Lot 14

ALBERT KESSELRING

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ALBERT KESSELRING

Estimate: $200 - $300

Starting Bid: $100

(0 Bids)

by Alexander Historical Auctions LLC
July 30, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Live Auction
106 East Main Street, Suite 103
Elkton, MD, US 21921

ALBERT KESSELRING
(1885 - 1960) Field Marshal in the Luftwaffe and at Nuremburg was tried for war crimes. Death sentence commuted due to ill health. A.L.S. 2pp. legal folio, Werl, Mar. 10, 1950, written from Werl while being held as a prisoner of war to his sister, Lucy, in part: ‘…This time I am coming to you with a special letter. The governor has asked me to covey to you Herford's negative decision. The reasons weren't sufficiently solid to grant a vacation. As the governor said when I last spoke to him, it would be ‘too much trouble.' On the other hand, as many [releases?] as possible are to be granted when you visit Werl [I] expected this decision….I take it that Mama's health is not completely well. The weather we are having right now can make one ill…The main thing is that Mama get healthy again, hopefully by 23 March, her birthday…There was a great deal of excitement in the house yesterday because General Bishop [?] inspected the institution. He visited us as well as our work room at about 6pm. He gave me the opportunity to say some conciliatory things…among others, that we were rather surprised by the decision of the Review Board, and urged him to see to it that we be apprised as soon as possible of the final outcome. He agreed to this, but also explained that there can never be a final status [?] in English law, and that a case can be always be reopened at any time…Then I asked for help with the issue of pensions and postal limitations…I also gave information to Lattimer [?]…I too heard on the radio the demands on the witnesses of the Graziani trial…the fact that my name was not mentioned, that no directives or instructions have come from above ay mean that I will not be released….'. Rodolfo Graziani, ‘The Butcher of Ethiopia' (1882-1955), was a prominent Italian general notorious for his brutal tactics used to consolidate and expand the Italian colonial empire during the 1920s-1930s and the retributive period referred to as Yakatit 12 in 1937. He was never prosecuted for those at Nuremberg, Graziani was tried in the Italian court in 1950 for his collaboration with the Nazis, and sentenced to 19 years...but released after serving only four months.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000