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February 8,
2021 - Droog Magazine periodical for investigative
journalism Introduction | 'Hitler' objects at auction | Auction policies | Address auction house
Once again, not one of the journalists copy pasting the press release issued by auctioneer Bill Panagopulos, made any critical remarks about the dubious nature of this and other objects at this auction.
Of the many
allegedly Hitler and other Nazis related
objects at this auction we've highlighted
these objects: Lot
510: "Adolf Hitler watercolor painting".
Start price $10,000. Sold for $25,000. Description by
auctioneer: "Original
watercolor
painting executed by Adolf Hitler, initialed
'A H' at lower-right and titled by him:
'Alt-Wien Kirche Maria am Gestade' at
lower-left. A well-executed work, typical of
Hitler's rather stilted style with the poor
perspective and a total lack of human figures.
This work is better than most other Hitler
efforts in that he has added a number of
detailed signs posted on a wall at bottom, and
included the name and location of the
structure. The painting measures 6 x 8 in.
(sight), and is in a period mat and frame, 13
x 15.75 in. overall.
Sources:
Description by auctioneer: "An extraordinary relic with un-shakable provenance, a porcelain shaving mug bearing Adolf Hitler's portrait, owned and used by Hitler at his Munich apartment and taken as 'spoils of war' by Jewish American Army officer Lt. Ben Lieber. The mug, marked by distinguished makers K.P.M., stands 5.5 inches tall overall, resting on three gilt 'feet'. A 1.25 inch band of gold oak leaves encircles the piece, meeting at the front at a 2.75 inch tall oval portrait of Adolf Hitler in Brownshirt dress. The portrait, surrounded by gold trim, is brilliantly executed and of the best quality. The mug rises to a flared top rim 3 5/8 inches wide and trimmed in gold. At the rear of the mug is an ornate handler with lavish gold trim painted on the sides and on the edge of the handle. The bottom of the mug displays the K.P.M. maker's mark, with hand-painted 'Heil Hitler!', also 'Juliann Koch geb Krog.' (the artist) and the year '1932'. The rear foot of the mug bears a tiny chip, touched-up with gilt paint, otherwise the piece is in as-new condition. This piece has sterling provenance. On or about April 30, 1945 Lt. Philip Ben Lieber of the 692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion was one of the first soldiers to enter the private Munich apartment of Adolf Hitler at Prinzregentenplatz 16. He seized the best 'souvenirs' he could find, including Hitler's visor cap and Nazi 'brown shirt', his 'Blood Order' and other medals, a portrait of Hitler's mother...and this shaving mug, among other items. Lieber's discovery was heralded in newspapers at the time, and was examined by respected dealer Ben Swearingen III. Lieber specifically mentions the shaving mug in a 1967 letter to collector David Mathes, who bought the mug in 1969. The piece is again mentioned in a notarized letter from Lieber's wife to Mathes in 1972, probably for purposes of resale. In the meantime, in 1970, the balance of Lieber's collection was purchased by Mohawk Arms and then resold to dealers Wolfe-Hardin in 1994. At some point prior to 2014, Wolfe-Hardin also purchased the items in the Mathes collection. In 2014, Wolfe-Hardin sold the Lieber
Collection in its entirety to dealer Craig Gottlieb,
from whom our consignor purchased this relic.
Included with the mug is full provenance for the
collection as provided by Mohawk Arms ca. 1985,
including copies of letters and receipts from Lieber
and Swearingen, newspaper articles, photographs,
etc.; original affidavit citing the origin of the
mug signed by Stephen Wolfe, Neil Hardin and Craig
Gottlieb, and a copy of the Wall Street Journal,
Mar. 26, 2014 with a story on the collection and
photo of the mug on page six. A rare opportunity to
purchase a unique presentation piece of the highest
quality."
What's the truth in all of this? Lt. Philip
Ben Lieber from Shreveport (Louisiana), member of
the 692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion, looted on or
about April 30 1945 some objects from Hitler's
Munich apartment. 
