This photo is believed to have been taken days before the start of World War II. Hitler is at right.
NORTH ADAMS - A bunch of sour-faced men in suits in a grainy black and white photo are standing around another who is gesturing excitedly, his right hand a blur of white. Some stand with their arms crossed, others with their hands in their pockets.
It's an unremarkable snapshot but for Darrell K. English it's the smoking gun, the most incriminating photo of the 20th century.
"I equate this with someone being in Ford's Theater, with a camera, the night Lincoln was shot," said English on Friday.
Why? Because when you look closely at the picture you realize that the man who's gesturing is Adolf Hitler and those surrounding him, his notorious henchmen.
English says the photograph was taken Aug. 22, 1939 - 10 days before the invasion of Poland. Essentially, it's the day World War II began in Europe, the day that Hitler called his commanders to his mountain retreat, the Berghof, to tell them that months of German maneuvering and mobilizing were about to unleashed on Europe.
"We know when it was taken, we know what was said during that meeting," said English. "Now we have an actual photograph of the actual date and the actual happening."
The story goes that this was where Hitler made his infamous remark "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" when speaking of the coming destruction of the Polish people. While most historians discount that remark, it is a fact that an all-day meeting was held Aug. 22, 1939, between Hitler and his commanders detailing the invasion.
"Basically, he's saying, 'we're invading Poland in 10 days and my Death's Head units have been given the orders to kill every man, woman and child," said English. This is beginning of the end for the more than 50 million people who would die in the war and the Holocaust, he said.
Hitler had just received word that Josef Stalin was agreeable to a nonagression pact, which would be signed two days later. The pact cleared the way for Germany to invade Poland and divide it and neighboring countries with the Soviet Union. The treaty would stand until June 22, 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
English said the men in the room can be matched with records of the meeting. Among them are rarely photographed Gestapo head Heinrich Mueller, SS leader Walter Schellenberg and Chief of Staff Martin Boorman.
The photograph was taken by Heinrich Hoffmann, the Fuehrer's favorite photographer. His personal stamp is on the back along another in German of "not for publication." The mark 44 03/28 is written, possibly a index number, said English.
A penned scrawl across the back says it was found in a house on the German border.
English has had the photo for eight or nine years; he got it from someone in the National Security Agency who, in turn, got it from another intelligence officer.
He also has a "what if" picture, also taken by Hoffmann, of Hitler with his savior, Ulrich Graf. Graf, his bodyguard in the early 1920s, took nearly a dozen slugs meant for Hitler in the Beer Hall Pustch of 1923. He survived the shooting and died in 1960. "What if he'd been too slow?" mulled English. "The world would have been different."
The photo was picked up by a GI sometime after the war. On the back it says, "Hitler's dead. Don't know where Graf is but I'm living in his house. Not bad."
English is a well-known collector of World War II-era materials; his collection has appeared in numerous books, magazines and exhibitions, including the annual Holocaust exhibit at Clarksburg School and in the recent WGBY documentary "From the Factories to the Front Lines: Our Stories of World War II."
The WGBY documentary was made as a local aspect of Ken Burns' seven-hour documentary "The War," premiering on PBS stations on Sunday night.
English is hoping the Burns documentary will do for World War II what his "Civil War" did for that era - spark a renewed interest in an important period of American history. And he's hoping that interest will be a catalyst in helping found a museum for the thousands of posters, pictures, uniforms, badges, letters, weapons, etc., in his possession.
"People ask me all the time what I have in my collection," he said. "I tell them, if I told you, you wouldn't believe me."
English feels he's a custodian of the historical artifacts in his possession, and that they should be placed where others can see them and where they can be used in research. It's to keep alive the experiences of those who lived through that era and to make sure they are not forgotten by the next generation, he said.
Meanwhile, the photograph of Hitler at the war's start will rest in its Plexiglass holder, tucked away until a permanent place can be found for it.
"It's chilling when you realize what you're looking at," said English. "This is as close to pure evil as you're going to get. These guys all sat here and plotted this whole thing out. You don't get much more dramatic than that."
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Very interesting article!
