Hitler's Propaganda Pilgrimage (Images Of War - Rare Photographs From Wartime Archives)

June 1940 - A Small group of uniformed men are in the process of being filmed by another who crouches down upon his knees in order to perfectly bring his subjects into frame. Meanwhile another Still Photographer out of sight unhurriedly takes a picture of three of the handpicked group standing together bathed in summer sunshine in front of the kneeling cameraman, while in the background stands one of the worlds most recognisable landmarks - The Eiffel Tower in Paris. This carefully choregraphed moment and the image that resulted from it showing Adolf Hitler in company with Albert Speer and Arno Breker, while his personal cameraman Walter Frentz filmed them all exploring Paris on that sunny morning, was one of a whole series of shots credited to his his longtime personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann. This image and all the others that make up this series of photographs have now gone onto become some of the most iconic and easily recognisable pieces of stage managed propaganda to be ever created, during the entire history of the Second World War. The journey that Hitler undertook to Paris with his own hand picked entourage which included three specially invited guests being flown out from Berlin just for the occasion - Albert Speer, Arno Breker and Hermann Giesler - was also accompanied by his own regular two man personal photographic team. Despite a large number of witnesses who survived the war, its exact details still remain frustratingly unknown with even its exact date still a source of some debate amongst reputable historians - this is chiefly due to the fact that all of those who took part in it have it taking place on different dates in June 1940. The resulting series of images captured by Hoffmann and Frentz were later presented to Hitler in the photographic collection - ‘Mit Hitler in Westen’ - and these form the basis of this image set along with other additional photos. The famous image of Hitler in Paris has become one of the most iconic images of the Second World War. However, Hitler only spent a few hours in Paris before heading to Flanders to re-visit the sites of the battlefields where he had served during the Great War. He was on a propaganda mission to publicize his own war service and a full photographic record of Hitler's visits to France and Flanders was produced by Heinrich Hoffman, Hitler's personal photographer. Those photographs from 1940 have now been collected together for the first time and are reproduced here along with all of the most important surviving images of Hitler in the Great War.Featuring rare and previously unpublished images of Hitler in France and Flanders from 1914 to 1940, this important photographic study documents a vital but often overlooked chapter in the story of Adolf Hitler. [Elib] Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Contents; Chapter One: The Return to Flanders; Chapter Two: The 1 June Visit to Flanders; Chapter Three: Hitler in the Great War; Chapter Four: The Controversy; Chapter Five: Facts and Lies About Hitler; Chapter Six: Hitler in Paris; Chapter Seven: Hitler and Napoleon; Chapter Eight: Hitler's Return to Flanders 26 June 1940; Chapter Nine: In Conclusion. Features rare and previously unpublished images which document Hitler's often overlooked Great War experience.