Neal Hinegardner Collection

Neal Hinegardner Collection M2005.4.1
D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, UNC Asheville 28804
Title	Neal Hinegardner Collection
Creator	Jakob Tiefenthäler
Identifier	http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/mss/hinegardner/hinegardner_default.htm
Subject Keyword	Jakob Tiefenthäler ; World War II ; Third Reich ; photography ; National Socialism ; Nazi ; Adolf Hitler ; U. S. Army ; Augsburg, Germany ; propaganda ;
Subject LCSH	Documentary photography Germany -- History -- 1933-1945 -- Pictorial works Germany -- Pictorial works Germany -- Politics and government -- 1933-1945 Heads of state -- Germany -- Pictorial works Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945 -- Pictorial works Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Psychological aspects National characteristics, German National socialism -- Psychological aspects Tiefenthäler, Jakob War criminals -- Germany War photographers -- Germany World War, 1939-1945 -- Photography
Description	This collection includes two sets of photographs that were either taken or gathered by SS-veteran Jakob Tiefenthäler. According to Allen Hinegardner, son of Neal Hinegardner, the donor, Tiefenthäler served as a photographer for the German military during Hitler's rise to power. The information that Tiefenthaler served as a staff photographer for the Third Reich, is based on Neal Hinegardner's information regarding Tiefenthaler's work with Hinegardner during WWII. Neal Hinegardner first met Tiefenthanler in Munich where he was sent to receive instruction from Tiefenthaler in the use of projectors. Tiefenthaler had been hired by the U.S. military to train specialists in the field. Tiefenthaler later came to Augsburg to teach and again made contact with Hinegardner who was working as an instructor in electronics. Tiefenthaler gave the photographs and the documentation to Hinegardner while in Munich. Mr. Hinegardner verified that Tiefenthaler knew his craft (photography) and that he had no reason to believe that the images were not the work of his friend. Many of the photographs were probably intended for use as propaganda and show Hitler reviewing troops, attending Hitler Youth rallies, relaxing in his private retreats, meeting with heads of state, and speaking before German troops and the public. The photographs are small, 3" x 5." It is unclear whether the collection sets, No. 1 and No. 2, are two sets out of forty, or if there are forty copies of sets No. 1 and No. 2. No additional sets have been traced by Special Collections Staff. It is documented that after the Allied victory, Jakob Tiefenthäler served as a civilian instructor for the Air force in the audio-visual unit at an American airbase in near Munich. It is also verified that Mr. Hinegardner was in the same audio-visual unit at the airbase near Munich. Mr. Hinegardner verified by phone that the photographs were given to him while he worked with Tiefenthaler in Munich. The photographs languished in the garage of Mr. Hinegardner until their donation to the archive at UNCA in late spring of 2005. It was Mr. Hinegardner's intent that the collection be used as a study collection in support of the educational programs at UNC Asheville. Tiefenthäler was apparently a minor player in the SS and his role as a photographer for the donated sets, if at all, is unclear. Very few references to Tiefenthäler exist in official literature on the Third Reich. How he earned the position of instructor at the Augsburg airbase is also unclear, though many German civilians were pulled into the post-war efforts and were employed by the U.S. military. Robert Harris, author of Selling Hitler (1986), notes that Tiefenthäler was known as a collector of Nazi memorabilia, and particularly of photographs from the Third Reich.* For that reason, the photographs may not be his personal work. In more recent years, he served as a go-between in the fraudulent scheme to sell the so-called Hitler Diaries. Reportedly, he was the individual who informed Gerd Heidemann of the "discovery" of the diaries.* Gerd Heidemann, one of the players in the Hitler Diaries scheme, had earlier worked with Tiefenthäler to sell Herman Göring's yacht. Tiefenthäler played the role of information broker in both negotiations and, in general, his role in brokering Nazi memorabilia raises questions regarding the provenance of this collection of material. As a former member of the SS, Jakob Tiefenthäler knew many of Hitler's associates, including: SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke, who in April 1945 was responsible for the defense of Berlin's government district; Hans Baur, Hitler's pilot; SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff, Reichsführer-SS Himmler's personal adjutant and erstwhile chief of SS units in Italy. In the 1980's Tiefenthäler worked with Baur to produce a book, At Hitler's Side, in which he provided photographs taken from his archive. None of the photographs in this collection duplicate those found in that publication. Many of the photographs in these two sets were meant to illustrate Adolf Hitler as a man of gentle nature. Today, images of der Führer hugging children, petting animals, and comforting widows no doubt seem markedly surreal in light of his reputed cruelty. Tiefenthäler's intimate knowledge of the Nazi inner circle allowed him to identify many of the people and places found in the photographs. Himmler, Goebbels, and Göring are identified, as well as lesser known figures. His description of each image is included for both sets of photographs and provides a brief summary of many of the landmark events in National Socialist history. The descriptions that accompany the photographs, written by a non-native speaker of English, have been edited for clarity of thought by Special Collections Staff. Herr Tiefenthäler's words appear in quotations, the editor's alterations in brackets, and editorial remarks in italics. In some cases, ponderous phrases have been reduced to a single, bracketed word. An example of this is the substitution of [outlawed] for "declared as illegal." Moreover, habitual misspellings, such as "governement," have been corrected as a matter of course. Punctuation has been added where necessary. Every effort has been made to render the substance of the text more intelligible to readers while still retaining its original meaning. PDF files of the original documents have been appended for comparison. [Robert Harris. Selling Hitler*. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986.]
Publisher	D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804
Contributor	Neal Hinegardner ; Allen Hinegardner
Date Original	c. 1930's
Date Digital	2005-05-01
Type	Collection ; text ; photographs
Format	1 small manuscript box ; 68 photographs ; 8 pages of documentation
Source	M2005.4.1, D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, Manuscript Collections
Language	English
Relation	Communism in Germany ; Deutscher Reichsbahs Kalender ; Germany, The Periodical for Scenery, Travel and Touring ; William Dudley Pelley Collection ; World War II: Mountain Memories (WWII), oral histories from the war in D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections ;
Coverage	1923 -1945
Rights	Any display, publication, or public use must credit the D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville. Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Donor	Donor number 224
Acquisition	2005-04-26
Citation	Neal Hinegardner Collection, D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804
Processed by	Special Collections Staff, 2005 ; 2008
Last update	Special Collections Staff, 2008-09-16
Historical Context

