A who's who of Hitler's henchmen: Chilling album of mugshots and signatures as Nazi war criminals awaited justice is unearthed after 70 years

[superbeets]

[h=1]A who's who of Hitler's henchmen: Chilling album of mugshots and signatures as Nazi war criminals awaited justice is unearthed after 70 years[/h]

• Gallery was assembled by Allied officer and interrogator Hank Schardt
• It contains 230 signatures from officers, political leaders and diplomats
• Key part of questioning was comparing signature with writing of Nazi officials
• Those in the album include Hermann Goering and Josef 'Sepp' Dietrich
• Album being sold at auction next month and expected to fetch £18,000

By STEPH COCKROFT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 12:40, 22 August 2016 | UPDATED: 17:38, 22 August 2016

 

[superbeets]

A chilling album featuring mugshots and signatures of Nazi war criminals which were taken as they awaited justice has been unearthed after more than 70 years.
The gallery - a who's who of Hitler's henchmen involved in the Holocaust - was assembled by an Allied intelligence officer whose job was to interrogate the depraved individuals.
A vital part of the questioning was to get them to provide an authentic signature to compare it with handwriting of Nazi officials who signed off orders for war atrocities.

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Hermann Goering (whose photograph is pictured above), was Luftwaffe chief and a member of the Nazi Party from its earliest days, becoming the second-most powerful man in Germany after helping Hitler rise to power. A pilot in the First World War, he founded the Gestapo and later gave command of it to Heinrich Himmler

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Goering, whose signature and photograph is seen above, remained a close confidante of Hitler during most of his rule, but was politically shunned when he asked the Nazi leader if he could assume control of the Reich when Hitler committed suicide. Considering it an act of treason, Hitler ordered his arrest and he went on to be found guilty of crimes against humanity. He sentenced to hanging but managed to kill himself on the eve of the execution by taking cyanide

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The description of Goering - who was the minister in charge of Germany's economic four-year plan - says: 'Director of the FOUR YEAR PLAN. Looter of priceless European Art Treasures, Nazi "Glamor Boy" (sic), Designer of Uniforms, Drug addict, on trial in Nuremberg on all four counts of the indictment'. From around 1943, Göring, who was addicted to morphine, withdrew from the political scene and focused on acquiring property and artwork, mainly from Jewish victims of the Holocaust

 

[superbeets]

This key evidence - which helped convict the war criminals - was one of the main reasons so many Nazis tried to burn millions of documents as the Allies advanced on Berlin towards the end of the Second World War.
The album, titled Nazi Cavalcade, was compiled by intelligence officer Hank Schardt, who was born in Germany but emigrated to America at the age of eight.


It contains 230 individual signatures from high ranking military officers, political leaders, diplomats, factory owners and heads of institutions like banks who stood trial and helped give evidence during the War Crimes Trials in Nuremberg in 1946.
Among the high-profile Nazis he quizzed and who feature in his dossier were Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering.

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One of the more unusual people in the collection is pilot Hanna Reitsch (pictured), who flew to Berlin in the hope of airlifting Hitler out before the Russians arrived. In the event, he refused and chose to kill himself

Interrogate Hank Schardt wrote that Reitsch was one of the last people to see Hitler and propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels alive in the bunker. She was held for 18 months before being released and died in 1979

Mr Schardt's description of the monster reads: 'Director of the FOUR YEAR PLAN. Looter of priceless European Art Treasures, Nazi "Glamour Boy" Designer of Uniforms, Drug addict, on trial in Nuremberg on all four counts of the indictment.'
At the historic war trials, Goering was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to hanging. But on the eve of his execution he managed to kill himself by taking cyanide.
One of Hitler's favourite generals, Alfred Jodl, is featured in the album. He is described in it as an 'active leader in the development of the Nazi war machine'. He too was found guilty and executed.

 

[superbeets]

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Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel (pictured) was the third highest ranking Nazi to be tried at Nuremberg. He is described in the album as 'one of the most active military leaders of Germany' and was sentenced to death

Keitel (above) was chief of defence through much of the Second World War and, as a military officer, was prohibited from joining the Nazi Party. But he was given a 'Golden' NSDAP membership badge by Hitler, who was seeking to link military successes to political successes

German Admiral Karl Donitz, who succeeded Hitler after his suicide in April 1945, was described as the 'second Fuehrer of the Third Reich' by Mr Schardt. He was convicted of war crimes but sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel was the third highest ranking Nazi to be tried at Nuremberg. He is described in the album as 'one of the most active military leaders of Germany' and was sentenced to death.
Joachim von Ribbentrop is one of the most extreme Nazis featured. He played a key role in brokering the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, which paved the way for Germany to invade Poland and start the Second World War. He was sentenced to death and hanged.

