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DOCUMENTED BOOK REMOVED FROM HITLER'S COURTYARD

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:1,250.00 USD Estimated At:2,500.00 - 3,500.00 USD
DOCUMENTED BOOK REMOVED FROM HITLER'S COURTYARD
AT THE BUNKER IN BERLIN IN 1945. One of a kind historical offering, fully documented including the original letter written by the WWII British female ambulance driver who personally removed this charred book from a crater in the yard in front of Adolf Hitler’s bunker. This event took place in the autumn of 1945 when Russian guards were still on duty outside The Bunker but some military and public were being allowed to tour the grounds where Adolf Hitler and his new wife Eva Braun had been placed in shallow graves and burned after their suicide on April 30, 1945. These pits were, in essence, a group of bomb craters caused by extensive bombing of the area by advancing Russian forces during the siege of the capital city of The Third Reich. Carmen Munro was a feisty confirmed spinster of royal Scottish decent and had served in WWI as a nurse. She enlisted again during WWII to serve as an ambulance driver and ended up in Berlin (scan of photo included in the lot) in 1945. In the autumn of 1945, while still on duty, she wanted to visit the last known headquarters and residence of Adolf Hitler located next to the ruins of the Reichs Chancellery. In her typed statement she wrote “Souvenirs were strictly “verboten” but when the Russian guard turned his back I seized this book, saturated and slightly charred from the remains of the pile and took it out buttoned inside my tunic-part of the remains of Hitler’s and Eva Baum’s funeral pyre.” This statement is truthful and has been passed down to Carmen’s grandnephew that still holds a Scottish royal title of Baronett and is the consignor. However, the historical facts regarding the actual location of the pit or crater where Hitler’s and Eva’s bodies were placed before the attempted cremation, and where Carmen “acquired” the book, are probably a few meters apart. Firsthand accounts and period photography show the grave site without the furniture and debris including books. There were several other craters in the immediate proximity with contents from the bunker including documents and books that were to be destroyed and burned. These bomb craters were convenient to accomplish this task. It was, most likely, one of these that contained the book we are offering. Therefore, we wish to present this lot as accurately as possible. The hard cover, large format, book measures approximately 11” wide by 15” long and has over 200 pages. It is entitled ARCHITEKONISHE RUNDSCHAU and was published in Stuttgart in 1885. Translated, this essentially means Architectural Circular. It contains 98 highly detailed sketches of many major buildings and homes and covers all areas of architecture. UNATTACHED ACCESSORIES: the original letter written by Carmen Munro and scans of a number of photos of Carmen from WWI, WWII and after. It also includes a scan of her obituary. She died in 1979 at the age of 81. CONDITION: The back binding is missing and there are definite burn marks very visible on the edges of some of the pages. However, the content is still complete It’s a well-known historical fact that Hitler loved all types of architecture and would spend countless hours with his favorite architects including Albert Speer discussing this topic. As Carmen states in her letter, this manuscript was part of a large underground library. The offering consists of the book in “as found” condition. (02-13934/BS). $2,500-3,500.