BOX LIST - NEAL HINEGARDNER COLLECTION

Box
Set
Item Description Thumbnail

1

1

[hine001]

"A historical retrospect of the Nazi Party and its leaders."
[A PDF file of the original documentation that accompanied the photographs]
No image

No. 1
[hine002]
Photograph of Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring and other party leaders attending an annual parade held in commemoration of the failed Munich Putsch of 9 November 1923. The precise date of the photograph is unknown.
"November 9th 1923, the Nazi Party with Hitler as its leader felt strong enough to kick the Bavarian Government out of its saddle. The marching Nazis, [upon reaching] the Odeonsplatz in Munich, were ordered to stop [by Bavarian police]. After ignoring the order to stop, they were fired upon and a total of 16 men were killed by machine gun fire. The Nazi Party thereafter was [outlawed]. Hitler himself, as the . . . leader of the party was [sentenced] to spend five years in jail."

No. 2
[hine003]
"The 'BLOODFLAG' under which the first 16 Nazi victims were killed on November 9th 1923 on the Odeonsplatz [in] Munich. Later on this flag [was only] shown to the public when political events of important nature took place. More or less, this flag was considered as a symbol of the party."
Allegedly stained by the blood of the sixteen dead, the banner was regarded as an important relic of the National Socialist Party.

No. 3
[hine004]
"Hitler in his cell during imprisonment [in] 1924 at Landsberg am Lech. The party [having been outlawed] went underground so it couldn't be controlled by government officials. Finally the Bavarian government decided to set Hitler free because of . . . dangerous underground activities [carried out by] the illegal Nazi party."

No. 4
[hine005]
"Adolf Hitler after becoming Chancellor . . . visiting the prison cell at Landsberg am Lech where he [had] spent nearly ten months."

