|
|||
October 14,
2022 - Droog Magazine periodical for investigative
journalism Bizarre Hitler scam in Berlin Dutch version (on Reporters Online) ![]()
Some
stories write themselves. Like this one, which is
also so bizarre
that if your reporter hadn't experienced it
himself, he wouldn't
believe it. What is the case? He claims to have acquired a 100%
genuine Hitler watercolor from 1913 “by
coincidence”, which he
wants to sell privately for $250,000. If the trader
can bring him
into contact with a buyer, he may charge a premium
for this.
The
"evidence" document compiled by Kuhn that would
prove the
authenticity of the work is nothing but a mix of a
few bits of truth
with a lot of concoctions – a typical swindler's
trick.
Left: original still, published on Droog Magazine in 2019. Right: copy of that still used by Kuhn for his swindle scheme. Kuhn “upgraded” his scam talk with a still made by your reporter from a Dutch TV program from 1992. A still that has only been published in the aforementioned publication about Priesack, which shows what kind of swindler Priesack was. A publication that Holger Kuhn is familiar with, but that didn't stop him from claiming that Priesack was the only Hitler art expert recognized by the German government. Which is absolute nonsense. The
Dutch militaria dealer informs Holger Kuhn that he
believes the work
is counterfeit, but that he knows someone who is
interested in the
work. He gives Kuhn my first name and email address. Bizarre Scam Attempt
He invites me to study the work with my own eyes. He also gives details about how I should transfer the $250,000 to him: “I do not accept cash”. Coincidentally, I have to be in Spandau (a
district
of Berlin) on October 11 for a book launch. I notify him
that I have
a gap in my agenda on Wednesday morning, October 12,
and that I can
then view the work. To top of page.
I
also inform the Berlin police three times about the
sale planned by
Kuhn. However, this doesn't lead to any action by
the police, yet. Grolmanstrasse, Berlin
Then,
shortly before I leave for Berlin, Kuhn reports that
the meeting will
be moved from Torstrasse to an apartment on
Grolmanstrasse. He
doesn't explain why this has to be done at a
different location. He
asks me – by email – to sign a document in which I
declare that
after purchasing the work I will not use it for
prohibited
propagandistic purposes. I “sign” that document, on which my
name
is not mentioned, with a photo of the signature of
SA-Obergruppenführer Otto Herzog, and send it to
him. Kuhn doesn't
recognize that the signature is somewhat odd.
Kuhn's response consists of several Whatsapp messages with excuses, supported by photos of a table filled with chocolates, waiting for us in a kitschy house.
Shortly afterwards he emails: “(…) Honestly my family knows the whole upper industrial circle in Holland. But not even once we had a disappoint like that in our live.”
© Bart FM Droog, 2022. Photos of interiors - courtesy Holger Kuhn. To top of page. |
|||
|
|||
|