Huge archive of almost one-hundred signed items of German Knight’s Cross winners. These items consist of signed photos and replies to a collector’s request in 1988 in Springfield, Illinois, for an autographed photo and responses to a questionnaire. The collector asks each for his rank, military units, had he ever met Hitler, Himmler, Goering, Rommel, where had he been stationed when Hitler committed suicide, and, had the recipient ever been to South America, and, is there a group of former Third Reich military officers living there? Most of the replies are in German and could yield some intriguing insights. Respondents include: Rad Heinz Korn; Willy Kroymann; Hugo Laubereau; Oskar Dennhardt; Friedrich Klee; Horst Naumann; Otto Schuhart; Walther Schindler; Victor Oehrn; Siegried Keiling; Hans Joachim Kahler; Heinrich Kohler; Karl Heinz Licte; Jurgen J. Gauss; Heinrich Mayerling; Erhard Jahnnert; Erwin Klose; Valentin Dietz; Bodo Herzog; Werner Buxa; Karl Friedrich Merten, Ernst Gruna and several others. An excerpt from Dennhardt’s reply reads, in part: “When Hitler killed himself I was the commanding officer of several troops defending a bridgehead in East Prussia; working for Daimmler-Benz, I visited almost all South America, several times. I never met any former ‘Third Reich Military Officers.’ This does not exclude the fact that more former political leaders and SS officers lived there as fugitives.” In overall fine condition, with occasional brushing or feathering to a signature, creasing, etc. R&R COA.