No. 5
[hine006]
"Hitler, holding a speech in Munich on the stairs of the famous Feldernhalle, eleven years after the first 16 members of his party were killed. This picture was taken November 9th 1934."
It is probable that photograph No. 1, Set I [hine002] and this photograph depict the same ceremony.

No. 6
[hine007]
"Adolf Hitler speaking to his old fighters and to the nation in the Bürgerbräukeller [in] Munich. This place was considered [the birthplace] of the Nazi party. In this room Hitler should have [been killed] by a time bomb which was [planted] by a 38-year old German carpenter, Georg Elser, while making a speech on Nov. 8th 1939. Every year on the same day, Hitler used to talk over all radio stations. The time bomb was set for 2018 hrs. Nobody knew that Hitler intended [to] reschedule his speech to 1800 hrs. When the bomb exploded at the proper time, Adolf was on [a] train . . . to Berlin. A total of six Nazis were killed and many others seriously injured. Georg Elser could not escape as intended. He was put into the concentration camp Dachau and was hanged about two days before the Americans liberated the camp."

No. 7
[hine008]
"Paul von Hindenburg receiving a bunch of flowers and congratulations [on] his 85th birthday. Hindenburg was born [in] 1847 and died Aug. 2nd 1934. The boy presenting the flowers to Hindenburg was a member of the Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend). Paul von Hindenburg [was] a professional officer [who] retired in 1911 but was called back to active duty by . . . Wilhelm II. [In] 1914 Hindenburg was commanding general of the 8th German Army and he was the victor over the strong Russian army in East Prussia, 1916. Later, Hindenburg was promoted to Field Marshal and became Chief of Staff of the German Army. After World War I, Hindenburg was elected by the free voted [democratically elected?] German National Assembly in 1926 as President . . . and was re-elected in 1932."
Hindenburg's eighty-fifth birthday fell on 2 October 1932.

No. 8
[hine009]
"President . . . Paul von Hindenburg and his chancellor, Adolf Hitler. Hitler, the leader of the strongest party, was forced by his delegates [unclear to whom this refers, Hitler or Hindenburg] and President von Hindenburg was put under pressure to nominate Hitler as his chancellor [the government official responsible for domestic and foreign policy]. Finally, Hitler was [appointed] Chancellor [on] January 30th, 1933."

No. 9
[hine010]
"The Reichstagsgebäude in Berlin. This was built in 1871 and used to serve . . . the . . . German National Assembly . . . as their permanent residence. Even after Hitler became Chancellor, [Parliament consisted] of the Nazi party, several democratic parties and the Communists. There [were] a total of 611 delegates . . . On Feb. 27th 1933, about four weeks after Hitler became Chancellor, the Reichstagsgebäude was destroyed by fire. The Nazis blamed the Communists . . . and [won from] President von Hindenburg an agreement, [under the terms of which] all political parties but the Nazi party were [outlawed]. The Nazis [created] the impression that they only were the hope [of safeguarding] the nation's security and leading the German nation into a peaceful . . . future . . . Feb. 27th to Feb. 28th saw the end of the German democracy and the beginning of dictatorship . . . all parties were forbidden and their leaders were arrested and put into concentration camps. After the second World War it [was] proven that the Nazis lit the Reichstagsgebäude [fire]."

No. 10
[hine011]
"Hitler . . . with a spade in his hands [removing a symbolic shovelful of dirt to mark the beginning of construction on] the Autobahn . . . This action took place at Frankfurt am Main [in] 1934 . . . several million [unemployed Germans] could participate [in construction of the Autobahn] to make their living."

No. 11
[hine012]
"Hitler shaking hands with General Litzmann, temporaryly [sic] Chief of Staff under Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg. General Litzmann died shortly after this picture was taken in 1934."

No. 12
[hine013]
"Hitler again, shaking hands with Field Marshal August von Mackensen, former commanding General of the 6th German Army in World War I. This picture was taken [on] memorial day 1935. Von Mackensen was born 1848 and died a couple weeks after WWII [ended in] 1945."

No. 13
[hine014]
"As [head of state], Hitler gave a New Year's reception to the foreign ambassadors assigned [to] Berlin, Germany."

