Germany, Third Reich. A Signed and Framed Portrait of Reichsminister Hans Frank to his Mistress Lilli Groh

(Hans Frank Porträt mit Unterschrift). An interesting signed portrait of Reichsminister Hans Frank, featuring an officially reproduced image from the noted Hoffmann studio showing Frank in a civilian suit with an NSDAP stick pin inserted into his lapel, with the lower half of the image overlaid by a handwritten dedication reading “MEINE LIEBSTEN LILLI, ZUR EINZEN ERINNERUNG, DEIN HANS” (“MY DEAREST LILLI, AS A MEMENTO, YOUR HANS”) and date of “12 JULI 1934”, secreted within a period lacquered wooden frame which retains an intact glass face, measuring 24 cm (w) x 30 cm (h), in extremely fine condition.

Footnote: Although wedded to Brigitte Herbst in 1925, Hans Frank’s marriage, which would go on to produce five children, was a decidedly unhappy arrangement, with both pursuing numerous affairs. During the Second World War, Frank reconnected with a childhood romantic interest, Lilli Groh, with whom he pursued a serious extra-marital relationship. He requested a divorce from Brigitte, who repudiated the idea, enjoying her status as the wife of a high-ranking NSDAP official and self-styled “Queen of Poland” despite rampant infidelity. Frank petitioned the Führer directly for a legal dissolution of his marriage, but this, too, was rejected on the grounds that a prominent official could not be seen as going against family values at a pivotal time in the German war effort. Notably, Frank was so far as to attempt to fabricate allegations of Jewish ancestry against Brigitte, so as to nullify the union under Third Reich race law.