Аукцион Bidspirit | Rudolf Hess Signed Photograph with

Rudolf Hess Signed Photograph with Accompanying NSDAP Covering Letter, 1936 - A photographic postcard portrait of Rudolf Hess, printed by Atelier Conrad, Berlin, bearing an ink signature reading ”R. Hess” beneath the image. Accompanying the photograph is a typed letter on letterhead of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, headed ”Der Stellvertreter des Führers, Adjutant, ” dated 5 Mai 1936 and addressed to a Jungmädel, Anni Kling, in München. The letter states that the enclosed photograph of the Deputy of the Führer is being forwarded with the requested signature, closes with ”Heil, Hitler!” and carries the signature of the adjutant Winkler on Hess's behalf. Correspondence of this type reflects the practice within the NSDAP administration of responding to requests from members of Nazi youth organizations for signed images of senior party figures, with such photographs typically dispatched through the adjutant's office rather than personally by the individual depicted. Rudolf Hess served as Deputy Führer of the NSDAP from 1933 until his solo flight to Scotland in May 1941, overseeing party administration and acting as a key link between Hitler and the party apparatus. The office of ”Der Stellvertreter des Führers” routinely handled a high volume of public correspondence, including requests from members of affiliated youth organisations such as the Jungmädelbund, the junior branch of the Bund Deutscher Mädel, for autographed portraits of leading figures. Such items illustrate the routine bureaucratic and propaganda functions of the party apparatus in cultivating loyalty among German youth during the mid-1930s.