No. 14
[hine015]
"Hitler and Konstantin Hierl, leader of the Reichsarbeitsdienst (State Labor Service). This picture was taken [in] 1935 at Nürnberg. The State Labor Service was an organization which almost every 18 year old German citizen - male and female - had to join for approximately six months."

No. 15
[hine016]
"Joseph Goebbels, Secretary of State for Propaganda, was born 1897 and committed suicide late in April 1945. Goebbels joined the Nazi party early 1922 and in 1926 he became Gauleiter of Berlin (district commissioner of the party). After Hitler became chancellor n 1933, Joseph Goebbels was nominated . . . to be a member of the government and in charge of the Nazi propaganda."

No. 16
[hine017]
"Joseph Goebbels with his Undersecretary of State for Propaganda. Goebbels' last deed and probably the last [favor] he did [for] his Führer . . . was [to be] Hitler's best man [at] the wedding ceremony of Adolf and Eva Braun on April 18th [sic] 1945."

No. 17
[hine018]
"Adolf Hitler's house on Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden. He liked this place much more than Berlin. This house was destroyed by an air attack on April 21st 1945 shortly before the end of World War II."
Hitler, an enthusiastic amateur architect, designed and built Berchtesgaden according to his exact specifications.

No. 18
[hine019]
"Hitler in his home near Berchtesgaden - taken in 1936."

No. 19
[hine020]
Photograph of Adolf Hitler on his patio, hand-feeding nibbles to a fawn.
"The Nazis said, Hitler loved the creature as well as human beings . . ."

No. 20
[hine021]
"1935, Hitler and Victor Lutze, Chief of the SA, discussing the 'Day of the Party.' Later, Lutze died in a concentration camp."
The editor has been unable to confirm Tiefenthäler's assertion that Lutze died in a concentration camp. Among historians, it is held that Lutze was killed in an automobile accident. There seems no reason to discount their verdict, thus calling Tiefenthäler's credibility as a source into question.

No. 21
[hine022]
"Hitler and his friend, Gauleiter Sauckel. Sauckel was responsible for the entire war industry and realized an idea, employing foreign laborers in the German was industry. Millions of German young men could then be drafted to the armed forces after being replaced by slave laboreres. The majority of them were Polish, Chechs [sic], Russians and French. The International War Tribunal (the institution of the highest allied court) which was established right after the war found Sauckel guilty [of] displacing and murdering slave laborers and sentenced him to death by hanging."
Images such as this, in which Adolf Hitler shares a hearty laugh with his subordinate, were most likely circulated to counterbalance his forbidding public persona.

No. 22
[hine023]
"Secretary of State for Agriculture Darré welcomes Hitler on Thanksgiving Day 1938. Darré died 1958[?] in Munich."

No. 23
[hine024]
"Adolf Hitler shakes hands with Mr. Bender, an old pioneer of the automobile factory Mercedes-Benz near Stuttgart."
Hitler's popularity rested in part upon his claim to have revitalized German industry following the post-world war economic catastrophe.

No. 24
[hine025]
"1938, Hitler visiting the fleet. Left is Great Admiral Raeder, Commander in Chief of the German Navy. Raeder was also [tried] by the high Allied war tribunal at Nürnberg and found guilty of war crimes and was [sentenced] to 15 years in jail. Because of his [old] age and his bad health . . . Raeder was released by the Allied troops in Berlin in 1957."
A key element in Hitler's foreign policy was his determined rearming of the German nation, in unapologetic defiance of the Versailles Treaty.

No. 25
[hine026]
"Hitler visiting a German submarine, 1938."

No. 26
[hine027]
"A German tank unit. With these 9-ton tanks and a crew of three men, the Germans [overran] Poland within 18 days. The entire Polish cavalry, which was considered as the best cavalry on [sic] the world, was destroyed by these small tanks."
Following the stalemate and mass slaughter of the Great War, the German Blitzkrieg - or, "Lightning War" - quite literally took the world by storm.

No. 27
[hine028]
"Adolf Hitler with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, Commander in Chief of the German Air Force, and the Hungarian Premier, Gömbös. After the second World War, the high Allied war tribunal tried Göring, found him guilty of being a war crime [sic] and sentenced him to death by hanging. About two hours before he should have been hanged, they found him dead. Göring had committed suicide by taking a strong and deadly poison. Up to this date it ahs not been [discovered how he obtained the poison] . . . This picture was taken [in] 1938."

