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THE PERSONAL ARCHIVES OF "THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN EUROPE", OTTO SKORZENY
Currency:USD
Category:Collectibles / Militaria
Start Price:15,000.00 USD
Estimated At:30,000.00 - 40,000.00 USD
SOLD
22,000.00USD+ buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2012 Sep 27 @ 11:13UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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The only surviving archives of Hitler's top commando, Otto Skorzeny - thousands of pages of letters, files, and documents, and 65 reels of film
OTTO SKORZENY (1908 - 1975) Nazi officer and Hitler's chief and favorite commando, called by many "The most dangerous man in Europe". Skorzeny made a daring mountain-top rescue of Mussolini, placed english-speaking soldiers in American uniforms to mislead American forces at the Bulge, and kidnapped Admiral Horthy's son in order to force Hungary to the side of the Axis. After the war, Skorzeny headed the organization that helped hundreds of ex-SS officers flee Germany. He ran arms to Egypt and Palestine, while at the same time cooperated with Mossad to expose ex-Nazi scientists. Skorzeny also created the Paladin Group which trained guerillas later empoyed by Gadaffi and South Africa's security agency. Throughout the post-war years, Skorzeny was also a determined and ambitious entrepreneur who involved himself in arms purchases and sale, oil trading, manufacturing, railways, and essentially buying and selling everthing imagineable in such diverse locals as Argentina, Cuba, Angols, Egypt, Palestine, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland, the U.S., and elsewhere.
We offer a historic grouping of thousands of pages of letters, documents, typescripts, notes, statements and other written and printed materials that reflect Skorzeny's post-war life, personal and professional, from the time he was being held at Dachau pending war crimes hearings until his death in 1975. This vast archive, never before offered at auction, undoubtedly includes important material concerning Skorzeny's "underground" activities, their funding, and those involved therein. Included in the archive is:
Correspondence by year: The vast majority of the material signed by Skorzeny consists of letters sent to his wife Ilse and signed as "Otto" or with his alias "Rolf". We have read only a tiny fraction of this correspondence so its content is largely unknown to us. We suspect that much of it concerns business, financial and personal matters. Autograph letters will require diligence to decipher due to Skorzeny's difficult handwriting. Approximate letter count by year:
1937: Typed letter (retained copy), concerning the trust of his first wife.
1940: One autograph letter, signed.
1945: Photograph of a letter from Himmler seeking an Iron Cross for two pilots sent to Iran to build a spy ring, with an original drawing of two dogs by an unknown pilot, given to Skorzeny.
1947: Two official signed P.O.W. postcards sent from Dachau to his attorney, regarding legal services; an autograph letter, signed and a third postcard, also to his attorney: legal matters; three signed letters and documents concerning the confiscation and disposal of his personal property which had been locally seized and distributed, including a list of the property, with other related documents; and a receipt for personal property surrendered when jailed at Dachau, signed by an American officer.
1948: Receipt for a purchase of a car in Germany, likely by Skorzeny, paid for with a trade-in, five cans of gasoline...and three diamonds.
1950: Eight autograph letters, signed; two typed letters, signed.
1951: 24 autograph letters, signed; 17 typed letters, signed.
1952: 15 autograph letters, signed; 20 typed letters, signed.
1953: 43 autograph letters, signed; nine typed letters, signed.
1954: 71 autograph letters, signed; two typed letters, signed; nine printed telegrams.
1955: 27 autograph letters, signed; one typed letter, signed.
1956: 23 autograph letters, signed; two typed letters, signed.
1957: One autograph letter, signed; 19 typed letters, signed.
1958: Five autograph letters, signed; ten typed letters, signed; one telegram.
1959: one typed letter, signed.
1961: two typed letters; signed.
1962: Six autograph letters, signed; six typed letters, signed.
1963: Three autograph letters, signed; 25 typed letters, signed.
1964: One autograph letter, signed; 17 typed letters, signed.
1965: Two autograph letters, signed; ten typed letters, signed.
1966: Four autograph letters, signed; 24 typed letters, signed.
1967: Four autograph letters, signed; nine typed letters, signed.
1968: Two autograph letters, signed.
1972: Eleven typed letters, signed.
1973: One autograph letter, signed; Nine typed letters, signed.
1974: One autograph letter, signed; 21 typed letters, signed.
Also: One letter sent to Gamel Nasser, date lost, offering to sell Egypt arms and ammunition (retained copy).
Memoirs and Writings: Annotated typescript of Skorzeny's history of the Waffen-SS; typed manuscript (possibly by another writer): "The German People, The German Youth! Germans and Friends of Germany Worldwide!", 257pp. 4to., a "a response to the systematic demonization of the German people", a defense of Nazi Germany's philosophy, politics, race, and modern politics, covering everything from American Jews in China to the Beatles; annotated retained copy of his letter to American ex-POW Gunnar Drangsholt correcting the latter's 1970 16pp. typescript (included), which has also been heavily annotated by Skorzeny, describing the planning and execution of Skorzeny's placing men in American uniforms at the Battle of the Bulge, with 15pp. of correspondence (retained) between the two parties; a 1952 T.L.S. by Skorzeny affirming the right of the Daily Express to serial rights to his memoirs; 15pp. of correspondence with publishers Robert Hale & Co., a proposal for an Israeli publisher; approx 25pp. of similar letters concerning publishing rights and proposals; approx. fifty letters sent to Skorzeny by French friends and supporters (including veterans and the widow of WWI ace Rene Fonck) following a physical attack made on Skorzeny in 1975 by an ex-member of the French Resistance, many of the letters of support bearing copies of Skorzeny's reply, also with Skorzeny's scrapbook covering the affair and the sale of his memorirs, about 40pp., with news clippings, cables, notes, etc.
