Winter 2013 Auction Part I
by Alexander Historical Auctions | Alexander Autographs
412 lots with images
January 30, 2013
Live Auction860 Canal St.
2nd Floor
Stamford, CT, 06902 USA
Phone: 203.276.1570
Fax: 203 504 6290
Email: sales@alexautographs.com
Lot 1: ADOLF HITLER CHURCH INTERIOR WATERCOLOR PAINTING
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Description: ADOLF HITLER CHURCH INTERIOR WATERCOLOR PAINTING Watercolor painting on board attributed to Adolf Hitler and so signed "A. Hitler 1912" at lower left, 18 1/4" x 19 1/2" on heavy art board, an ornate interior view of a church showing statues of cherubs, a bishop, religious paintings, and various accoutrements, with a lone faceless congregant seated at the extreme lower left. The verso bears the red printed paper seal of the store belonging to Samuel Morgenstern. Morgenstern, an Austrian Jew, owned a frame store in Vienna and bought most of Hitler's early paintings for resale...largely to his Jewish clientele. The work bears many similarities to proven examples of Hitler's style: lack of people in the image, which Hitler was unable to draw with any competence, a concentration on architectural style, and most importantly, a rather poor sense of perspective - a fault which would result in Hitler's rejection from art school. Fine condition. This painting is cited on p. 150 (plate 268) in the Billy Price reference Adolf Hitler: The Unknown Artist (Houston: Price Publishing Co.) 1984. Price describes the piece as Interior of the Franciscan Church, held by a private collector in the U.S. and he credits the photo to Peter Jahn. Jahn has been widely recognized as an authenticator of Hitler's artworks. A rare, oversize Hitler painting, and one of only two interior views known - likely commissioned by Morgenstern for a client.
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Lot 2: ADOLF HITLER AWARDS THE KNIGHT'S CROSS OF THE IRON CROSS
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Description: ADOLF HITLER AWARDS THE KNIGHT'S CROSS OF THE IRON CROSS A superb, rare original document awarding the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross to Major Fritz Herrmann, 4pp.parchment, 13 1/2" x 16 3/4", boldly signed by Hitler at bottom. The text of the document reads: "In the name of the German People I give Major Fritz Herrmann the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Fuhrer Headquarters 26. December 1941 The Fuhrer and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht [Signed] Adolf Hitler". The document is intricately hand-lettered in dark brown India ink, and Herrmann's name is rendered in raised gold leaf. A few trivial light stains, else very good. FRITZ HERRMANN fought with the Wehrmacht's 36th Infantry Division in the invasion of France and in Operation Barbarossa. In Russia, the division fought with great distinction as part of XXXXI Panzer Corps. In late October the division helped establish a bridgehead near Kalinin, which it did while under heavy Soviet fire. In November it relieved Kampfgruppe Manteuffel at the Kalinin-Klin-Moscow railway lines near the Volga reservoir. In December 1941, the division had reached just west of Klin when it came under fire from the Soviet's 365th Rifle Division. The Soviet division was forced to retreat after German forces began flanking them from the east. It was during these actions that Major Herrmann undoubtedly distinguished himself. Accompanied by the equally rare presentation folder, 14 1/8" x 17 5/8", the boards covered in burgundy grained red leather and the front cover bearing a left-facing eagle clutching a wreath encircling a swastika. Within, the folders are lined in parchment with the outer edges bearing the same red leather bearing double lines of gilt trim. The maker's name, "FRIEDA THIERSCH", appears in small embossed gilt letters at the bottom of the inside of the rear cover. The front cover bears stains and some surface cuts, corners are bumped, and the front cover may have had its color somewhat restored at some point in time. The hinge bears a small tear at top, and the inside back cover has a waterstain at upper-right. These documents, especially when actually signed by Hitler, are much rarer than one would expect. Since all Knight's Cross documents were hand-made by only one German firm, Frieda Thiersch, a backlog of orders for award documents soon developed. Also, it should be noted that these meticulously hand-crafted documents were all made using India ink calligraphy, obviously very labor intensive, even when done by the skilled and experienced calligraphers employed by Thiersch. Some recipients waited months, or even years, before receiving their award documents. Many recipients actually never received their large award documents, or "Gross-Urkunden"; only a very small fraction of the more than 7,000 Knight's Crosses awarded, from 1939, were accompanied by these formal documents.
