a49_1-267_Alexander Catalog 1/15/13 7:27 PM Page 3
Hitler signs a photo and pens a letter to a lady friend using unusually warm language...
3. 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. $7,000 - 8,000
Revealing notes on Hitler’s medical and psychiatric condition... and his doctor’s opinion on his sexuality.
4. 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, intraderContinued on next page
www.historyauctioneer.com
3
Alexander Historical Auctions - 203-276-1570