A Signed Photo Of Rk Recipient Hans Hauser; Sent By Boxing Legend Max Schmelin

A signed picture of Knight’s Cross recipient Hans Hauser, sent by boxing legend Max Schmeling along with a signed holiday card. The picture measures 105x148mm, the card measures 148x105mm, and the envelope measures 161x114mm, all in mint condition. The picture is signed in black ink and shows Hauser in uniform in the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer. The Knight’s Cross has been fabricated into the picture retrospectively, presumably because no picture of Hauser in uniform with the award exists as he received it so close to the end of the war. The card reads: Happy holidays and all the best wishes for the new year. It is signed by Schmeling in black ink. The envelope is dated to November 29, 1990. According to the address on the back Schmeling lived in the town of Hollenstedt, the town where he eventually died and was buried. The recipient is a Mr. Alan Boyce from Ontario, Canada.

Footnote: Hans Hauser (1916–2001) joined the SS in 1934 at age 18. During the next few years he went through several training courses to become an military leader and a police officer. In 1942 he was reassigned to the Wehrmacht as a Senior Lieutenant. He served in Sicily and then in Libya with the Afrika Corps. In late 1942 however he was reassigned once more to lead a Company in the SS Police Schützen Regiment 3. He fought on the northern part of the Eastern Front. In early 1944 he was severely wounded. He then became the Commander of the Recruit Depot “Kurland”. Hauser was awarded the Knight’s Cross on May 6, 1945 as SS-Sturmbannführer and Major of the Schutzpolizei (uniformed police), commanding the 1st Battalion of the SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment 4 “Der Führer”, for his role in the suppression of the Prague Uprising one day earlier. Max Schmeling (1905–2005) was a legendary German boxer and heavyweight world champion between 1930 and 1932. During the Second World War he served in the Luftwaffe as part of an elite paratrooper unit. He took part in the Battle of Crete, was wounded on the first day and subsequently deemed unfit for service and dismissed. However, Schmeling was not a believer in Nazi ideology, trying his best not to become a propaganda puppet, along with his wife, Czech actress Anny Ondra, who the Nazis tried to instrumentalise as the perfect German celebrity couple. Schmeling even risked his life to save two Jewish children in 1938. After the war he worked for the Coca-Cola Company.