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"DER PANZERBAER" - THE LAST PROPAGANDA NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN BERLIN BEFORE THE SURRENDER

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Militaria Start Price:75.00 USD Estimated At:150.00 - 200.00 USD
 DER PANZERBAER  - THE LAST PROPAGANDA NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN BERLIN BEFORE THE SURRENDER
Very rare newspaper, "Der Panzerbaer", 4pp. large 4to., Berlin, Apr. 29, 1945. The paper only appeared seven times altogether between 23 and 29 April 1945. Its logo was a bear, referring to the coat of arms of Berlin, holding a Panzerfaust anti-tank weapon. It reported on and provided Nazi propaganda regarding the fight for the city against the Soviet Red Army. This issue, published the day before Adolf Hitler would commit suicide, bears a headline reading: "Heroic Wrestling by Day and Night New Defensive Forces Are Being Introduced". The text describes the fighting for the inner city of Berlin, the advance by the Americans from the Elbe, and intense Soviet pressure. The bad news is offered in as an upbeat manner as possible, yet still dwells on the "chains" of Versailles and claims that Britain and the U.S. were always ready to sell-out smaller nations to Stalin. Also: "...We have nothing to lose any more, we have lost everything...if we capitulate, we give up our future, our children, our wives...Where the Fuhrer is, there is the victory...where is the enemy, where is the friend - nobody knows...Ivan is coming from the north...Stalin wants Berlin, nothing else counts...Berlin, don't let Ivan in...". Two photos appear, showing a young boy with a panzerfaust and women handing food out to soldiers. Toned with fold splits, no loss, still very good and undoubtedly not a reprint. Possibly the rarest of all war era papers and it is simply incomprehensible to understand how it could have been published under non-stop artillery bombardment and infantry attacks throughout the city.