1945 G.I. Letter on Hitler's Stationery
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GUEST:
I brought a letter that my father wrote my mother during the war.
APPRAISER:
So Mother is "Darling."
GUEST:
Mother is "Darling."
APPRAISER:
And where did he write this from?
GUEST:
He wrote it at the Eagle's Nest, Hitler's home, in Berchtesgaden, Germany.
APPRAISER:
His home in the Alps?
GUEST:
In the Alps.
APPRAISER:
And we actually have "Der F¸hrer," which was his term, "The Leader." We have the German eagle with the swastika. And there's a big controversy over the collecting of Nazi memorabilia.
GUEST:
I can imagine.
APPRAISER:
I love this because it's anti-Nazi memorabilia. Did he ever talk much about being up there?
GUEST:
He didn't talk about the war very much at all, to tell you the truth.
APPRAISER:
Who did he serve with?
GUEST:
The 101st Airborne, 502nd. He was stationed in England before the Normandy invasion.
APPRAISER:
So he dropped on Normandy?
GUEST:
Yes, he did.
APPRAISER:
What's cool is 70 years ago yesterday, he's coming out of a plane, not knowing if it would work. There was just as good a chance it wouldn't work.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Later, he's sitting at Hitler's retreat in the Alps, writing on his stationery to his sweetheart, "Darling." And he says, "A few years ago, "I was reading of how 'Der F¸hrer' was going to rule the world, "and now I'm here in his house, using his writing paper and thinking of what a jerk he was." (chuckles) That pretty much sums it up.
GUEST:
It sounds like my father.
APPRAISER:
That regiment had been through hell since D-Day. They jumped, they fought, they were stuck in the Battle of the Bulge. Those guys were amazing. We were so fortunate that they were there. I like at the top of the letter, he makes the notation, "Here's something to put in your scrapbook." Since it's a family piece, we'd be looking for an insurance value.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
This is a piece that, if it were my family, I would insure it between $500 and $600.
GUEST:
Okay, that's great.
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