | 2013 | DDR-Uniformen

Berlin wird geteilt: Der Mauerbau | NDR.de - Geschichte - Chronologie

 

 

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2 Field Marshalls - Hugo Sperrle and Walther von Reichenau

Nice early Iron Cross document 1940, a strip of miniature EK ribbon has been added to the corner, and it was probably in a glass frame for many years, therefore rather faded.

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