Germany, Wehrmachr. A Signed Postcard of General der Panzertruppe Gerhard Graf von Schwerin

(Ritterkreuzträger Postkarte mit Unterschrift). A signed postcard of General der Panzertruppe Gerhard Graf von Schwerin, depicted in uniform and with the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords carefully edited into the image, with the lower half of the image overlaid by von Schwerin’s handwritten signature in black ink, the reverse unused and bearing a Berlin studio mark, measuring 10.5 cm (w) x 15 cm (h), in extremely fine condition.

Footnote: Gerhard Graf von Schwerin was born on 23 June 1899 in Hanover, the son of Prussian aristocrats. He served on both the Eastern and Western Fronts of the First World War, receiving both classes of the Iron Cross and ending the war in hospital after suffering serious wounds in combat. After briefly returning to civilian life following the war’s conclusion, von Schwerin returned to Reichswehr service and rose through the ranks until joining the General Staff. He was promoted to the rank of Major in October 1938 and posted as a Staff Officer with Oberkommando des Heeres (Supreme Command of the Army). In January 1939, while working as an Anglo-American intelligence analyst at the German War Ministry at the country’s London embassy, von Schwerin is rumoured to have approached British officials to encourage them to abandon their policy of appeasement toward the Third Reich, allegedly as part of a wider coup to topple the regime. Despite the considerable risks of being outed as a conspirator in such a scheme, British officials dismissed von Schwerin’s overtures. During the Second World War, he returned to frontline service, despite his previous criticism of the regime, and served with distinction in the Low Countries, France, North Africa, the Soviet Union, and Italy, initially as commander of a motorized infantry regiment of the Großdeutschland Division. For his efforts, he was promoted to the rank of Generalmajor in October 1942, before concluding the war as a General der Panzertruppe (promoted April 1945), and received the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross (17 January 1942) with Oak Leaves (17 May 1943) and Swords (4 November 1943). During the US advance on the city of Aachen, von Schwerin authored a communique to American forces offering to declare the former an open city to spare it the inevitable destruction of an assault; the letter was intercepted by the SS, but he received only a reprimand before being shifted to Italy, where he was captured by British forces on 26 April 1945. He remained in custody as a prisoner of war (POW) until late 1947. He briefly worked as an advisor to the West German government, providing input on the rebuilding of its armed forces, before being dismissed following inappropriate remarks to the press. He died in Rottach-Egern on 29 October 1980.