Since the iBerkshires journalist goes on to wrongly state that “most historians discount [Hitler’s] remark [about the Armenian annihilation]†- referring only to a small number of historians who discount the remark in order to discount the Armenian Genocide - it is worth to note that Hitler’s Aug 22 speech is not the only time when he talks of the extermination of the Armenians.
Eight years prior to the 1939 speech, the editor of “Leipziger Neueste Nachrichter†R. Breiting had two secret interviews with Hitler. In one of the two interviews, Hitler said, “We intend to introduce a great resettlement policy; we do not whish to go on each other’s toes in Germany. In 1923 little Greece could resettle a million men. Think of the biblical deportations and the massacres of the middle Ages and remember the extermination of the Armenians.â€
So while there is no available empirical proof - such as a tape - of Hitler’s 1939 speech to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hitler referred to the annihilation of the Armenians ten days before invading Poland, the 1931 interview with Breiting is an unquestionable fact that Hitler did refer to the impunity of the Armenian genocide.
The fact that a photograph from the 1939 speech exists, nevertheless, gives hope that it might have been taped as well. This reminds me what David Davidian, an Armenian activist, told an online group several months ago. In the 1980s Davidian was approached by a CIA agent who told him there was a tape of the 1939 Hitler speech in Israel which is not released by the Israeli government.
There is no authoritative proof that Hitler made the comment about the Armenian genocide at that particular meeting, nor is there proof he didn't. The phrase appeared in a New York Times article a year after the meeting, reportedly leaked by an attendee. However, many historians, such as William Shirer, have approached the phrasing cautiously. No matter what he said, Hitler's actions were clear.
My family has two volumes 8 and 15 which contain a history and many original photographs of Hitler and his progress from 1922 to 1943. We are looking for someone who might possibly know of other volumes for this set? These came from Germany during the ware. They were obtained in an unknown manner, but have been kept safe throughout the years.
i was wondering how do i get ahold of mr english i too have a orginal 5x7 photo of hitler with markings on the back which i was hopeing he could tell me what they ment. n-jamison@hotmail.com
i have spy pictures of hitlers house and gornings house durning the war i was trying to see if they were worth anything my email is kevinbouchillon@yahoo.com if anyone knows anything about it email me
I have read your article! Most interesting - we have a painting of Hitler's House - not sure who the artist is! Perhpas Hitler - himself!
It is a canvas - do you know who we could have inspect it?
Let us know
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Camden Sievers Sunday went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles at the plate and struck out eight in four innings on the mound as the Berkshire Reign Purple won the 14-year-old Division Championship Game to conclude the inaugural 1791 Classic at Joe Wolfe Field.
But there were no losers in the final game of the three-day, eight-team event as the Purple beat the Berkshire Reign White, 10-2, in what amounted to a celebration of the travel baseball program’s success – over the weekend, this summer and the last five years.
Reign founder and coach Kristopher Ireland was in the losing dugout in the split squad game on Sunday evening, but, in reality, he couldn’t lose after pulling off what he promised will be the first of many 1791 Classics to come.
“The tournament went great,” Ireland said. “The weather held out. I think we only had one game that got called short for rain, which we probably could have gotten in, but it would have made it a late night [Friday].
“The weather was great over the weekend. The facilities held up wonderfully. We got hit with a thunderstorm in Dalton on Friday night, and our parents stepped up and got the field ready for Saturday’s games. And, once again, kudos to North Adams for hosting us here and Dalton for hosting us there. In Pittsfield, we had fields there, too, if necessary.”
Nothing, including the weather, could stop the Reign Purple in the four-team 14-and-under bracket, where it went 5-0 – three pool games plus Sunday’s semi-final and final – outsourcing opponents by a combined 65-17.
In Sunday’s title game, Kody Lesser was 3-for-3 with an RBI, Spencer Kotski was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, and Kai Laframboise went 2-for-3 with a triple in a 13-hit attack.
The new Greylock School hit another milestone on Friday with a traditional "topping out" to celebrate the near completion of its steel skeleton. click for more
The City Council on Tuesday approved four temporary easements to accommodate the $2 million reconstruction of a collapsed section of Walnut Street over the next year. click for more
