Original photo albums Belonged to Field Marshal Wolfram Von Richthofen

[hornetsfan]

One covers his time with Legion Condor ..captioned in his own hand .
Wolfram pictured in circa 34 photos
The other 1941 Invasion of Soviet Union .
Wolfram pictured in circa 20 photos ..captioned by a member of his staff .
100 % authentic . lots of great original photos .
looted from his house towards end of WW2 by a British soldier .
http://http://www.dickinsauctioneers.com/BidCat/detail.asp?SaleRef=0377&LotRef=314

[hornetsfan]

Some images here

https://www.easyliveauction.com/cata...ollec-lot-315/

[hornetsfan]

..and here ? https://www.easyliveauction.com/cata...ollec-lot-314/

[praubal]

That's a shame.....such a thing...Not a gun not a medal etc.. stolen by the British. Should be returned to that honourable family.

[ebj]

For sure! Unfortunately, a lot of such looting of family personal effects and memorabilia took place. In many cases, that was all the family had to remember a loved one.

[Wood]

[QUOTE=praubal; Should be returned to that honourable family.[/QUOTE]

Sure, Ad infinitum.
Pete

[hornetsfan]

They are truly welcome to the albums .
However , they are not strictly family albums . They cover Wolfram's war Service legion Condor and Russia 1941 .. there would have been many more albums covering other years .
On a slighty controversial note . ( I'm not looking for a fight ) Mr . Richthofen was in part responsible for the Bombing of Guernica and flattening of Warsaw . I wonder if Wolfram was concerned by the photograph albums which burned in those attacks ?
In the Soviet / Russia album there are a lot of original aerial photos which show in detail damage to Soviet Russian towns and cities .
These include Minsk and Witebsk , there is utter devastation . I think it is known as war .
I believe his sons passed away , one of the Eastern front in his FW on D-Day ...Ellen may still be alive , I'm aware she was until recently .
I did try offering them the various museums , but got no response .
Over the years I have amassed over 400 original military photo albums ...and on 3 occasions have reunited very nice albums with family members , this has given me great satisfaction . In addition images have gone into many books and publications .

[Wim Vangossum]

"Flattening" cities was a practice used on both sides. It remembers me that one American general operating in the pacific area once said: If we would loose the war they will insult us of war crimes (after the napalm raid on Tokio) And Hitler once said about the same: If I win, we shall write history, if we loose they all gonna hate us.


Regards, Wim

[ebj]

"I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell."

William Tecumseh Sherman

[hornetsfan]

Wim .. my politics are neither left , right or central . Like most of us who visit these forums , one of my interests happens to be military history .
I especially enjoy viewing and learning from the servicemen's original photo albums .
One of my albums belonged to an American soldier . He travels through Germany towards wars end . He passes through town after town which have recently been turned to rubble by needless allied bombing . Also in the same album there are photos where US Soldiers watch on as German women and children bury the bodies of recently slaughtered Jews . It was madness .
To fellow Brit , Pete in Wolverhampton . Richthofen was at the table plotting the invasion of Britain . This nobleman would not have considered the British family photo albums which did and would have burned under German bombs .
For those who know little about Wolfram . I suggest you read up on him . His story is a fascinating one .

[ebj]

Wolfram von Richthofen ordered the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. It was purely an act of terror bombing that is still remembered by the Basque people.

Many civilians were killed and their hatred for Franco and the Germans has not abated.

[Wood]

Sure, Ad infinitum.
Pete

To explain, sure return these, but return everything taken, by anyone.

[Bruce Simcox]

I am in agreement

......with hornetsfan and ebj,

I will add that the items from the TR era that we collect are war trophies. This is common behavior in all armies. Since warfare began it would seem. I don't know for certain, but I believe it would be safe to say several thousand years.

The ALLIES won, the AXIS lost. Those are the facts.

We collect war trophies.

[hornetsfan]

I'm bad for moving off topic . But 2 characters pictured within the first album had eager eyes for others possessions .
two examples of "trinkets " concerning England ... Hermann Goering ordered that the South Foreshore Lighthouse Dover , was not to be targeted by German big guns across the channel and Luftwaffe bombs . He wanted it , removed brick by brick , to serve as a very fancy garden ornament .
While Hitler left the ancient buildings of Oxford untouched , he coveted the place as his British capital city.
I could of course mention the wealth taken from Europe's Jewish Community .But that's a wee bit political and being a considerate soul will not mention it . ( Oops , I just did ) .
In the Soviet Richthofen album, there is a photo of a line of smiling Jewish lads with shovels over their shoulders . There are photos of Richthofen and some senior Military chums "fishing " a river with stick grenades . There is even a photo of a kitten poking out of a Jackboot . From these we get an insight into the man's sense of humour .
The many technical photos are superb .
I view Rick Whites excellent offerings each month . But can say with some degree of confidence these 2 albums are the best I have ever come across .
If I were a wealthier man , I would have made all the images available for all to view freely .
If the albums do not sell , I will see if it's possible to get a TV documentary crew to produce a programe built around them .
His was such an interesting life . I wonder why there has never been a feature film made .

[hornetsfan]

Damn it ... The album is today featured in many of the top national newspapers .
Seeing as the images are now out there very much against my wishes , may I be the first to share them on here .
Please excuse the glaring inaccuracies they did not come from me .

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/318819...nion-pictures/

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/fl...azis-ss8rn66hm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/op...ographs-field/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ichthofen.html