A unique photo album presented to Adolf Hitler shows just how close and cozy he was with his young half-niece, Geli Raubal, the Nazi madman’s gal-pal whom he later declared his only true love.
The photos, never expected to be seen by the public, were in an album presented to Hitler on his 44th birthday, two years after Raubal killed herself with his Walther pistol, sending him into a deep depression.
“This album was clearly prepared in homage to Raubal, as she appears in almost every image,” said Bill Panagopulos, president of Maryland’s Alexander Historical Auctions, the nation’s leading auction house for World War II and other historical artifacts.
One image shows Hitler asleep in a lounge chair beside her, he said. In others, the Nazi madman looked his typical awkward self around women.
Alexander is making plans to auction the photo album for the first time in January. The book is expected to sell for $30,000-$40,000, due in part to the popularity of World War II memorabilia.
Panagopulos told Secrets that the album was given to Hitler in 1933, two years after Raubal’s suicide, apparently in reaction to Hitler’s decision to block her from leaving him.
“Within are mounted 61 original photographs, each 4 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ b/w, specifically showing Hitler, Geli Raubal, Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels, journalist and Hitler’s de facto deputy Hermann Esser, and other friends and family members in private moments never intended for public consumption,” said Panagopulos.
“This album was clearly prepared in homage to Raubal, as she appears in almost every image. We see Geli and others in a variety of outdoor scenes, picnics, trips to the beach, with family members, etc., many including Hitler and a few showing him obviously ill at ease. One image shows Hitler asleep in a lounge chair beside his alleged lover, while another shows him with his back turned to Gali and others who are enjoying a picnic in the forest,” he added.
He did not identify the seller.
The auctioneer and historian provided this story about Hitler and Raubal:
“Raubal moved into Hitler’s Munich apartment in 1929 when she enrolled in college. As he rose to power, Hitler was domineering and possessive of Raubal. When he discovered she was having a relationship with his chauffeur, Emil Maurice, he forced an end to the affair and dismissed Maurice from his service. After that he did not allow her to freely associate with friends, and attempted to have himself or someone he trusted near her at all times, accompanying her on shopping trips, to the movies, and to the opera.
“Raubal was in effect a prisoner, but planned to escape to Vienna to continue her singing lessons. He and Raubal argued on September 18, 1931—he refused to allow her to go. The next day Raubal was dead from a gunshot wound to the lung; she had shot herself in Hitler’s apartment with Hitler’s Walther pistol. Hitler slid into a deep depression, and later declared that Raubal was the only woman he had ever loved.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
