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April 3, 2019 - Droog Magazine periodical for investigative journalism

The Hitler Forgery Industry

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A 'Hitler' in Florida

Affiliate Auctions, Tallahassee

April 11, 2019

Introduction | Certificates of authenticity | Past

2019 | Auctions | Press

By Jaap van den Born and Bart FM Droog

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

Introduction | Certificates of authenticity | Past

In March 2019 Affiliate Auctions from Tallahassee (Florida, USA) announced that it would auction on object described as 'Adolf Hitler Autograph Sketch Frederick the Great, as lot #3335, on the 'April Premier Military & fine Art Auction, Thursday, April 11, 2019. It was estimated that it would sell for $5,000 to $8,000.

https://live.affiliatedauctions.com/lots/view/1-1SFT2W/adolf-hitler-autograph-sketch-frederick-the-great

Lot 3335 on AA auction April 11, 2019.

Plaquette in the lower right corner: "Frederick the Great after the Battle of Kolin / by Adolf Hitler / originally painted by Julius Schrader."

Description by auction house

"Sketch of "Frederick the Great after the Battle of Kolin" by Julius Schrader topped with the signature of Adolf Hitler. Dated 1919. The sketch is fixed into a frame with a print of the original painting as well as a plaque translating the writing along the top of the sketch. Frame measures 32 1/2 x 26 x 1 1/2 inches. Includes two certificates of authenticity for the signature, one from rareandsigned.com, and the other from Frank Garo. This lot has a reserve."

The image on the left is a copy of 'Friedrich der Große nach der Schlacht bei Kolin', a famous painting by Julius Schrader (1815-1900). The sketch on the right is, according to the text on the plaque made by Adolf Hitler. The text on the plaque is definitely not a translation of the writing along the top of the sketch.

There somebody has scribbled the words 'Fünfzig ... zum Unglückstage von Kollin' (fifty ... until the unlucky days of Kollin') and fabricated a signature which looks vaguely like an early Adolf Hitler signature, and dated it with '1919'.

Forged handwriting and signature

Yet, neither the handwritten text nor the signature resemble the authentic handwriting and signature of Adolf Hitler in 1919. Even a layman can spot the differences:

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Certificates of Authenticity

Lot 3335 is accompanied by two certificates of authenticity. One is issued in February 2019 by the British firm Rareandsigned.com, the other by the American Frank P. Garo.

Both certificates are worthless, as both are based on just a photo of the work, not by physical and thorough research of it.

The Rareandsigned.com certificate

Text: "This letter serves as a certificate of authenticity for the autographed sketch shown below which has been examined by ourselves.
The characteristics of the signature, style, strike and notation are consistent with those of Adolf Hitler.
To confirm the integrity of this certificate email
info@rareandsigned.com for clarification.
Article: genuine Adolf Hitler sketch of Frederik The Great as shown.
February 2019. Certification R&SD30177283.
GENUINE AUTHENTICATION CERTIFICATE BY WWW.RAREANDSIGNED.COM

As we doubted whether an European based company would dare to issue such a deceptive document, we tried to get in touch with this company - it didn't respond.

From the information on the company's website one can conclude that all the 'experts' do is, after being paid, look at a photo and fabricate a certificate, without any serious research.

This company operates however within the borders of the law, as merely looking at an object might be considered as an examination. The opinion given is just an opinion, and therefore meaningless. The company can't be sued for giving a silly opinion.

Source: Authenticating memorabilia. Rare and signed.com. [Seen 03-04-2019]. https://www.rareandsigned.com/?page=shop/disp&pid=page_Authentic

The Frank P. Garo certificate

Now Frank P. Garo goes one step further. He claims to have carefully examined the item and compared it to real, known exemplars. Which he obviously has not.

In our opinion his 'certificate of authenticity' is a criminal offense. See for more on Frank P. Garo:

Frank P. Garo - biography
Garo Certificates
Report on Frank P. Garo for Bavarian police.

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Affiliate Auctions - in the past

On March 8, 2018 this auction house sold six clearly forged Hitler sketches, as being authentic Hitler artworks. All six were accompanied by fraudulent certificates of authenticity issued by Frank P. Garo. The works were sold for $20,800.-.

In 'The Tallahassee Auction' (Droog Magazine, 09-03-2018) we reported on this case.

The US newspaper Tallahassee Democrat interviewed auctioneer John Whitworth of Affiliate Auctions about this 2018 Hitler auction. Whitworth stated: "We believe them authentic because of the way it appears, and because ofthe source. They came from a reliable source. We deem them authentic, and we guarantee them to the buyers."

Who was the source, then? Whitworth: "They come from consigners – veterans who found them and brought themback, they kept them in their collections. As these guys get older, they kind of liquidate their material."

See: Ryan Dailey. Tallahassee auction will sell what could be some of Hitler's early sketches. Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee, 09-02-2018.
https://eu.tallahassee.com/story/news/2018/02/09/tallahassee-auction-sell-what-could-some-hitlers-early-sketches/308012002/

Interesting. This fairy tale, about veterans bringing 'Hitlers' (or other Nazi militaria and memorabilia) back to the US, is told again and again by dubious auctioneers and dealers in this rubbish. This myth has become so persistent, that it is in fact a strong forgery indicator.

Anyhow, we warned on April 1, 2019 Mr. Whitworth of the fraudulent nature of the Garo CoA and we told him about the recent developments in Germany. Unfortunately Mr. Whitworth did not respond.

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