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Albert Kesselring was the German Luftwaffe Generalfeldmarschall during World War II and became one of the most highly-decorated Nazi commanders

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Kesselring was tried for war crimes in 1960 and sentenced to death, but that later changed to life imprisonment. A political and media campaign resulted in his release in 1952, ostensibly on health grounds. He died in 1960 of a heart attack

Julius Streicher, a man whose anti-Jewish beliefs were so strong even other Nazis condemned his excessive behaviour, is also in the file.
Although he was not a member of the military and played no part in planning the Holocaust, his pivotal role in inciting the extermination of Jews was significant enough for prosecutors to include him in the indictment of major war criminals at Nuremberg.
He was found guilty of crimes against humanity and hanged.

 

[superbeets]

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One of Hitler's favourites, Josef 'Sepp' Dietrich was originally Hitler's chauffeur and bodyguard but had a meteoric rise through the ranks when he took part in executions of political opponents in the 1934 purge known as the Night of the Long Knives. He became a commander in the Waffen-SS, the armed paramilitary branch of the SS, and was promoted above his military competence due to his close relationship with Hitler

Dietrich was tried as a war criminal at Dachau and sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering the execution of American POWs, but his sentence was shortened to 25 years and he served ten before being released on parole. Dietrich was then arrested by West Germany authorities for his part in the 1934 purge and sentenced to another 19 months. He died of a heart attack in 1966

One of the more unusual entries is Hanna Reitsch, who was a pilot. She flew to Berlin in the hope of airlifting Hitler out before the Russians arrived.
In the event he refused and chose to kill himself. Mr Schardt wrote that she was one of the last people to see Hitler and propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels alive in the bunker.
She was held for 18 months before being released and died in 1979.

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Otto Skorzeny was also a leader in the Waffen-SS. He was personally selected by Hitler for a mission to free Italian dictator Mussolini and led Operation Greif, where German soldiers infiltrated enemy lines using their opponents' languages, uniforms, and customs. Hitler awarded him one of Germany's highest military honours, the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross

Skorzeny was held as a POW for more than two years and was a witness at the Nuremberg Trials before being tried as a war criminal at Dachau for allegedly violating the laws of war during the Battle of the Bulge. He and nine other officers were charged with improperly using American uniforms to fire upon and kill US soldiers, but they were acquitted

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Skorzeny escaped from his prison camp in 1948 with the help of three former SS officers dressed in US Military Police uniforms and eventually fled to the Middle East. He died in Madrid in 1975

Also in Schardt's files are Sepp Dietrich and Otto Skorzeny, who both avoided death sentences.
Dietrich was Hitler's chauffeur and bodyguard in the late 1920s but had a meteoric rise through the ranks when he took part in executions of political opponents in the 1934 purge known as the Night of the Long Knives.
He became a commander in the Waffen-SS, the armed paramilitary branch of the SS, and commanded 6th Panzer Army in the Battle of the Bulge, but was promoted above his military competence due to his close relationship with Hitler.

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Another of those in the album is Dr Jutta Rüdiger, a German psychologist who was head of the Nazi Party's female youth organisation, the League of German Girls (BDM), from 1937 to 1945

Dr Rüdiger survived Nuremberg and died in 2001, still a loyal comrade to Hitler Youth

He was tried as a war criminal at Dachau and sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering the execution of American POWs, but his sentence was shortened to 25 years and he served ten before being released on parole.
Dietrich was then arrested by West Germany authorities for his part in the 1934 purge and sentenced to another 19 months.
Hans Michael Frank, Hitler's personal lawyer, became Nazi Germany's chief in occupied Poland.

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Hans Michael Frank, Hitler's personal lawyer, became Nazi Germany's chief in occupied Poland. During his tenure he instituted a reign of terror against the civilian population and became directly involved in the mass murder of Jews

Frank died in 1946 after being sentenced to hanging following the war crimes trials

During his tenure he instituted a reign of terror against the civilian population and became directly involved in the mass murder of Jews.
Frank died in 1946 after being sentenced to hanging following the war crimes trials.
Otto Skorzeny was also a leader in the Waffen-SS. He was personally selected by Hitler for a mission to free Italian dictator Mussolini and led Operation Greif, where German soldiers infiltrated enemy lines using their opponents' languages, uniforms, and customs.

