Original Item. Only One Lot Available. This is a fascinating eight-piece group of German pre-WWII and WWII-period newspapers and illustrated magazines dating from 1938 through February 1945. The assortment includes German-language publications intended for domestic readers as well as French and Dutch editions produced for circulation outside Germany.

The earliest piece is a 1938 issue of Der Schulungsbrief, marked BERLIN / V. JAHRGANG / 11. FOLGE, 1938 and titled:

UM BLUT UND BODEN
 ZWEITER TEIL

or “Blood and Soil, Part Two.”

The cover further identifies the publisher as “Der Reichsorganisationsleiter der NSDAP,” or “The Reich Organization Leader of the NSDAP.” Der Schulungsbrief was the central monthly political-training publication issued under the NSDAP training apparatus. This particular issue contains agricultural and economic material, including the heading “Angebot und Nachfrage,” meaning “Supply and Demand,” and discussion centered on agricultural self-sufficiency. One prominent line reads “Sicherung der Ernährung des Volkes aus eigener Scholle!”, approximately “Securing the nation’s food supply from its own soil!”

Also included is a particularly interesting 27 June 1940 issue of Illustrierter Beobachter, identified as 15. Jahrgang, Folge 26. The cover photograph shows the führer at a map table with Army Commander-in-Chief Generaloberst Walther von Brauchitsch and carries the headline “Die Tilgung der Schmach von Compiègne,” or “The wiping away of the disgrace of Compiègne.” The interior is heavily devoted to the German campaign in Western Europe, with illustrated features titled “Der achtzehnte Juni in München” (“The Eighteenth of June in Munich”), “Die Deutschen in Paris” (“The Germans in Paris”), “Compiègne – Die Schmach ist getilgt!” (“Compiègne – The disgrace has been erased!”), and “Nachschub für Narvik” (“Supplies for Narvik”). These pages are an excellent example of how the German illustrated press presented the dramatic military developments of the summer of 1940. Illustrierter Beobachter itself was a long-running illustrated weekly published in Munich by Franz Eher.

The lot contains three French-language issues of Der Adler. The three issues are No. 10 dated 19 May 1942, No. 15 dated 28 July 1942, and No. 18 dated 8 September 1942.

No. 10 has a dramatic Focke-Wulf Fw 190 cover beneath the caption “L’avion de chasse le plus rapide du monde,” or “The fastest fighter aircraft in the world.” (This wording should of course be understood as the publication’s own wartime claim rather than a modern technical assessment.) No. 15 depicts an armed Luftwaffe serviceman and discusses Luftwaffe personnel taking part in fighting on the Eastern Front. No. 18 features an aircraft armorer handling linked ammunition beneath the heading “Le maître armurier,” or “The master armorer,” with text emphasizing the importance of careful weapons maintenance to a Me 109 pilot in aerial combat. A period Heine Propeller Berlin aviation advertisement is also visible among the illustrated material.

Another standout is the Dutch-language No. 5, 1944 issue of Signal. Signal was a heavily illustrated German military publication specifically produced for circulation in foreign, occupied, neutral, and allied countries, and was notable for its extensive photographic presentation and use of color. This example has a striking cover portrait of Léon Degrelle, identified in Dutch as a Knight’s Cross holder and leader of the Belgian Rexist movement. The cover states that he commanded the SS-vrijwilligersbrigade “Wallonie” and refers to the formation’s fighting at Cherkassy. The interior includes both black-and-white and color photographic material, as well as the prominent Dutch heading “Het gaat ook om jou!”, meaning “It concerns you too!”

Completing the group are two very late-war issues of the German weekly newspaper Das Reich. The first is Nr. 4, dated Berlin, 28 January 1945, with the large front-page headline “DER DEUTSCHE WELTKAMPF,” or “The German World Struggle.” It also advertises the Goebbels editorial “Unausgesprochene Perspektiven,” meaning “Unspoken Perspectives.” The second is Nr. 5, dated Berlin, 4 February 1945, with the headline “UM GANZ EUROPAS SCHICKSAL,” approximately “For the Fate of All Europe,” and another Goebbels article titled “Das politische Bürgertum vor der Entscheidung,” or “The Political Bourgeoisie Facing a Decision.” Das Reich was a major German wartime weekly intended to present a more polished form of political and cultural journalism, while remaining firmly part of the state propaganda system; Goebbels regularly supplied its lead editorials.

Condition varies throughout the lot, as expected for original newspapers and magazines of this age. All show some degree of toning, creasing, tears, and handling wear. The Der Adler and Das Reich issues are the most fragile examples in the group and should be handled with particular care, especially along the edges and folds. The Signal remains especially attractive, retaining a strong cover and surviving color interior material. Despite the age-related wear, the principal graphics, headlines, photographs, and illustrated content remain well preserved overall. Please consult the photographs carefully for the exact condition and completeness of each publication.

As a group, these publications form an excellent period reference collection spanning 1938 through the final months of the war in Europe. With material in German, French, and Dutch, the lot covers NSDAP political education, the 1940 campaign in Western Europe, Luftwaffe aviation, Eastern Front subjects, foreign-language propaganda, and late-war German press coverage.