Germany, NSDAP. A Cutlery Set Gifted to the Godchildren of A.H., accompanied by Photographs and Book, c. 1940

(Silberbesteck). A spoon constructed of silver, the obverse presents a traditional Greek key pattern at the edges from the shoulders around to the tip, the stem is plain and the handle bears a national style eagle with outstretched wings clutching a wreathed swastika in its talons with an “A” to the left and an “H” to the right, the reverse is plain and bears the silver content markings of a crescent moon, a crown, “800” and an eagle indicating the spoon was manufactured by Bruckmann & Sohne, measuring 146.35 mm (l) x 30.10 mm (w);

A fork constructed of silver, the obverse presents a traditional Greek key pattern at the edges from the shoulders around to the tip, the stem is plain and the handle bears a national style eagle with outstretched wings clutching a wreathed swastika in its talons with an “A” to the left and an “H” to the right, the reverse is plain and bears the silver content markings of a crescent moon, a crown, “800” and an eagle indicating the spoon was manufactured by Bruckmann & Sohne, measuring 146.18 mm (l) x 17.55 mm (w);

A knife constructed of silver, with a rounded tip and semi-sharp edge, squared bolster with the silver content markings of a crescent moon, a crown, “800” and an eagle indicating the spoon was manufactured by Bruckmann & Sohne, the handle is edged with a traditional Greek key pattern and on one side bears a national style eagle with outstretched wings clutching a wreathed swastika in its talons with an “A” to the left and an “H” to the right, with the other side plain, measuring 170 mm (l) x 16.20 mm (w); all extremely fine.

A copy of Ein Volk Ehrt Seinen Führer by Heinrich Hoffmann, the exterior cover is of beige thick cardstock paper, the interior bears sixty-four pages of black and white photographs of Hitler and other Third Reich officials;

Two black and white photographs measuring 232 mm (w) x 293 mm (h), one of Hitler on his 50th birthday (20 April 1939) at the Reichs Chancellery holding the hands of three children, senior officers are in the background, the second of Hitler with his arms around two children, the reverse of the cardstock is inscribed and explains the picture was taken with Hitler on his fiftieth birthday, the children in the pictures are Ilse, Brunhilde and Norman Klaas, mounted on off-white cardstock, with apparent scuffing, minor tearing and discolouration on cardstock, measuring 338 mm (w) x 430 mm (h), very fine.

Footnote: The custom of the head of state taking on the role as godfather was, and still is, a custom practiced in Germany. Adolf Hitler, however, had specific regulations in place for children to qualify to be his godchild. The criteria included coming from a genetically healthy family with no doubt to good character. Later, it included being considered only at the birth of the seventh living son, or if there are not that many sons, in the case of the ninth living child. It also required filling out a questionnaire of seventeen questions regarding ancestry.

It was made clear that Hitler had no obligations nor was it a requirement that he provided gifts to the children, though in some cases a present of cash or other items were presented to the child. Regardless of receiving gifts or not, godchildren of Hitler benefited under the Third Reich. Godchildren of Hitler stood out from their peers and gained particular attention from government agencies due to their connection with Hitler. Most of Hitler’s godchildren were children of high ranking Nazi officials. In 1936, The Northern Miner reported that Hitler had 12,620 godchildren - all being the offspring of families with political ties to Hitler and deemed genetically pure.

The cutlery set was a gift from Hitler to one of his godchildren; Isle, Brunhilde or Norman Klaas.