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One of Hitler's favourite generals, Alfred Jodl, was found guilty of war crimes and executed. He signed the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich in 1945

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In the collection, Jodl is described by Schardt as an 'active leader in the development of the Nazi war machine'. He died at Nuremberg in 1946

Hitler awarded him one of Germany's highest military honours, the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross.
Skorzeny was held as a POW for more than two years and was a witness at the Nuremberg Trials before being tried as a war criminal at Dachau for allegedly violating the laws of war during the Battle of the Bulge.
He and nine other officers were charged with improperly using American uniforms to fire upon and kill US soldiers, but on the last day of the trial a former British SOE agent gave evidence that they wore German uniforms behind enemy lines.

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Julius Streicher had anti-Jewish beliefs that were so strong even other Nazis condemned his excessive behaviour. Although he was not a member of the military and played no part in planning the Holocaust, his pivotal role in inciting the extermination of Jews was significant enough for prosecutors to include him in the indictment of major war criminals at Nuremberg

 

[superbeets]

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Streicher was also the founder and publisher of the anti-Semitic newspaper Der St¸rmer, which became a central element of the Nazi propaganda machine

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Streicher, whose signature is above, was found guilty of crimes against humanity and was hanged following the war crimes trial in Nuermberg

Realising that convicting Skorzeny could implicate their own agents, the tribunal acquitted him and the others.
He escaped from his prison camp in 1948 with the help of three former SS officers dressed in US Military Police uniforms and eventually fled to the Middle East where he worked for the Israeli intelligence agency the Mossad and then Spain where he set up a group that trained guerrillas.
Matthew Tredwin, of C&T Auctioneers of Ashford, Kent, said it was a truly unique and historical archive.

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Robert Ley was a Nazi politician and head of the German Labour Front from 1933 to 1945. Even as the Third Reich collapsed, he remained fanatically loyal to Hitler

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Ley was due to be tried for his war crimes but committed suicide while awaiting trial at Nuremberg

He said: 'Hank Schardt's job was to interrogate German officials and high ranking officers. He made them sign these documents under the wording "this is my signature".
'This was done so they could prove that it was the same person who signed documents ordering war atrocities and that they could not claim their signature had been forged at the time.

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Joachim von Ribbentrop is one of the most extreme Nazis featured. He played a key role in brokering the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, which paved the way for Germany to invade Poland and start the Second World War. After meeting Hitler, he offered his house for the secret meetings in January 1933 that resulted in Hitler's appointment as Chancellor of Germany

Von Ribbetrop became a close confidant of the Nazi leader, to the disgust of many members who thought he was lacking in talent. He was sentenced to death and hanged

[h=3]THE NUREMBERG TRIALS [/h]Between 1945-46, 24 prominent members of the political, military, judicial and economic leadership who were involved in war crimes were brought before an international tribunal in Nuremberg.
One of the defendants, Martin Bormann, was tried in his absence, while another, Robert Ley, committed suicide within a week of the trial's commencement.
The Soviet Union had wanted these trials to take place in Berlin but Nuremberg - a city in Bavaria - was chosen because it had been the place where meetings took place to strip Jews of their citizenship.
Trials not included were that of Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels, all of whom had committed suicide before the trials began.


'They were quite possibly the last signatures some of these people gave before they were hanged.
'The album is extremely extensive and also contains mugshots of many of the war criminals.'
Mr Schardt was born in Thuringa, Germany, in 1918 and emigrated to Chicago in 1926.
In 1937 he joined the US Army and was later assigned to army intelligence in Europe during the war as he could speak fluent German.

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Alfred Rosenberg was the influential ideologue of the Nazi Party and was considered one of the main authors of key National Socialist ideological creeds, including its racial theory, persecution of the Jews and opposition to degenerate modern art. He held several important posts in the Nazi government

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At Nuremberg, Rosenberg was sentenced to death and executed by hanging for war crimes and crimes against humanity

Most of his work involved interrogating captured German officers and officials.
During the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 he was awarded the Bronze Star for his interrogation of English-speaking Germans posing as Allied troops.
At the end of the war he was assigned to an intelligence unit at Nuremberg, processing, interrogating and cataloguing both German field grade officers and political officials to compile this dossier.

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Leonardo Conti, the Reich Health Leader, was due to have been tried for his involvement in the Action T4 Euthanasia Program, also known as the murder of those Germans who were of 'Unsound mind'. He hanged himself in his cell on 6 October 1945 before standing trial

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Conti became known for pushing Reich laws that allowed the use of Pervitin - an early version of Crystal Meth. Although laws would not let it be used privately, the laws did not call into question its use for military purposes. It was reportedly used to keep soldiers wide awake, feeling euphoric and invincible on several occasions

 

[superbeets]

After Nuremberg he remained with the US Army before joining the CIA. He retired in 1976 and was awarded the CIA Intelligence Medal of Merit. He died in the 1990s.
Schardt's daughter sold the album to a collector in the US before it passed to Germany and then Britain in the late 90s.
The album is being sold on September 7 and is expected to fetch £18,000.

Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy, was sentenced to lift imprisonment following the Nuremburg trials and was famously the last surviving inmate of Spandau prison until his suicide in 1987. Many people have claimed that he was too ill to commit suicide and that he was murdered by British agents to stop him spilling wartime secret

German Admiral Karl Donitz, who succeeded Hitler after his suicide in April 1945, was described as the 'second Fuehrer of the Third Reich' by Mr Schardt. He was convicted of war crimes but sentenced to 10 years in jail. He died at the age of 89 in 1980

 

[The Guesser]

 

[ScottL]

Gasman you take it, please.

 

[mountain]

You and only you have enough hate and vitriol in your system to equate someone with whom you disagree with to the leaders responsible for over 60 million deaths.

Of all your ignorant and idiotic posts, this is by far the most shameful.

You should resign your membership or apologize, this is an insult to the civilized world

 

[The Guesser]

You and only you have enough hate and vitriol in your system to equate someone with whom you disagree with to the leaders responsible for over 60 million deaths.

Of all your ignorant and idiotic posts, this is by far the most shameful.

You should resign your membership or apologize, this is an insult to the civilized world

Your usual selective outrage is both amusing, and hypocritical. Obama as an ISIS member/founder, posted hundreds of times in this sewer? I failed to see a peep out of you or all the other disgusting hypocrites. What else is new?

 

[hehateme82]

Your usual selective outrage is both amusing, and hypocritical. Obama as an ISIS member/founder, posted hundreds of times in this sewer? I failed to see a peep out of you or all the other disgusting hypocrites. What else is new?

Just say, "my bad fellas, that was in poor taste", and move on

 

[The Guesser]

Just say, "my bad fellas, that was in poor taste", and move on

It absolutely was in poor taste, but I'm glad I posted it, as it was on point, and it once again illuminates the disgusting Hypocrisy in this dump.

 

[mountain]

Your usual selective outrage is both amusing, and hypocritical. Obama as an ISIS member/founder, posted hundreds of times in this sewer? I failed to see a peep out of you or all the other disgusting hypocrites. What else is new?

My God. Forget me man, it's not about me, it is about you and your attempt to "even things up" by trying to equate a political foe with the worst evil that the world has ever seen. If you would swallow your stupid pride you would see the hate you are spewing.

You hate everything, even yourself; your posts make it very clear.

 

[The Guesser]

My God. Forget me man, it's not about me, it is about you and your attempt to "even things up" by trying to equate a political foe with the worst evil that the world has ever seen. If you would swallow your stupid pride you would see the hate you are spewing.

You hate everything, even yourself; your posts make it very clear.

Again, your decrepit "detective skills" are sorely lacking. Corey is a Brown Shirt Thug, and the comparison of him and the Idiot Drumpf, with the vile rise of the Nazi's in the 30's in Germany is on point.

 

[mountain]

Again, your decrepit "detective skills" are sorely lacking. Corey is a Brown Shirt Thug, and the comparison of him and the Idiot Drumpf, with the vile rise of the Nazi's in the 30's in Germany is on point.

If in fact you truly believe what you posted you are a twisted soul. 60 million deaths versus a philosophical difference.

You are the one who think Hillary had Vince Foster killed and your outrage is against Trump, a man who speaks words in which you disagree. A killer versus a man who makes promises he can't possibly keep.

Just think about these two outrages and come back with your typical sociopathic response. Hard to believe people like you really exist.

 

[ScottL]

Guesser is a scumbag POS

 

[The Guesser]

If in fact you truly believe what you posted you are a twisted soul. 60 million deaths versus a philosophical difference.

You are the one who think Hillary had Vince Foster killed and your outrage is against Trump, a man who speaks words in which you disagree. A killer versus a man who makes promises he can't possibly keep.

Just think about these two outrages and come back with your typical sociopathic response. Hard to believe people like you really exist.

The Idiot Drumpf threatened to ban, deport, and tag people of a Religion. That is right on point with what happened in Germany to my people, and recognized by brave Holocaust survivors. It hard to believe people with your level of hypocrisy exist, but unfortunately down here, that's the norm.

 

[The Guesser]

Guesser is a scumbag POS

FRINGY is a Hypocritical, disgusting, vile POS.

 

[mountain]

Guesser is a scumbag POS

You are right. I would rather scout the kickers position for my ff team than give this yahoo credibility by arguing with him. Guys like Guesser and Finch hate everything about this world, especially themselves.