A BIRTHDAY CARD FOR ALBERT KESSELRING FROM THE BUTCHER OF GENOA FREIDRICH ENGEL
(1885 - 1960) Field Marshal in the Luftwaffe and at Nuremburg was tried for war crimes. Death sentence commuted due to ill health. Ghastly L.S. in German, 1p., 8vo, Werl, Nov. 30, 1951, a birthday card sent to former Nazi Field Marshall Albert Kesselring while incarcerated in Werl Prison for war crimes. The recto features singing birds, bunnies, and a guitar player perched on a snowman, all hand-drawn with pastels, and a typed inscription in part: "...Our Dear Field Marshall Kesselring, Warm Birthday Wishes...". On verso is a set of four signatures, including FRIEDRICH ENGEL, the SS officer convicted [in absentia] for slaughtering 246 Italian captives in retaliation for a 1944 partisan attack on German soldiers. Engel, for this action, is referred to as "The Butcher of Genoa". Kesselring also operated in the Italian theater and personally ordered the slaying of 800 Italian civilians in the Marzabotto Massacre. An interesting example of Nazi rationale and psychology, and the camaraderie between two officers. Fine .