Description:

THEODORE EICKE
(1892 - 1943) Infamous commander of Dachau, Eicke encouraged his concentration camp staff to live up to their death's head symbol and treat Dachau's prisoners with 'inflexible harshness', fittingly killed on the Eastern Front. EICKE RECOMMENDS A NOTORIOUS DEATH CAMP COMMANDANT Fine association T.L.S., 1p. 4to., Berlin, April 18, 1939, to WALTER SCMITT (1879 - 1945)- SS-Obergruppenfuhrer and general of the Waffen-SS, later a member of the Reichstag. Commanded the Third Battalion, Westland, of the SS 'Wiking' Division during Operation Barbarossa. Recipient of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. Eicke discusses his belief that FRITZ HARTJENSTEIN will make a fine SS leader. In part: ‘...St-Oberscharfuhrer Hartjenstein, Friedrich...promoted to SS-Obersturmfuhrer and made him SS-Fuhrer in the 2nd SS-T.St....after 12 years of service in the army. Put on the SS-TV for testing. During the probationary service period, H demonstrated that he fully meets the requirements that must be placed on an SS leader...'. Signed ‘Eicke' in indelible pencil at the conclusion above his printed title ‘SS-Gruppenfuhrer'. A small tear near the center right edge, not affecting the text, and lightly stained along the edges, else very good. FRIEDRICH HARTJENSTEIN (1905-1954) was a German SS functionary who began his work with the SS in 1938 at Sachsenhausen, transferred to Niederhagen in 1939. In 1941 he would join Eicke's Totenkopf Division. The following year he was appointed the commandant of Birkenau, the death camp in Auschwitz. He was responsible there for hundreds of thousands of gassings. In 1944, he was transferred to Natzweiler concentration camp and appointed the commandant. He was subsequently transferred to Flossenberg, serving as commandant. Following a series of trials at war's end, he escaped a well-deserved execution, succumbing to a heart attack.

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April 25, 2024 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$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 $999,999 $10,000
$1,000,000 $1,999,999 $50,000
$2,000,000 + $100,000