Rare late-war photos sell for $$$$ on Ebay

[jmark]

I was keeping an eye on these extremely rare late-war photos on Ebay. Unsurprisingly, the sale prices were very high: first one was EUR 1265, second one EUR 490,99.

Jason

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[Mogdala]

I don´t think the price is too high. I can´t imaging you will find such nice and clear photos a second time.

[Huebi]

Really rare photos - very hard to get.

[Sonnenwende]

Yes, I followed them as well, very nice. I hope they might turn up reprinted in some book at some point.

Regards
Sonnenwende

[Ohlau]

Any ideas where and when these pics were made ?

[Vet44]

Any ideas where and when these pics were made ?

Beelitz Buchholz 27.4.1945

[MarcRikmenspoel]

The King Tiger has track links on the turret side. It resembles ones seen in photos of schwere Panzer Abteilung 503/Feldhernnhalle in the spring of 1945, when the unit fought in Slovakia.

Schwere Panzer Abteilung 509 also did this, but the few photos available suggest they covered the turret side as much as possible, while sPA 503 just did the front and back of the sides, as in this photo. sPA 509 was in Hungary in the spring of 1945.

It might be schwere SS-Panzer Abteilung 502, but its Tigers often had turret numbers. The battalion was east of Berlin in the spring of 1945.

Schwere SS-Panzer Abteilung 503 had King Tigers that looked like this, they were spread around Pomerania and West Prussia during the spring of 1945.

Tiger photos I have studied suggest that such an extensive application of track links was a 1945 phenomena. Obviously, it is past winter, and whitewash is neither applied nor needed. Only a few units still had King Tigers by this time. The vehicle lacks the distinctive emblem of schwere Panzer Abteilung 505. There aren't enough photos to compare the vehicles of schwere Panzer Abteilung 506. Schwere SS-Panzer Abteilung 501 had turret bumbers. The other Tiger units were either out of action, still used the original Tiger, or only had a handful of of King Tigers (to the point that there is no photographic evidence).

[Sonnenwende]

The scan is blurry, but I think I see at least a "2" or "7" on the turret? Buchholz / Beelitz is to the southwest of Berlin.

Regards
Sonnenwende

[MarcRikmenspoel]

I wrote my post before being able to see the date and location. If there are turret numbers, I suspect this is from sSS-PA 502, during the Halbe Pocket fighting. There were rocket units there, mostly in SS-Werfer Abteilung 506. The woods around the Maultiere look like those in photos I've seen from the Halbe area, though of course, similar woods must have existed all over central Europe at that time.

[Sonnenwende]

The parka the guy climbing the Panzerwerfer 42 is wearing could suggest Waffen-SS.

Regards
Sonnenwende

[Mil-Archive]

I am always wary of stripped-album single photos that reach high prices. There is the risk that the seller could put up more pictures from that series (or sequence) of photos the following week. I think it's a shame that the album it came from was split apart. If I had that kind of money to play with (which I don't) I like to think I'd try to keep collections together. Having said that, even in my budget range it's hard sometimes to pass on stunning single photos.

[24th_infantry]

I've never purchased German photographs before and it is quite surprising to me that they fetch that much for single photograph. I just inherited pictures that where photographed during the invasion of Poland showing German troops being addressed by the officers and Polish POWs along with a dead Polish soldier in the field. The Holocaust museum in DC was able to identify the pictures as the invasion of Poland. I'd be curious to find out what they would fetch on the market. However, I won't be selling them, rather putting them on permanent loan to the Holocaust Museum.

[Sonnenwende]

I am always wary of stripped-album single photos that reach high prices. There is the risk that the seller could put up more pictures from that series (or sequence) of photos the following week. I think it's a shame that the album it came from was split apart. If I had that kind of money to play with (which I don't) I like to think I'd try to keep collections together. Having said that, even in my budget range it's hard sometimes to pass on stunning single photos.

I agree, it´s a shame that photo albums and groupings are split and important knowledge / history lost forever that way. But as in everything else: money talks. Sellers wants to make more money...

Lets just hope rare photos like these are bought by some one who does not just hide them away in a secret collection, but will use them for the benefit of a broader public.

Regards
Sonnenwende

[CWP]

I've never purchased German photographs before and it is quite surprising to me that they fetch that much for single photograph. I just inherited pictures that where photographed during the invasion of Poland showing German troops being addressed by the officers and Polish POWs along with a dead Polish soldier in the field. The Holocaust museum in DC was able to identify the pictures as the invasion of Poland. I'd be curious to find out what they would fetch on the market. However, I won't be selling them, rather putting them on permanent loan to the Holocaust Museum.

Photos like what you describe from Poland 1939 are extremely common and generally only worth a few dollars unless they have outstanding content such as a famous personality, the photo of the dead Polish soldier maybe $10 to the right person. As the war progressed, film became scarce or unobtainable and regulations forbade taking photos in the field. Late-war photos like this showing equipment that was rarely photographed in action are higly sought-after, as the auction results above show. Those prices should in no way be seen as indicative of values of WWII German photos in general, these are by any measure exceptional.