Lot 358

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Description:

MARSHAL MANNERHEIM BIRTHDAY PRESENTATION PHOTO ALBUM TO WALDEMAR ERFURTH
ADOLF HITLER''S STATE VISIT TO FINLAND Most historic presentation photo album, 36pp. folio, containing 35 9 1/4" x 6 1/2"sepia-toned photographs depicting German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler''s surprise visit to Finland to celebrate the 75th birthday of Finnish Marshal CARL GUSTAF EMIL MANNERHEIM (1867-1951) on June 4, 1942. The photographs, taken by an unnamed photographer, cover Hitler''s arrival at Immola Airfield and his reception by the Finnish president, RISTO RYTI (1889-1956), and then move to his secret meeting with Mannerheim on the latter''s private train in the woods of southern Finland. There, numerous German and Finnish officers and statesmen present their formal birthday wishes to the Marshal, followed by a birthday meal and informal meeting between Hitler and Mannerheim. These official statements were recorded by radio engineer Thor Damen for the Finnish broadcasting company Yle, who also managed to record the first eleven minutes of the private conversation between Hitler and Mannerheim before being forced to halt recording by the SS. This represents the only known recording of Hitler speaking in an unpracticed and unofficial tone, free of the usual bombastic rhetoric and delivery that marked his public speeches. The recording captured Hitler speaking to Mannerheim about the failures of Operation Barbarossa and the Italian offensives in North Africa, Yugoslavia and Albania, and his fears regarding Russian rearmament. This album features a photograph depicting Mannerheim delivering his official response to Hitler''s statement, in which the cylindrical microphone used by Damen to capture their conversation can be clearly seen. Additional photographs include conversation outside the train between high-ranking German and Finnish officers and statesmen; among those depicted are German field marshal WILHELM KEITEL (1882-1946), General EDUARD DIETL (1890-1944), and General WALDEMAR ERFURTH (1879-1971), to whom this particular edition of the album was presented. The final photographs depict Hitler''s departure from Immola aboard his Focke-Wulf Fw 200 "Condor" transport plane. The front page of the album bears a formal presentation: "Dem Herrn General Waldemar Erfurth zum Andenken an den 4. Jun1 1942."(" To General Waldemar Erfurth in Memory of 4 June 1942.") The album is bound in brown leather, with a shield bearing the coat of arms of Finland, a crowned rampant lion in gilt, on the front cover. The covers shows moderate bumping and splitting to the corners, with the leather binding cord partially missing, and several interior pages show minor tears, not affecting any of the photographs, else very good. A fascinating record!

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September 13, 2017 11:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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