No. 28
[hine029]
"Julius Schreck, an old friend of Hitler and Col. of the SS. Schreck was involved in an accident and was killed. This picture was taken about four weeks prior to his death in 1936."
A devoted National Socialist, Schreck preceded Heinrich Himmler as leader of the Schutzstaffel.

No. 29
[hine030]
"Hitler [inspecting troops] in front of the Kaiserpfalz in Goslar. This picture was taken on Thanksgiving Day, 1934."

No. 30
[hine031]
"Labor Day, May 1st 1938. [Hitler inspecting the] Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler [his personal SS bodyguard]. Along with Adolf Hitler is Heinrich Himmler, the most feared man in Hitler's Germany. Himmler was born Oct. 7th 1900. In 1921 he joined the Nazi party in its earliest stages and [in] 1929 he was put in charge of the Waffen-SS (regular armored SS divisions) and he was in charge on the Gestapo (Secret State Police) furthermore in charge of all concentration camps and since 1936 of all German police units. [On] July 20th 1944, [an attempt was made] to kill Hitler [using] a time bomb. After [the] failure of the plot, Himmler was one of the very few men . . . whom Hitler trusted now as before. On July 21st Himmler was put in charge of all German troops within German borders. When the second World War was over, Himmler was one of the most wanted Nazis. Trying to escape, he was using the uniform of a PFC . . . when crossing the border of the American zone and entering the British zone. While British troops checked his forged papers, Himmler felt he was recognized and also committed suicide by poison."

No. 31
[hine032]
"Hitler's 50th birthday on April 20th 1939 was celebrated all over Germany. This picture shows a political demonstration on Königsplatz in Munich."

No. 32
[hine033]
"Nürnberg. Hitler's 50th birthday - parade of the navy."

No. 33
[hine034]
"Berlin, Hitler's 50th birthday - political organizations marching through the Brandenburg Gate. Today the Brandenburg Gate is the borderline between the three western sectrors [sic] and the Russian sector of the city of Berlin."

No. 34
[hine035]
"Foreign Military Attachés stationed in Germany - Berlin, Hitler's 50th birthday."

No. 35
[hine036]
"Olympia-Stadion Berlin, H. 50th birthday - heavy artillery."

No. 36
[hine037]
"Hitler and his representative, Rudolf Hess. Hess was one of the first Nazis and in Hitler's political last will, written in 1920, Hitler nominated Hess to be his representative in case of death. In May 1941, Hess, a famous pilot, flew to England without [leave], to search for any possibility [of negotiating] peace between Germany and England. British officials [refused] to receive him and declared him crazy (Hess' mother was British). After World War II, Hess was returned to Germany and the International Allied War Tribunal found him guilty of [war crimes] and sentenced him to life [imprisonment] . . . At present, Hess is still being kept as one of the three war [criminals] in the most expensive jail [in] the world . . . Spandau."
It is unclear why Tiefenthäler referred to Hitler's political "will" of 1920 as his last. Whatever his meaning, it is true that Rudolf Hess was Hitler's deputy and presumptive successor, a decision Hitler reversed following Hess' wartime flight. Rudolf Hess died in custody at Spandau Prison, Berlin on 17 August 1987.

No. 37
[hine038]
"Honor guard of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, 1939."
Originally formed as a special bodyguard for Hitler prior to the Nazi's assumption of power, the Leibstandarte was the nucleus from which the entire apparatus of Himmler's SS developed.

No. 38
[hine039]
"The problems and difficulties between Germany and Poland grew from day to day and the war already could be smelled[!]. Late in August 1939 the Polish Secretary of State for Foreign Matters, Col. Beck, visited Hitler in his Berlin Hq. The discussion was not very successful and a few days later, the result was - WAR."

No. 39
[hine040]
"Hitler with his Chief of Staff of the Army, General Fritsch (with map in his hands) and the Secretary of State for Defense, Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg. Fritsch was killed in . . . Poland on Sept. 18th 1939. Werner von Blomberg died shortly after WWII."