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Lot 3: ADOLF HITLER
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Description: ADOLF HITLER (1889 - 1945) Fuhrer of Germany and Nazi Party leader, Hitler's bloody rise to power, his military seizure of most of Europe and North Africa and his genocidal racial policies culminated in suicide in his Berlin bunker as Russian troops approached. A fine pair of rather intriguing related items signed by Hitler, includes: I.S.P. 7" x 9 1/2" b/w, an early bust profile boldly inscribed: "Frau Yolanthe le Moine Berum Oslo In remembrance Adolf Hitler Munich, 12/April 1933". The photo bears a period Hoffmann backstamp and a few pencil notes in Norwegian on verso. Light corner crease at upper-left, with a slightly sharper 1 1/2" crease above the inscription, else near fine. Set in a period silver frame which requires slight repairs. Hitler maintained his relationship with the lady, as the second piece in the lot is a partly-printed Christmas greeting he sent to her on his personal gold-embossed 7 1/2" x 4 3/4" correspondence card, Berlin, December, 1937. Hitler adds the salutation: "Fr. Lola[?] Berum!" adding at bottom: 'Sent with devotion. Yours Adolf Hitler'. One letter in signature lightly brushed, else very good. The sentiments expressed in the photo inscription and correspondence card are completely atypical of the language normally used by Hitler on such items, especially went sent to a member of the opposite sex, and may indicate that their relationship was of more than a simple acquaintance. We have exhaustively attempted to track down a history of the recipient, but to no avail. The photo is signed eight days before Hitler's birthday and just a little over two weeks after Hitler and the NSDAP established their de facto dictatorship in Germany. It should also be noted that Hitler holograph material is exceedingly rare! Two pieces, worthy of further research.
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Lot 4: NOTES FROM THE INTERROGATION OF ADOLF HITLER'S PHYSICIANS
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Description: NOTES FROM THE INTERROGATION OF ADOLF HITLER'S PHYSICIANS An historic collection of five notebooks containing the extensive notes of U.S. Army interrogator Herman Merl, a Vienna-born medical technician who was pressed into service by military intelligence to interview Hitler's primary physicians, Dr. Theodor Morell and Dr. Karl Brandt. Merl's findings would be used in an exhaustive report which would come to be known as "Hitler As Seen By His Doctors" (a copy of which is also offered in this sale). Merl's notes, obtained directly from his estate, are contained within five 65pp. 8vo. "Stenogramm" notebooks, all German-made, four of which are labeled by Merl with the name of the person interviewed and in some cases the date of the interview. The notes are partly in pencil, and much is written in German and in a medical shorthand which we have been unable to decipher, so a careful deciphering of these texts may reveal much. The first notebook is labeled "Dr. Morell Sept. 7, 1945" bears 10pp. of text and begins with Merl's listing of the doctors he interviewed, who also included Drs. Giesing, and von Hasselbach, and he mentions dental x-rays of Gen. Albert Kesselring. On Sep. 21st, Merl notes: "...Dr. Morell...was interrogated from 9 A.M. to 11 A.M. by me. He was asked by me about injections...medications, intramuscular, intradermal...He was with Hitler for a period of over 8 years...my interrogation on the medical field will be continued. Questions on Eva Braun, Hitler's girl, was also asked by me. His sexual life and intercourse with Eva Braun was told to me..." The next five days show Merl preparing and translating the Morell report on Hitler, and mentions Kesselring stating that Patton was a "great" general, Clark "good", and Hitler "clever". The second notebook, dated Sep. 21, bears 20pp. of text and appears to be Merl's notes from the Morell interview. Merl's notes are extensive, listing all of the various vitamins, injections, and bizarre compounds Hitler was administered while under the care of Morell, and most of these "remedies" appear in the final report issued by Army Intelligence. Apparently