The 1945 newspaper
clipping. Unfortunately the last
part is missing. Click on image to
enlarge. Lieber's “Hitler collection” was stolen in 1968 by his chauffeur, who sold the material to the New York Militaria dealer Peter Hlinka, who resold it Raymond Zyla of Mohawk Arms Inc. In 1970 Lieber sued the dealers for the return of his goods. In the court case his collection was described as “it included Hitler's uniform jacket and cap and some of his decorations and personal jewelry.” Lieber won the case. According to Wilbur C. Stump, in 2014: “Before returning the collection, Raymond Zyla and his brother Joseph called on Lieber's New York lawyer Charles Drake and offered what Raymond Zyla described in a 1985 deposition as "a large amount of cash". The offer was accepted and the collection remained in Mohawk Arms' possession.”
But in the meantime the Ben Lieber Hitler collection had miraculously grown in size: both Hlinka and Zyla (according to Stump "dealers whose reputations for passing off fakes and forgeries are well-known to the point of causing merriment amongst collectors") must have added objects to it. And more were possibly added by later dealers.
Stump: “The Ben Lieber Adolf Hitler
Collection passed from Mohawk Arms to Wolfe-Hardin
in September 1995 and was recently acquired by
dealer Craig Gottlieb.” Stump published in 2014 this
photo of part the Lieber collection: This
shows clearly how the fraudulent
dealers operate: the jacket and
cap might be authentic
(or they might replicas, who's
to say?), but the medals and
belt were probably not looted by
Lieber, but added after 1968 and
were in all likelihood never
possessed by Hitler.
Description by
auctioneer:
"Offered
here is an item guaranteed to be one of the most
eye-catching items one could ever add to a
collection of World War II relics - the
two-piece wooden toilet seat with lid removed by
an enterprising G.I. from Adolf Hitler's
bathroom at his retreat, the Berghof in
Berchtesgaden, Bavaria.
No name is mentioned and Mitchell's book isn't regarded as very reliable: "[Mitchell] relies upon unit histories and soldier memoirs rather than Military Government archival evidence. As a result, the attention paid to this potentially rich subject seems hurried and incomplete” - according to reviewer Seth Givens in 2012.
The looting of the toilet seat was also mentioned in this work Uncle John’s perpetually pleasing bathroom reader (2013), with this extra detail:
We
couldn't
trace the London Telegraph article, but
we did trace two other newspaper articles from
December 2012, which are probably copies of the
Telegraph article, in which the son tells
for - apparently - the first time about this
toilet seat.
Sources AHA, lot 512; https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/adolf-hitlers-toilet-seat-captured-at-the-berghof_41F439F9EA
Obituary
Helena Borch. The Star-Ledger,
23-03-2010. Seth Givens. Review
of Mitchell, Arthur H., Hitler's Mountain: The
Führer, Obersalzberg and the American Occupation
of Berchtesgaden. H-War, H-Net Reviews.
February, 2012. Matt Quinton. The turd Reich ... toilet 'looted from Hitler's lair' revealed. The Sun, London, 11-12-2012. https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/330291/the-turd-reich-toilet-looted-from-hitlers-lair-revealed/ NN. Wie mein Vater
Hitlers Toilette stibitzte. B.Z.,
Berlin, 13-12-2012. Alexander von
Schönburg. Hitlers Klobrille untern
Hammer. Bild, Berlin,
01-02-2021. Caspar Naber. Hitlers
'hoogstpersoonlijke wc-bril'onder de
hamer. AD, Rotterdam,
03-02-2021. Cécile D. Le siège de
toilette d'Adolf Hitler mis en vente
aux enchères. Sortir à Paris,
Paris, 04-02-2021. To top of page. Lot 513: "World War I
body armor from Hitler's Berghof".
Start price $2,000. Passed.
Description by
auctioneer:
"Steel 'grabenpanzer'
or body armor, recovered from the main entrance at
Hitler's Berghof where it was apparently kept by
Hitler as a reminder of his service in the
trenches during World War I.
AHA, lot 513; https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/world-war-i-body-armor-from-hitlers-berghof_1E14B68A3A
Body armour (Sappenpanzer):
German. Imperial War Museum, London,
2021.
Lot 514: "Oil painting from Hitler's Berghof". Start price $5,000. Sold for $10,000.