No. 40
[hine041]

Photograph of a jocular Adolf Hitler at ease with his newspaper.
"Hitler was always happy receiving good news from front lines, but he couldn't stand bad news at all. Witnesses have proven that Hitler . . . committed suicide on April 29th [sic] 1945 in his Berlin Headquarters, a few hours before Russian troops occupied the entire city of Berlin."
The accepted date for Hitler's suicide is 30 April 1945. Eyewitness accounts made by Führerbunker survivors have confirmed this. Tiefenthäler's date is probably a typo.

1

2
[hine042]
"Explanation and description of the second set."
[A PDF file of the original documentation that accompanied the photographs]

No. 1
[hine043]
"Adolf Hitler (center), Professor Gall (left) and Albert Speer (without hat) standing in front of the unfinished 'House of Art' (Haus der Kunst) in Munich. Albert Speer was Hitler's Chief Constructor. Under his supervision the entire war industry was built and he assisted Dr. Fritz Todt, the initiator [designer?] of the Autobahn. When World War II was over, Speer was found guilty by the Allied War Tribunal [of] being a war [criminal]. The high Allied court sent him to prison for 20 years. He is still being kept in the most expensive prison [in] the world - in Berlin - Spandau . . ."

No. 2
[hine044]
"The 'House of Art' in Munich after it had been finished."
Himself an aspiring painter, Hitler liked to be seen as a patron of the arts.

No. 3
[hine045]
"1934, Hitler with Baldur von Schirach, who was the leader of the 'Hitler Youth' (Hitlerjugend). After the second World War was over, the Allied War Tribunal at Nürnberg found von Schirach guilty [and sentenced him to] prison for twenty years. He . . . has been kept under arrest at Berlin-Spandau [along with Albert Speer and Rudolph Hess]."

No. 4
[hine046]
"Hitler's First Sergeant from World War I. The Sergeant is visiting his Führer (leader), 1937, in Berchtesgaden. Hitler was a corporal in WWI."

No. 5
[hine047]
"Hitler speaking to the German nation. His speeches were always loaded with hate against the western world and the Jewish people, [whom] he always blamed for the commotion in this world."

No. 6
[hine048]
"Hitler is leaving Schiller's House [in] Weimar in 1934. Friedrich von Schiller was one of the most famous poets Germany ever had."

No. 7
[hine049]
"Horst Wessel, leading his SA-Group. Wessel was born 1907, he joined the Nazi Party 1925 and was killed by a Communist [in] 1930. Horst Wessel was the composer of a song: 'Die Fahne Hoch' ('Raise Up the Flag'). Whenever the situation required the playing of the hymn, Wessel's 'Die Fahne Hoch' followed right after."
Organized shortly after Hitler's assumption of leadership, the SA was the Nazi Party's first paramilitary force, charged with preserving order at meetings and rallies.

No. 8
[hine050]
"Hitler liked . . . being shown among children (like all dictators). He used to [refer to] the youngest generation [of] the German nation [as] the 'carriers of the future.'"

No. 9
[hine051]
"[In] this picture, Adolf shows up with a member of the Hitler Youth. This picture was taken 1933, shortly before Hitler was nominated to be the Chancellor of the State."

No. 10
[hine052]
Photograph of a beaming Adolf Hitler, holding a bouquet of long-stem roses and patting a young Hitler Youth member on the cheek. Description reads:
"Hitler liked children . . ."

No. 11
[hine053]
"Again and again among children."
Photograph of Adolf Hitler posing with three unidentified German children. An unknown SS officer in the background smiles politely.

No. 12
[hine054]
"November 9th 1935 at Munich. Hitler talks to a female member of the Nazi Party. She is the widow of one of the 16 victims from Nov. 9th 1923 (see picture No. 1, Set I). In background [of] this picture is the 'Brown House,' the Bürgerbräukeller, the [birthplace] of the Nazi Party late in 1919 (see No. 6 of Set I)."

No. 13
[hine055]
"Hitler among his friends of various political organizations. This picture was taken in Berchtesgaden, May 1933."

No. 14
[hine056]
"Water painting {Aquarell) made by Cpl. Hitler, December 1914. These are the monastery ruins at Messines, Belgia."