Banking and Financial Records: Ledger book, alphabetically divided, approx. 80pp.,1956-59, entries in the hand of Skorzeny and Ilse showing multiple transactions worldwide, mostly commercial including those with B.R.W., Neunkirchen Eisenwerke, Hugo Stinnes, various banks, including Swiss institutions, and a few mysterious individuals including "Pepe M." and others; various receipts for debits and and a many statements from Dresdner Bank, Banco Exterior de Espana, Bank Leu, Credit Lyonnais, Commerzbank International, Banco Comercial Transatlantico, and others; incorporation papers and signed partnership agreement for an Angolan corporation; publishing contract; 24 letters, notes and documents related to business between Skorzeny and major German industrial firm Otto Wolff in Cologne and with whom Skorzeny had extensive dealings, as well as with Krupp, Klosterfrau GMBH, and financial firm Panix; a deed for the sale of land in Majorca to Skorzeny, seven T.L.S.s concerning social security benefits for Jose Haro; and approx. 30-40pp. of correspondence to, and handwritten calculations by Skorzeny - largely real estate matters; many other letters to Skorzeny on various subjects and retained copies of his reponses.
Film and Television: Four unexecuted contracts seeking to purchase film rights to Skorzeny's memoirs, the film initially called "Secret Mission", along with about 35pp. of letters sent to Skorzeny by Warwick Film Productions and retained copies of his responses, 1959. Producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli (of "James Bond" fame) became involved, and Skorzeny suggested that Burt Lancaster portray him, but the project apparently died. Several letters to Skorzeny from Italian television (R.A.I.), 1968, submitting 15 questions to which Skorzeny replied with typed answers (two sets); several copies of Spanish treatments of Skorzeny's liberation of Mussolini, 5pp. ea.; partial script in Spanish; and a 1p. attack on a newspaper report on Skorzeny written by Harald Mors.
Miscellaneous Logs, Notes and Papers: Skorzeny's 1951 Viennese Citizenship Cerificate; a course completion certificate issued by the Bundesrealschule, Vienna, June 30, 1926, signed by his professors; a similar two-year certificate issued by the Technische Hochschule, Vienna, Dec. 15, 1928, likewise signed; a similar certificate from the same school, Dec. 11, 1931; and Skorzeny's "Diploma - Engineer" issued by the Technische Hochschule, Vienna, Apr. 26, 1940; 1959 Austrian Embassy identity papers; 1949 Interzone Travel Permit issued to Skorzeny under his "Steinbauer" alias; set of lists, 16pp. typed and handwritten, addresses and telephone numbers of ex-German generals, notables, business contacts and unknown individuals in Germany, Switzerland, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere; a list of his travels from 1950-73, including Cuba, Angola, Cairo, Kenya, Jordan and Paraguay; bogus Finnish identification papers issued to Skorzeny ca. 1947, in blank; bogus "Certificate of Discharge" issued to Skorzeny under his alias "Rolf Steinbauer" and so signed by him, back-dated to Apr. 12, 1947, showing his pre-war occupation as "writer" and birthplace as "Breslau"; two copies of invalid wills by Ilse, ca. 1977; copies of business cards of those known to Skorzeny, 23pp. full pages; 1950 original birth certificate; certified photocopy of Skorzeny's death certificate; certified copy of Skorzeny's testament; a detailed flow chart of members of the resistance group the Red Chapel; two letters from filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl; four letters from Hjalmar Schacht; a letter from Walther Wenck mentioning Nuremberg; two letters from fascist Sir Oswald Mosely; other letters from Erhard Milch, Karl Donitz, Hasso von Manteuffel, John D. Eisenhower, Ferdinand Brandner, Hans Ulrich Rudel, and many others, dozens of draft letters and other correspondence, as well as Skorzeny's retained copies of his inquiries or responses, concerning historic matters, financial and corporate affaisrs, personal issues, greetings, etc., copies of war-dated correspondence and transcripts; a small quantity of condolences, letters from family friends, and a small grouping of letters between Ilse and Getrude Barnett.
This archive was bequeathed to Skorzeny's wife, Ilse Finckenstein Skorzeny by her husband at the time of his death in 1975. Ilse continued to reside in in the Tres Cantos section of Madrid, but was slowly cheated out of her wealth by various con artists and manipulators in Spain and in the United States. Early on, she befriended an influential businessman who sought to obtain her legal and financial assistance. By the time of her death in 2002, Ilse was bankrupt and living in a nursing home, supported by the charity of her friend. On Jan. 13, 1998 she granted the man her full power of attorney, and on May 4, 1999 she executed a legal document leaving her entire estate to her benefactor. He has since transferred this property to his son, our consignor. In September, 2011 representatives of Alexander Autographs, Inc. met with the heir of Ilse Skorzeny's estate and his son, the consignor. Also viewed was the original power of attorney given by Ilse and the fully-executed and notarized copy of the legal document bequeathing the property to her Spanish friend. Copies of those documents are included in the lot, as is a copy of a letter attesting to the fact that the son had been gifted the estate by the father, this document also signed by both. In speaking with the father, the first heir to Ilse's estate, we were told that the balance of Skorzeny's papers were burned shortly after his death, as Ilse had feared recriminations from his ex-associates, as well as the CIA and Mossad. Thus, this archive is all that remains of the brilliant commando's written legacy. It's breadth and volume will undoubtedly provide a wealth of information to the determined researcher.
Estimate: $30,000 - 40,000.
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Part I: Lots 1-979 - September 27th, 2012
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