April 12, 2021 - updated June 8, 2023.

The Hitler Forgery Industry

to Hitler Forgery Industry main page - to Droog Magazine

1942 | Certificates of Authenticity

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

Death of a forger | Confiscation of forgeries

Exchange rates/value of money 1942

Reinhold Hanisch, who died in 1936,  was by no means the only forger of Hitler paintings active before 1945. But only one of them is known by name. On August 8, 1942, the Reichsminister der Justiz (Justice), Otto Thierack, reported to Hitler:

"The painter Ganser from Vienna, who, as I told you, my Führer, had tried to sell his paintings as paintings made by you, has recently died of pneumonia." “Der Kunstmaler Ganser aus Wien, der, wie ich Ihnen mein Führer gemeldet habe, versucht hat, Bilder von ihm als Bilder von Ihnen zu verkaufen, ist inzwischen an Lungenschwindsucht gestorben.” Akten der Parteikanzlei der NSDAP, Nr. 12334 B 128; cited by  Anton Joachims-thaler. Hitlers Weg begann in München 1913-1923, Herbig. [München], [2000], page 62

The cause of death, "pneumonia' was very often used as cause of death of concentration camp prisoners.

Ganser might have been Max Alexander Ganser (born 1896 or 1897), an Austrian art painter and petty criminal, who was in the 1930s repeatedly convicted for fraud cases. In February 1938 he was convicted to one year imprisonment. So, he might have produced fake Hitlers after his release in 1939.

(Verhaftung eines Kunstmalers.) Neues Wiener Journal, Wien, 25-08-1937. page 10.
Hochtstapeleien eines Kunstmalers. Vierzig Betrügereien und Veruntreuungen. Neues Wiener Tagblatt . Wien, 17-02-1938. Page 24.
Porträts die nie geliefert wurden. Kleine Volks-Zeitung, Wien, 20-02-1938, page 20.

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Confiscation of forgeries, August 1942

In August 1942 three alleged Hitler watercolors, accompanied by Certificates of Authenticity issued by Hanisch in 1935, were confiscated by the Staatspolizeistelle in Vienna. These were handed over to Heinrich Himmler.

This event is documented:

Der Reichsführer-SS Feld-Kommandostelle, 27.10.1942 Tgb. Nr. A1/108/42 Betr: Angebliche Führer-Aquarelle Die drie angebliche Aquarelle aus der Hand des Führers Wien, Heiligenkreutzerhof, Wien, Kaunitzberg, Das Rathaus sind heute auf meine Anordung hin, der eine Weisung des Führers zugrunde lag (mitgeteilt durch Schreiben des Reichleiters Bormann von 28.8.1942) vernichtet worden. Ebenso habe ich die eidesstattliche Versicherung über die Echtheit dieser Aquarelle vernichtet. Gez. H. Himmler Translation: "The three alleged watercolors from the hand of the Führer Vienna, Heiligenkreutzerhof, Wien, Kaunitzberg, Das Rathaus were destroyed today at my order, based on an instruction from the Führer (communicated by letter from Reichsleiter Bormann dated August 28, 1942). I have also destroyed the affidavit stating the authenticity of these watercolors." NA Washington, T 175, File 50, Reel 69. Cited by Joachimsthaler. Hitlers Weg begann in München 1913-1923, Herbig. [München], [2000], page 61 and page 332, note146.

Copies of these CoA's have survived, though. The first one, in which Kaunitzbergl and Heiligenkreuzl were mentioned, was dated September 3, 1935. The other one, accompanying the work Rathaus (Vienna) was dated October 19, 1935.

NA Washington, T 175, File 50, Reel 69. Cited by Joachimsthaler. Hitlers Weg begann in München 1913-1923, Herbig. [München], [2000], page 61 and 62.

It is also possible that a photo or photos of these Hanisch forgeries have survived. If so, then the Hanisch Kaunitzbergl confiscated in 1942 looked probably very similar to Price 259 (above)– a work traced and photgraphed by the NSDAP Hauparchiv in the 1930s, and then not recognized as fake. It might even might be the same work.

The versions in Price of Heiligenkreuzl (Heiligenkreuzerhof, Price 199-201) and Rathaus (Price 249 and 250) are probably not Hanisch's  forgeries, but made by one or more other artists.

Billy F. Price [= August Priesack and Peter Jahn]. Adolf Hitler als Maler und Zeichner. Ein Werkkatalog der Ölgemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen und Architekturskizzen. Gallant Verlag, Zug, 1983; https://www.bartfmdroog.com/droog/niod/price.html

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Exchange rates / value of money 1942

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

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 = 17,35 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 = 2,05 Canadian dollar
1 Canadian dollar = 0,48 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 = 20 F franc
1 F franc = 0,05 RM


Geld- en wisselkoersen. De Tijd, Amsterdam, 05-01-1942.
https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010380235:mpeg21:a0135


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.
https://iisg.amsterdam/en/research/projects/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, 2021-2022.

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