Description:

ADOLF HITLER INSCRIBED PHOTO TO A BRITISH ADVERSARY
(1889 - 1945) Fuhrer of Germany and Nazi Party leader, Hitler's bloody rise to power, his military seizure of most of Europe and North Africa and his genocidal racial policies culminated in suicide in his Berlin bunker as Russian troops approached. A superlative association inscribed signed photograph, 11.75 x 8.75 in. b/w, a rare image of Hitler inscribed to future British Gen. ANDREW THORNE (1885-1970) whom Hitler befriended once they discovered they had faced each other in battle during World War I! The photograph shows Hitler in a fine chest, up portrait. The dictator inscribes it to Thorne across the bottom of the image, boldly signs in the bottom margin, and dates the photo: 'Berlin the 15/May 1935'. Fine condition. The image is sold with: the envelope which contained the photo, addressed to Thorne and bearing a paper seal of the Reichskanzlei; a copy of covering letter from Reichskanzlei; a copy of the letter from Thomsen to Thorne; and a copy of an annotated letter from Thomsen to Thorne. Col. Andrew Thorne was the British Military Attache in Berlin during the most formative years of the Nazi regime. During his tenure, he met Hitler on several occasions. During one memorable meeting, about three weeks before the Rohm Purge, Hitler summoned Thorne to his office after learning of Thorne's studies of World War I. The pair pored over maps of the region around Gheluvelt, involved in the First Battle of Ypres in October and November 1914. They realized they had both been very close to each other in the same engagement, and whenever the pair met, Hitler would always bring 'Gheluvelt' into the discussion. In December 1934 Thorne was appointed Commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade (Guards) at Aldershot. On the 13th May 1935 he was promoted to Brigadier General. Before leaving Germany to take up his new position, he had been presented with a photo of Hitler with Gen. Werner von Blomberg. The latter had signed it but Thorne wrote to one of Hitler's staff and asked if he might arrange for Hitler to add his own signature to the piece. Not only did Hitler agree, but on May 15th, 1935 he signed this portrait photo of himself which was accompanied by a letter from Thomsen in which the latter stated that 'since you had acquainted with him during your term of office, he thought you might like to have another portrait of himself as a token of remembrance of your mission to Berlin'. He also noted the fact that the photos had been taken by Richard Wagner's grandson, Wieland Wagner, who also signed the photo in pencil. Thorne wrote back to Thomsen acknowledging the photos, adding: '...You know how much I will value the portrait of the Chancellor as a souvenir. I am once more serving in the same Brigade against which the Chancellor went into action for the first time in the Great War...' Four years later, the war started with Hitler's invasion of Poland. Thorne fought in France in 1940 and was heavily involved in the defense of Dunkirk. In 1941 he was promoted to General Commanding Scottish Command and the creation of a deceptive army in 'FORTITUDE NORTH'. In 1943 he was tasked with planning the liberation of Norway, and he drew on his personal knowledge of Hitler's preoccupation with Norway as 'a zone of destiny'. Germany officially surrendered in Norway on the May 8, 1945 and Thorne, the liberator and new Allied Commander of Norway, arrived on the 13th with Crown Prince Olave. Hitler had been dead for two weeks and it was two days short of the tenth anniversary of Hitler signing the photo he had presented to Thorne. Incredibly, the last skirmish of the war took place during the Battle of Poljana in Yugoslavia. The date? 15th May 1945! An ironic example with perhaps the most highly detailed provenance of any inscribed Hitler portrait to appear at auction.

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May 22, 2021 10:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000