World War 1 & 2
Dosier of military strategy related to the upcoming Italian invasion of Yugoslavia. Titled “exercise with division tables”, it lays out the difficulties entailed with the planned invasion. Also, in the dosier are maps reflecting the invasion of Romania in 1916 and the area around Svistov on the Danube. Also included is pasted images of specific mountains in Ethiopia, no doubt to help in understanding the terrain the Italian will be up against in Yugoslavia. Also, a 1914 painted portrait of Captain Fritz Watzeck, the dosier’s owner. The dosier is dated 29 Marzo-5 April 1940, MORE THAN TWO MONTHS BEFORE ITALY ENTERED THE WAR. It is copy number 7 and marked SEGRETO. A rare find.
Price: $500.00
3 boxes Manufacture Francaise de Surprises enfantines – “French production of surprises for children”. These were produce in the city of Nieppe, France. On the front of each box is a caricature mocking Hitler. The boxes themselves contained chocolate cigarettes for children and came with cardboard cutouts of military figures wearing uniforms of the French army in WW2. The charming figures were intended to be cut out by the children along the lines, after cutting them out the children were asked to send them to the publishing house and receive a surprise in return. Extremely rare.
Price: $400.00
Complete set of 9 sketches of the German POW camp Stalag 325 at Rawa-Ruska in Western Ukraine. By E. Vanderheyde and dedicated to Free-French General Giraud. There is a dedication page with signature dated 1947.
Price: $900.00
Note from Wikipedia: The Germans operated the Stalag 325 prisoner-of-war camp for French and Belgian POWs in the town, following its relocation from Zamość and before its further relocation to Lwów. There were poor conditions in the camp with POWs being subjected to harassment and beatings by the German guards and suffering from hunger and epidemics, resulting in a high death rate. Many POWs were sent to forced labour subcamps in the region, and the local populace shared food with the prisoners despite the danger. There were two POW camps established in the citadel of Lviv between 3 December 1942 and January 1944 (Stalag-328 & Stalag-325). Approximately 284,000 persons went through these camps during its existence. 142,000 of them died here due to sickness, hunger or executions.
French WW2 booklet titled “Which one do you choose?” It shows a picture of Jean Jaures and Ilya Ehrenburg. One is a jew, the other a socialist. It goes on to talk about the dangers of both and states that the only way to defeat the jews and communists is to win the war. 14 pages.
Price: $450.00
French WW2 broadside titled “Ronard 1560”. It cites anti-semitic poetry by the famed poet and asks the question….”In 1560, was Ronard an agent of Hitler?”.
Price: $190.00
Note: Pierre de Ronsard (1524 – 1585) was a French poet or, as his own generation in France called him, a "prince of poets".