Description:

(DIRLEWANGER BRIGADE) WERNER KIEWITZ SEEKS AN AUDIENCE WITH HITLER FOR FRANCE'S TOP COLLABORATOR
WERNER KIEWITZ (1891 - 1965) German diplomat later punished with assignment to the murderous Dirlewanger Brigade. Kiewitz was an ministerial advisor under Otto Meissner and Heinrich Doehle in the Chancellery, and served as escort officer for imprisoned Belgian King Leopold III, earning Hitler's enmity for treating the monarch with too much care. Implicated in the July 20 plot, he was demoted and sent to the Dirlewanger Brigade in late 1944, losing an arm. Fine content group of four documents, two signed by Kiewitz, all concerning obtaining an audience with Hitler for FERNAND DE BRINON (1885-1947), a major French collaborator who essentially designed the system of cooperation between Vichy France and Nazi Germany, named Secretary of State by Petain, executed at war's end. Included in the grouping is a T.L.S. 'Kiewitz' on Chancellery letterhead, 1p. 4to., Berlin, Jan. 14, 1938 to OTTO MEISSNER, in part: '...The Reich Youth Leader [Baldur von Schirach] has had the question raised of a reception by the Fuhrer...of Count de Brinon, vice-chairman of the France-Germany Association...Brinon is a guest of the Reich Youth Leader...'; a 1p. 12mo, typed note signed 'Wolf' indicating that Brinon would be in Berlin on the 21st and 22nd only. Note in what appear to be Meissner's hand indicate that Brinon is 'in Laval's confidence', that Ribbentrop was well acquainted with Brinon, and that the request 'should be considered'; a D.S. initialed by Kiewitz on Chancellery letterhead, 1p. 4to., Jan. 18, 1938, no recipient indicated, again asking that Hitler meet with Brinon, amending the date to January 21. He notes that a distorted printed account of their earlier meeting had been condemned by the German Press Agency, and that von Ribbentrop, Laval, and Chautemps all had personal dealing with, and confidence in Brinon; the final piece being a D.S. by OTTO MEISSNER (1880-1953) on his official letterhead, 1p. 4to., Jan. 20, 1938, a 'Note for File' reading in part: '...After speaking to the Fuhrer...I have notified Herr Baldur von Schirach that the Fuhrer would gladly see the Count de Brinon on some occasion but, at the present moment, such a visit is inconvenient...and intends tomorrow to go to Munich...' Some documents have pencil notes, file holes at margins, else fine condition. Almost all of these documents are accompanied by full translations. Hitler and the French traitor managed to meet at least four times before and during the Nazi occupation of France. After the Allied invasion of France in June 1944, the remnants of the Vichy regime fled to Germany, where the Germans set up a government in exile and selected de Brinon to be its president.

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August 24, 2021 10:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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