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November 17,
2020 - Droog Magazine periodical for investigative
journalism The strange business of selling fakes, forgeries and other concoctions attributed to Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and other Nazi criminals, inclusive some authentic material. Introduction In the direct post war period there was very little interest in objects or documents originating from or belonging to high ranking Nazi's (cars excluded). In the mid 1950s this started to change. In 1954 also twenty alleged Hitlers seized by Rodolfo Siviero were exhibited in the Venetian Palace in Rome. Content Hitler's will has no value Hitler's will, made in 1938, has recently been offered to a West Berlin auction , but the auctioneer refused to accept it. It was said that the document was presented by a press photographer acting on behalf of the widow of the man who found the document in the ruins of Hitler's Reich Chancellery in May 1945. The finder, an electrician, is said to have discovered the document among the rubble when he was installing an electrical line on the orders of the Russians. In his will of 1938, Hitler cared very little for his former mistress and later wife, Eva Braun, who would receive 1000 marks a month after his death. He bequeathed all his possessions, including an art collection and his library, to the Nazi Party, which in turn was to provide payments to Eva Braun and several other persons, who were mentioned in the will. Hitler also stipulated in his will that he wished to be buried in the "Feldherrnhalle" in Munich. The spokesman for the auction said that the widow of the finder had hoped to get about 5000 marks at the auction. But the auction expected the document would be confiscated by the custodians of former Nazi possessions.
Hitlers testament is niets
waard. Nieuwsblad van het Noorden,
Groningen, 08-02-1954
Hitler's will not sold The German Nazi Property Administration Institute in Berlin has seized the will made by Hitler in 1938, which had been put up for sale at auction some time ago. The widow of an East German electrician had
found the document shortly after the war in the
ruins of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. The will,
written by Hitler himself, stipulated that his
assets would go to the Nazi Party and that Eva Braun
should receive 12,000 marks each year. Marshal baton of Von Brauchitsch not to be auctioned
Maarschalkstaf van Von Brauchitsch niet geveild. Leeuwarder Courant, Leeuwarden, 11-03-1954. https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010613742:mpeg21:a0128to top of page. Hitler objects back to Anni Winter After a long trial Anni Winter, Hitler's
former housekeeper of his Munich apartment, is
handed back some of the Hitler objects she tried to
sell in 1950. In a magical way these few objects
multiplied in later years.
Nazi souvenirs for sale in West Berlin
Nazi-souvenirs te koop in W.-Berlijn. De Tijd, 's-Hertogenbosch, 15-04-1954. http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:011203068:mpeg21:a0143to top of page. "Hitler" sold for $5,000 in New York May 1954 - The Dutch newspaper Algemeen Handelsblad reports, in an article about the Rome exhibition, that a "Hitler" is sold for 1,700,000 francs. The source for
this seems to be the French newspaper Paris-press,
L'Intransigeant, that reported about
the Rome exhibition too, and stated: Unfortunately the work was not described. With inflation correction the 1,75 million francs/5.000 dollar from 1954 would amount anno 2020 to almost 40,000 euros (French calculation) to about 48,400 dollars (US calculation) anno 2020. For comparison: a Peugeot 403 (new car for 1955) had an average price of 700,000-750,000 francs, and a (famous) Citroen DS(19) (also new price for 1955) had a price of more than 950,000 francs. The annual
salaries in France in 1954 were on average: around 400,000 francs for an employee. In 1960 the French monetary system was reformed; 100 (ancien) francs were then valued at 1 (new) franc. Hitler exposeert.