also mentioned are the various male and female hormones, including the extracts of bull testes used by Hitler in an attempt to regulate his level of testosterone. A physical description of Hitler is also set forth, as well as his pulse and the fact that he had tremors. The third and fourth notebooks concern the interrogation of Dr. Karl Brandt and contain a total of 31pp. of text in pencil. In these notebooks, Merl used a great deal of medical shorthand, but it is clear that he obtained Brandt's biography and extensive information on the doctor's treatment of Hitler. Notes on Hitler include: "...gutteral pronounciation...angina...meteorism [an accumulation of gas]...vegetarian...lumbago...strychnine 0.04mg Belladonna 0.4...slight tremor, possible psychogenic origin. After July 20, no tremor...Parkinson?...hysterical, memory excellent...megalomaniac...". The last notebook, 18pp. of text in pencil, bears one disbound page headed "Morell" which leads us to believe that these are notes from a follow-up interview of Morell. They commence with a brief summary of various vitamins and medications given Hitler from 1936, on, and mention an electrocardiogram. He continues, mentioning Morrel's opinion on Hitler's sexuality: "Homosex / [?] Eva Braun = seperate rooms. Was a night person...effusion...Hormones about 12 times...Prokinon[?] = female...female hormone - injection 50,000 units...". Additional content concerns additional injections, Hitler's gall bladder and liver functions, his incresing tremors, nervousness and irritability, a mention of astrology, and lists the names of many of those who were in Hitler's bunker at the time of its capture. Overall in very good condition. DR. THEODOR MORELL (1886-1948) was Hitler's primary and most responsible for the myriad drugs, hormones and quack compounds fed to Hitler for nearly a decade. He was the main rival of Dr. KARL BRANDT (1904-1948), an SS-Brigadefuhrer selected as Hitler's personal physician in 1934. Brandt also headed the Nazi euthanasia program and was hanged for his crimes in 1948. These notes, original source material for the first official report on Hitler's mental and physical state to have been generated from information obtained from his personal physicians, are of great historical importance and should be carefully "translated" for additional facts which may have been excluded or censored from the final Army Intelligence report.
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Lot 5: "HITLER AS SEEN BY HIS DOCTORS..."
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Description: "HITLER AS SEEN BY HIS DOCTORS..." Fascinating printed report, 47pp. legal folio, [n.p., Military Intelligence Service Center], Nov. 29, 1945, a classified report containing a highly-detailed compilation of data obtained from Adolf Hitler's six chief physicians, along with fifteen x-rays of various views of Hitler's skull and several EEGs. The report is the result of interrogations of doctors Theodor Morell, Erwin Giesing, Walter Loehlein, Karl Weber, A. Nissle and E. Brinkmann who each specialized in different areas of treatment. The report opens with a complete physical description of Hitler and his medical history, with neurological data, spinal root functions, psychiatric observations, etc. The report includes many startling revelations - and leaves much out. Some examples: no mention is made of the extensive use of cocaine to treat Hitler's sinuses and throat ailments; he suffered from uncontrollable flatulence and was treated with pills containing strychnine; Morell's believe that Hitler had relations with Eva Braun; injections of extracts of seminal vesicles, testis and prostata of young bulls; rapid coronary sclerosis is detected; and much more. All pages have been lightly laminated for preservation, the x-rays are in their original state. From the estate of Dr. Herman Merl. Merl served as an Army Medical Technician and assisted in interviewing Hitler's physicians and gathering information used in compiling this report. A previous offering by us another copy of this report, with five fewer x-rays, realized an $11,000 hammer price and brought international attention.
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