KNIGHT'S CROSS WINNERS
A fine archive of Nazi Germany's Knight's Cross winners, the majority of whom were Wehrmacht field officers, collected during the 1980's. Included are 88 signed photographs, 35 T.L.S.'s and 21 A.L.S.'s, in German and English: HANS-ULRICH VON LUCK, S.P., 3 1/2" x 6", b/w, a side-view bust pose of Luck in his field uniform with Knight's Cross, signed in blue ink at right blank edge with an A.L.S., 1p., 4to, Hamburg, n.d., in English, signed "Hans v Luck" in blue ink. Luck served directly under Erwin Rommel in Africa and Sepp Dietrich during the Normandy invasion, and defeated the British advance during OPERATION GOODWOOD, for which he earned his Cross. Luck also authored the enormously popular Panzer Commander, the memoir of his World War II officership he co-wrote with the historian Stephen Ambrose. ALFRED JAROSCH, S.P.,3 1/2" X 5", b/w, a waist-up view in full uniform and signed on bottom left corner in black ink, poor contrast but still visible; Jarosch also includes a T.L.S., 1p., 4to., Heidelberg, February 27, 1984, detailing his unit's battles with Soviet troops. In part: "... I earned the Knight's Cross in 1942 in the fight against the USSR and in severe weather. With my Jager company, we took 13 Russian T34 tanks even though we only had infantry weapons. The strategic success was that we held the position, even though at the end of the battle the company was only 18 men strong, where originally we were over 120 men...". ALFRED LEO HARTMANN, S.P., 3" x 4", b/w, a head and shoulders pose painted from an earlier photo and signed on the blank bottom edge; with a T.L.S., 1p., 4to., Wurzburg, April 27, 1984. Hartmann earned the Knight's Cross after helping to defend the city of Breslau from a Soviet siege. Breslau fell to the Soviets on May 6, 1945, one day before all Germany surrendered, after which the Soviets took Hartmann prisoner. HERMANN VON INGRAM, S.P., 4" x 6", b/w, a waist-up pose in uniform with Cross signed in blue ink over uniform, and a T.L.S., 1p., 4to., Salzburg, January 20, 1984 in German relating how he won his Cross at the Battle of Dunkirk. Von Ingram also served as Alfred Rosenberg's deputy in the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, responsible for major art looting in Europe during the war years. ALBERT KERSCHNER, S.P. 3 1/2" x 5", b/w, a head and shoulders pose in uniform with Cross, and a T.L.S., 1p., 4to., Landsberg, April 5, 1983 in German, discussing his award. In part: "...Personally, I was just a simple soldier... With a lot of luck I succeeded as commander of a tank battle wagon with more than 100 Russian armored vehicles destroyed...". Additional full-uniform with Knight's Cross S.P.'s of Wehrmacht officers include: HANS HORSTERMANN, BERNHARD KLEMS, RODOLF MULLER, HANS PONGRATZ, Oberfeldwebel in Infantry Regiment 74, KARL HAUSMANN, Oberfeldwebel in Jager Regiment 28, BERNHARD IMMINGER, Oberfeldwebel, Panzer Grenadier Regiment 67, OTTO JEDERMANN, Hauptmann in Panzer Grenadier Regiment 146, ARNO PFEUFFER, Rittmeister in Aufkl. Abt. 332, GERHARD KLEIN, Oberstleutnant in Waffenschule AOK 9, EWALD KRAUS, Major in Panzer Artillery Regiment 102, and others. Lot includes transmittal envelopes in many cases. Photographs fine, letters have moderate folds else very good to fine. A unique perspective on Nazi Germany!