Unique WWI photo-album from a German Soldier on the...
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| Format: | Kit |
| Language: | English |
| Item Description: | "Oblong quarto. Unpaginated. [32] leaves, including 31 double-sided. Original decorative olive cloth. All edges gilt. This unique album contains 172 mounted captioned photographs and 1 postcard documenting the experience of Knopf, a German Unteroffizier serving on the Eastern front. Unlike the traditional pictures of corpse-laden trenches in northern Europe, these photos show views of German soldiers crossing the Niemen River at Kovno (Kaunas), the rebuilding of bridges which were destroyed by the routed Russian army, ruins of the Kovno fortress, abandoned Russian war material, a stationed Zeppelin, etc.. Eight photographs depict General Erich Ludendorff and General Paul von Hindenburg greeting Kaiser Wilhelm II upon his arrival at the Kovno station. Seven others document the official reception for His Imperial Highness Prinz Albert Wilhelm Heinrich von Preussen, younger brother of the German emperor and a career officer in the Imperial Navy. Twelve panoramic views of Wilna (Vilnius) after its capture by the Germans (1915). Views of the Tyszkiewicz Palace and its impressive vestibule, along with the music room, the dinner room, and the reading room. The Palace was requisitioned and used to house, feed, and entertain the officers in command of the occupation. Nine images document Wilhelm II attending a service at St. Kazimir Church (Wilna) on July 29, 1917. Other personalities featured in this album are: Prinz Oskar von Preussen (the Kaiser's fifth son); King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony, Erich von Falkenhayn (Chief of the General Staff during the first two years of World War I), a signed portrait of Generalfeldmarschall Hermann von Eichhorn.* Includes portraits of Chief of staff Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) Stapff, Oberstleutnant Schönbeck, Oberstleutnant von Kessel, and Leutnant Stümbke. Eight images showing Prinz Leopold von Bayern inspecting his troops in Minsk. Views of the German military cemetery in Kovno and Wilna. The last section of the album shows photographs of Unteroffizier Knopf among other German officers and soldiers in Cüstrin and Tilsitt. Includes pictures of German Red Cross personnel, wounded German soldiers with medical personnel, Russian prisoners working in the Tilsitt harbor, soldiers helping during hay harvest. Among Knopf's friends featured in this album is Karl Jäger,** who will become a Holocaust perpetrator during WWII. Each photograph is captioned and glued to cardboard. Tipped in on inside of front cover is a pocket containing a folding color-outlined map of Kovno indicating the bridges destroyed by the Russian enemy. Moderate offsetting on photo-album. Album in overall good+, interior in very good condition. *Generalfeldmarschall Hermann von Eichhorn (1848-1918) was a Prussian officer, later Generalfeldmarschall during World War I. He was a recipient of Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves. At the outbreak of WWI, Eichhorn was incapacitated in consequence of an accident, but was able to play a part in the Battle of Soissons. He became the commanding general of the 10th Army on January 21, 1915, which he would command until March 5, 1918. This Army engaged in the great battle of the Masurian Lakes in February 1915. In August, he took Kovno and afterwards the fortresses of Grodno and Olita, and continued his advance into Russia. He was assassinated in Kiev on July 30, 1918 by Boris Mikhailovich Donskoy of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries.**Karl Jäger (1888-1959) received the Iron Cross (1st Class) for his service on the Eastern Front during WWI. The Second World War saw him assigned commander of the SD Einsatzkommando 3a in Kaunas, Lithuania, from July 1941 until September 1943. During this time, reports detailing calculated acts of mass murder were routinely submitted to his superiors. Some of these reports survived the war and are collectively referred to as the "Jäger Report." Jäger escaped capture by the Allies when the war ended, assumed a false identity, and was able to assimilate back into society as a farm hand until his report was discovered in March 1959. Arrested and charged with his crimes, Jäger committed suicide by hanging himself in prison in Hohenasperg while he was awaiting trial in June 1959." - bookseller's description, found online Purchased for the Cushing Library/Ragan Military Collection by The Cushing Library. Olive green cloth book |
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