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May 24, 2022.

The Hitler Forgery Industry

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1940 | Certificates of Authenticity


The strange business of selling fakes, forgeries and other concoctions attributed to Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and other Nazi criminals.

Hitler tourism, September 1940

Exchange rates/value of money October 1940




Hitler tourism, September 1940

In September 1940, while the Battle of Britain was in full swing,  a Dutch reporter with clear nazi sympathies visited Leonding, where Hitler had lived as a child. The described reproductions of watercolors originate from the Hoffmann portfolio:

“Leonding is a small town, which is located in a charming environment of meadows and orchards at a relatively short distance from Linz. Its white church tower with an onion-shaped spire can already be seen from some distance away. Nearby stands a simple, solid yellow and whitewashed house with green window frames and a dark grey tiled roof.

It has four windows at the front, separated two by two by the entrance door, and apart from the rooms on the ground floor, there are living quarters in the roof, which can be reached by a fairly steep narrow staircase. This house, numbered No. 61, became the property of Alois and Klara Hitler, the parents of the present Fiihrer of the German Reich, on 14 November 1898. The house included a piece of land at the back, as well as another piece a little further on the so-called Mitterweg.

(...) The young Hitler lived in Leonding for about five years. After his father's death he was in the custody of the mayor Josef Mayrhofer. He received his primary education at two different schools in Leonding, one directly next to the church, the other a little further away, which is now a local museum. Both buildings are still in their original condition and so is the former parent's house of the Führer, which is carefully maintained and attracts many visitors throughout the year.

No attempt has been made to restore it to the way Hitler's parents inhabited it. The entire ground floor is closed, only the upper room can be visited, where Hitler played as a child. This room is not furnished either. On the wall hangs a portrait of the Führer with a flower bouquet, flanked by several reproductions of watercolours that he made during the previous Great War. On a small table is the guest book, in which the visitors write their names. This is all the room contains, but the imagination needs no more.

A former playmate of the Führer joined us and told us about his experiences with the much younger Adolf Hitler, who was his neighbour. This man's father was the teacher with whom Hitler was classed. According to his stories, Hitler was already skilled in drawing and wood carving as a boy and he could tell very entertaining stories. (...)


A definitely not by Adolf Hitler made wood carving. In fact: the only source for Hitler having ever made wood carvings is this story of the alleged former playmate.

Nor could we learn much more about the Führer's other playmates, who later joined our group in front of the house. The time from which these people have to draw their memories lies far behind us and, as they admitted with a certain embarrassment, they were not prepared at the time that their simple companion would one day become a personality of such extraordinary importance for history!

Crossing the road, we visited the grave of Hitler's parents, which is located against the cemetery wall in the shadow of the church tower. It is covered by a stone, which we found completely covered with flowers, among which several flower bushes with the inscription "Von den Hollandkindern" [presented by the children from the Netherlands]. (...)”

Naar de Oostmark. Een bezoek aan Leonding. Een jeugdherinnering omtrent den Führer. Het graf zijner ouders. Het Vaderland, 's-Gravenhage, 22-09-1940.
https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010019268:mpeg21:a0087

About the shown wood carving: detail of the Last Supper from Tilman Riemenschneider's Altar of the Holy Blood, 1501-05, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. Tilman2007, CC BY-SA 3.0,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_carving#/media/File:Rothenburg_ob_der_Tauber_2011_St_Jakob_002.JPG


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Exchange rates / value of money, October 1940

Take notice: due to the war conditions and black markets these exchange rates, published  in De Telegraaf, a Dutch newspaper in German occupied Europe, probably do not necessarily represent the actual values. 

Exchanges Rates London (official)


1 UK pound = 4.02 US dollar.
1 US dollar =  0.25 UK pound  
1 UK pound = 4.45 Canadian dollar
1 Canadian dollar = 0.22 UK pound
1 UK pound = 17.50 Swiss francs
1 Swiss franc =0.057 UK pound

1 UK pound = 16.90 Swedish krone
1 Swedish kron = 0.059 UK pound
1 UK pound = 17 Brazilian real

1 Brazilian real = 0.058 UK pound

Exchanges Rates Berlin

1 Reichsmark (RM) = 2.50 US dollar
1 US dollar = 0.40 RM
1 RM = 2.10 Canadian dollar
1 Canadian dollar = 0.47 RM
1 RM = 1.32 NL guilder
1 NL guilder = 0.75 RM
1 RM = 40 B franc
1 B franc = 0.025 RM
1 RM = 5.60(?) F franc
1 F franc = 0.18(?)  RM


Geld- en wisselmarkt. De Telegraaf, Amsterdam, 06-10-1940.

https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:110579248:mpeg21:a0187



CPI Inflation Calculator – for US dollars.This inflation calculator uses official records published by the U.S. Department of Labor.
https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/

Convertisseur franc-euro. Pouvoir d'achat de l'euro et du franc. Le convertisseur franc-euro mesure l'érosion monétaire due à l'inflation.
https://www.insee.fr/fr/information/2417794


Historischer Währungsrechner. Österreichische Nationalbank (Geldwertrechner).

https://www.eurologisch.at/docroot/waehrungsrechner/#/


Value of the Guilder/Euro. International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam.
http://www.iisg.nl/hpw/calculate.php

Jérôme Blanc. Pouvoirs et monnaie durant la seconde guerre mondiale en France : la monnaie subordonnée au politique. International conference on War, Money and Finance, ” Monetary and Financial Structures: The Impact of Political Unrests and Wars ”. , Jun 2008, Paris, Nanterre, France. Pages 6, 11, 12, 16-17, 21, 22.

https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00652826/document


© Compilation Bart FM Droog, 2022.