No. 15
[hine057]
"Another water painting made by Hitler in 1914 . . . he named it 'House with White Fence.'

No. 16
[hine058]
"Former high ranking British officers from World War I, [who] fought against Germany, visiting Hitler. This took place 1937."

No. 17
[hine059]
Photograph of Hitler and various ministers of state at the opening of the Autobahn.
"[The Autobahn was opened to] traffic . . . between Frankfurt and Darmstadt in summer 1935. From left to right: Secretary of State for Defense Field Marshal von Blomberg (see No. 39, Set I), next stands Hitler, next Dr. Fritz Todt, born 1891. Todt joined the party in its earliest stage and is . . . considered as the initiator of the Autobahn and he was well known [by] the nickname 'The Father of the Westwall,' a fortress which can be classified as [an unbreachable defense]. The purpose of the Westwall was to protect Germany against any French aggression. Fritz Todt . . . was the leader of the "Organization Todt," consisting of all laborers in uniform and professional experts of all the various fields of economics. [In] 1942 Dr. Todt was involved in an accident and was killed. Next is Hjalmar Schacht, born 1877. Schacht was Hitler's Secretary of State for Finance. During WWII he [opposed] Hitler's nonsense politics and was put into a concentration camp. Liberated by the American Army, he was judged by the Allied War Tribunal at Nürnberg and was not found guilty. Even today Schacht is considered by many Arabien [sic] nations as an expert on financial fields and acts as an advisor in those countries occasionally. Next is Dr. Dorpmüller, director of the German railroad and on the extreme right is Hitler's Secretary of State for Propaganda, Dr. Joseph Goebbels (see Nos. 15 and 16 of Set I)."

No. 18
[hine060]
"Chancellor Hitler and the President of the State Paul von Hindenburg (see Nos. 7 and 8 of Set I)."

No. 19
[hine061]
"Hitler visiting the BMW motor factory (Bayrisch-Motoren-Werke) in Munich."

No. 20
[hine062]
"This is Hitler, visiting a Mercedes-Benz race car in 1936."

No. 21
[hine063]
"The entry of German troops into the unoccupied Rhineland on March 7th 1936. This picture was taken on the bridge over the Rhine River between Wiesbaden and Mainz."
A demilitarized zone following Germany's defeat in World War I, Hitler's reoccupation of the Rhineland was a direct challenge to Germany's neighbors.

No. 22
[hine064]
"Hitler during a meeting with high ranking members of the Nazi Party in his Berlin headquarters 1938. The man on the extremest [sic] right is Rudolf Hess (see No. 36 of Set I)."

No. 23
[hine065]
"Hitler with members of his government in his Berlin Hq. after discussing and establishing the law for military defence [sic]."

No. 24
[hine066]
"May 1st 1933. Hitler and several members of his government attending the 1st May cellebrations [sic] of the Hitler Youth at Berlin Lustgarten. May 1st was . . . Labor Day."

No. 25
[hine067]
"In Garnisons-Kirche (church of the garrison) at Potsdam (near Berlin) in a very ceremonial speech to the nation on March 21st 1933, Hitler stated and declared: 'We shall bring peace to the nation.' Today the whole world knows the result of the peace Hitler brought to the German nation."

No. 26
[hine068]
"'SA' stands for 'Saal Abteilung.' This is a meeting of all SA delegations [from] throughout Germany at Nürnberg-Luitpoldhain in 1933. In the early days of the Nazi Party, when other political parties, such as democrats and communists were ignoring and fighting Hitler's party, Adolf saw the need of establishing . . . an organization [whose] purpose [was to defend] all meetings of the Nazis against . . . any disturbances. The organization was called 'SA.'"
It is unclear why Tiefenthäler used the term 'Saal Abteilung' rather than the correct term, Sturmabteilung.

No. 27
[hine069]
"Hermann Göring (see No. 27, Set I) visiting his Führer in Hitler's home on Obersalzberg in Berchtesgaden (see No. 17, Set I)."

No. 28
[hine070]
"Tower Lützow, of the battleship, Admiral Scheer. This heavy warship [was] lost [during] a [naval] action between British and German warships."