History In Ink^™     Historical Autographs

511802

Dr. Gustav Krukenberg

Dr. jur. Gustav Krukenberg, 1888-1980. Extremely rare Autograph Letter Signed, Your son Gustav, on the reverse side of a French picture postcard picturing Krukenberg and others, The Hague, August 31, 1940.  Krukenberg appears to have signed the photograph, Krukenberg, on the front by his image at a later time.  In German, with translation.

Krukenberg writes to his mother to send her a postcard picturing him with General Alfred Emil Friedrich von Vollard-Bockelberg (1874-1945?), a German artillery general who served as the military commander in Paris from June until August 1, 1940, following the Nazi capture of France in May 1940.

Krukenberg is important for his role in the final defense of Berlin.  A major general in the German Waffen-SS, he commanded the SS Charlemagne Division, which was composed mostly of French collaborators.  In the early morning hours of April 24, 1945, Adolf Hitler summoned him to Berlin as the Soviets approached the city.  Krukenberg assembled his men and headed for Berlin.  He had to work through the Soviet lines but arrived just hours before the Soviets encircled the city. He was the only officer whom Hitler summoned who actually made it.

This post card is in very fine condition.  Mounting traces affect some of Krukenberg's handwriting on the reverse, but the writing is nevertheless quite bold.

While we reject Nazism and all that it represented, we offered this item because it is an outstanding historical piece that belongs in the finest World War II collection.

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