Algemeen
Handelsblad, Amsterdam,
14-05-1954. https://www.retronews.fr/journal/paris-presse-l-intransigeant/15-mai-1954/1355/3090143/7?from=%2Fsearch%23allTerms%3Dhitler %2520aquarelle%26sort%3Dscore%26publishedBounds%3Dfrom% 26indexedBounds%3Dfrom%26page%3D1%26searchIn%3Dall %26total%3D3620&index=19 Jean-Louis Loubet. Le modèle moyen chez Peugeot 1945-1965. Histoire, économie & société. Année 1987 6-4, page 585. https://www.persee.fr/doc/hes_0752-5702_1987_num_6_4_1471 Christian Baudelot et Anne Lebeaupin. Les salaires de 1950 à 1975. Economie et Statistique. 1979, 113, page 16. https://www.persee.fr/doc/estat_0336-1454_1979_num_113_1_4224 to top of page. Little enthusiasm for Hitler curiosities. More interest in letters from BeethovenAt an auction held yesterday in Berlin, for hardly any of Hitler's sketches and some of the literary products of his propaganda minister, Goebbels, bids were made, whereas Beethoven's letters and a large number of antique objects were received vividly bids. Two essays, which Goebbels wrote when he was in high school, went to two Swiss art dealers, when they made the first bid. The first essay, "How a non-combatant can serve his homeland in these days" went away for 100 marks. The second, a piece about the first world war, did not go beyond 80 marks. Two sketches, which Corporal Hitler made on postcards during the First World War, went to two West Berlin autograph collectors for the catalog price of 60 marks. One sketch depicted two soldiers' graves with wooden crosses, the other a farmhouse behind barbed wire. A third drawing by Hitler, which depicts the ruins of a church, attracted no collectors. Beethoven's letters and art objects were sold for a multiple of the catalog price (U.P.) Weinig animo voor Hitler curiosa. De Tijd.'s-Hertogenbosch, 26-05-1954 https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:011203205:mpeg21:a0128
Don't panic — they admire Hitler the artist, not the dictator. Locked away in a safe are four original watercolors dated 1917 and signed "A. Hitler." The Chief of the United States Historical Properties Office (Major-General Albert C. Smith) recently trotted out the Hitlerbild to show visiting Australians. The early, pre-ratbag Hitler seems to have possessed an Utrillo-like sense of color, a fine attention to detail, and an uncanny third-dimensional technique. We were totally unprepared for this and stood in awe before the Pentagon's prize trophies (they're worth an estimated 20,000 dollars – £A. 8,928 – each). Between wallpapering jobs, the mad Corporal (we learned) is believed to have made some 300 watercolors. In an inexplicable fit of artistic modesty near the end of the war, he managed to collect and destroy about half of these. About 146 of the balance remain in private, and unknown, collections. The four Pentagon originals have excited a small army of American admirers of the late Fuhrer. "He should have stuck to painting," said General Smith ruefully. Droog Magazine: The
estimation of 300 watercolors is in all
likelihood too high. In the 1930s it was
estimated that Hitler's entire oeuvre consisted
of some 70 to 80 watercolors. We've found no
evidence at all for the story about Hitler
having his works collected to destroy them. In
the late 1930s the NSDAP Hauptarchiv
tried to register all Hitler artworks – and it
traced only some 60 watercolors. to top of page. Exchange rates / value of money 1954 1 D-mark = 1,10 NL guilder. 1 NL guilder = 0,91 D-mark 1 US dollar = 3,78 NL guilder 1 NL guilder = 0,26 US dollar. 1 UK pound = 10,61 NL guilder 1 NL guilder = 0,09 UK pound 1 B-franc = 0,08 NL guilder 1 NL guilder = 12,5 B-franc 1 F-franc = 0,01 NL guilder 1 NL guilder = 100 F franc 1 Swiss franc = 1,15 NL guilder 1 NL guilder = 0,87 Swiss franc Wisselkoersen te Amsterdam. Algemeen Handelsblad, Amsterdam, 02-01-1954. https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=KBNRC01:000040211:mpeg21:a0192 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. Value of the Guilder/Euro. International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam. http://www.iisg.nl/hpw/calculate.php to top of page. © Compilation Bart FM Droog, 2020. |
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