Lot 1315

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Description:

INGA ARVAD, LOVER OF JOHN F. KENNEDY, IS INVESTIGATED BY THE NAZIS
INGA ARVAD (1913 - 1973) Danish journalist noted for being a guest of Adolf Hitler at the Nazi Summer Olympics in August 1936 which led to her being investigated as a potential Nazi spy
by the FBI in World War II, and for her romantic relationship with John F. Kennedy, who called her 'Inga Binga', from 1941 and 1942. A newspaper columnist and former Miss Denmark, she met Kennedy in Washington in 1941 when she was already married to a Hungarian filmmaker, and was already suspected by J. Edgar Hoover of spying for the Nazis. She had met and spoke privately with Hitler briefly one time, at least once, and falsely claimed to have had attended Goring's wedding. Her relationship with Kennedy, four years younger than she, was a torrid one, and lasted until at least 1948. She was, in fact, a skillful opportunist and fraud as the seven unpublished documents in this lot establish beyond any reasonable doubt. These revealing documents include: a retained copy of a letter from Dr. Helmuth von Feldmann, a senior member of Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda to the German Embassy in Copenhagen, 1p. 4to., Berlin, Mar. 26, 1936, essentially warning them of Arvad's salubrious reputation. Von Feldmann mentions Arvad's first husband, an
alleged Egyptian prince who was soon imprisoned' (actually an Egyptian diplomat), her return from Paris, ‘penniless', and her relationship with her second husband, Paul Fejos, ‘the Jewish film man Fejos', ‘married 14 days ago'. Von Feldmann mentions ‘alleged relations' with the wives of Goebbels and Goering and that the Danish correspondents were amazed at her securing an interview with Hitler on a freelance basis. He concludes by saying that the German Foreign Office hasbeen informed. There are three further documents concerning a competing Danish journalist (Herluf Andersen) attempting to secure his own audience with Hitler during the 1936 Nuremberg Rally. On Sep. 10, 1936, the Nazi Ambassador to Denmark Georg Duckwitz (1910-1973), who later helped rescue 95% of Denmark's Jews from deportation, sends a 3pp T.L. (retained copy here) tothe Foreign Office in Berlin and complains that Arvad's underhanded tactics, her relationship with 'a Jewish filmman,' etc. have created much bad feeling in the professional
Danish press. Duckwitz explains that it is thought that Hitler had been incorrectly informed about Arvad's background at the time and describes an embarrassing incident Arvad was involved in a New Year's review hosted by Denmark's largest newspaper, Berlingske Tidende. He closes recommending that Andersen, rather than Arvad, be given the honor of Interviewing Hitler. On Sep. 18, Wilhelm Wolf, a senior member of the Foreign Office, responds to Anderson's previous application for an audience with Hitler, in a one-page T.L.S. with a copy to Hans Lammers, Chief of
the Presidential Chancellery, asking if there was any information concerning a further audience being granted for Arvad to be received by Hitler. The note bears the negative responses of three senior Chancellery officials. The matter finally reaches its conclusion on Dec. 1, 1936 when Werner Kiewitz, on behalf of Lammers, states that Chancellery files show no evidence that Arvad had requested a conversation with Hitler. He then explains that Arvad was merely received at the end of 1935 and there is no trace of an audience in September 1936 on the files. He further notes that the Reich Chancellery is fully apprised of Arvad's background and that she will not be received on any future occasion. Interestingly the penultimate note reads: 'To Index III for registration of the Inga Arvad affair.' Overall very good condition. Up until now the world has only had Inga Arvad's word for all the encounters she allegedly experienced. No photos of her appearing with any Nazi dignitaries she was supposed to have met and socialized with have appeared to date. Hitler would certainly never have invited Arvad to have indulged in a private chat. The facts appear to be that she managed by some form of subterfuge to obtain a scoop by wheedling an interview in
November 1935 which appeared in a Danish newspaper. That was the extent of her professional 'fame.' There is no evidence to suggest she met Goebbels or Goering or attended the latter's wedding. There is also no evidence whatsoever that she was Hitler's guest at the Berlin Olympics in August 1936. Had that been the case, the event would have been mentioned in these
documents. Had Arvad refrained from inventing so many of these fantasies it could well have been that the FBI would not have investigated a young woman who had had a single interview with Adolf Hitler. And had they not have investigated Arvad, perhaps John F Kennedy may have taken a different First Lady to the White House!

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May 23, 2021 10:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

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