Description by
auctioneer:
"An original oil
painting taken from the ruins of Hitler's
Berghof by one of the first Americans on the
scene, an M.P. fluent in German and French
sent to liase with the French 2ieme Division
Blindee (French 2nd Armored Division), the
first Allied troops to reach Hitler's home. The painting bears
two professional repairs on the verso, and has
a 12 in. vertical tear.
AHA, lot 514; https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/oil-painting-from-hitlers-berghof_7504BA3BA7 Laurent Didier
Detouche (Reims, 1815 – Paris, 1882). #378. [Auction
house] De Bacque, Paris. [Seen 02-02-2021]. Laurent
Detouche Auction Price results. Invaluable.com.
[Seen 02-02-2021]. Lot 515: "Oil
painting from Hitler's Berghof".
Start price $4,000. Sold
for $7,500.
Description by
auctioneer:
"An original oil
painting taken from the hallway outside Adolf
Hitler's bedroom at the Berghof. The ruins of the
Berghof at Berchtesgaden were entered by American
M.P. Ragnvald C. Borch, one of the first Americans
on the scene and fluent in German and French, when
he was sent to liase with the French 2ieme Division
Blindee (French 2nd Armored Division), the first
Allied troops to reach Hitler's home. Comment
by Droog Magazine:
AHA, lot 515; https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/oil-painting-from-hitlers-berghof_DB6471D8CF
Description by
auctioneer:
"1937 German
'Skagerrak-Kalender', purportedly taken from
Hitler's office at the Berghof in Berchtesgaden.
The calendar measures 9.5 x 7.5 in. and has
illustrated pages for each week of the year, the
photographs showing various Kriegsmarine and other
marine scenes.
The F.M.J. Rehse Archiv und Museum für
Zeitgeschichte (Rehse Archive and Museum for
Contemporary History) goes back to Friedrich Josef
Maria Rehse (1870-1952), who has been collecting
historical documents (Rehse Collection) since the
beginning of the First World War. Rehse had been in
personal contact with Adolf Hitler since 1921. In
1929 the NSDAP bought his collection for 80,000 RM.
The collection changed its name several times
between 1929 and 1938. Since 1938 it has been housed
in Munich; today it is divided between the Bundesarchiv
(Federal Archive) in Berlin and various other
archives. Some of it ended up in the Library of
Congress in Washington after the war (source:
Provenienzwiki). Sources AHA, lot 515; https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/adolf-hitler-calendar-possibly-from-the-berghof_53F4D6484E F.M.J. Rehse Archiv und Museum fïr Zeitgeschichte. ProvenienzWiki - Plattform für Provenienzforschung und Provenienzerschließung, 2021. https://provenienz.gbv.de/F.M.J._Rehse_Archiv_und_Museum_f%C3%BCr_Zeitgeschichte
Skagerrak-Kalender
1936. Booklooker.de [Seen 02-02-2021]. Kriegsmarine
"Skagerrak-Kalender 1938.
Tarnmilitaria, Soest (the
Netherlands). [Seen 02-02-2021]. Lot
516: "Adolf
Hitler's Linen
Monogram
Handkerchief".
Start price
$1,000. Sold
for $1,400.
Description by auctioneer:
A monogrammed white linen handkerchief once
owned by Adolf Hitler. The 17 x 16.5 in.
handkerchief has a simple border and bears his
embroidered initials 'A.H.' at one corner. In as-new
condition.
Source AHA, lot 516; https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/adolf-hitlers-linen-monogram-handkerchief_D194905820
Lot
517: "A lock
of Adolf
Hitler's
hair". Start
price $500. Sold
for $1,800.
Description by auctioneer:
An excessively
rare relic, four very small strands of Adolf
Hitler's black hair, removed from his personal
monogrammed hairbrush which was recovered by
an American soldier at Berchtesgaden.
AHA, lot 517: https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/a-lock-of-adolf-hitlers-hair_C584E58BFF
"Authentic
brick..." Gettysburg Museum of History,
[Seen 02-02-2021]
"This auction is conducted under the laws of the State of Maryland.
Photos courtesy Alexander Historical Auctions. |
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