“Die Ritterkreuzträger der Waffen-SS” – 5x Signed by Waffen-SS RKT & Photo of Sepp Dietrich – Kurt Meyer etc. (!)

A remarkable and highly desirable collector’s copy of the classic reference work “Die Ritterkreuzträger der Waffen-SS” by Ernst Günther Krätschmer, published in 1955.

This particular copy is exceptionally interesting because it has been personally signed by five Ritterkreuzträger, each signing on or near his respective biographical entry:

• SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer Sepp Dietrich – Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. Signed in blue ink and dated 12.4.58.
• SS-Brigadeführer Kurt “Panzer” Meyer – Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.
• SS-Brigadeführer Theodor Wisch – Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Signed and dated 16.XII.84.
• SS-Obergruppenführer Max Simon – Knight’s Cross holder and commander of the 16. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division “Reichsführer-SS”.
• SS-Standartenführer Franz Schreiber – Knight’s Cross holder and commander of SS-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 12, 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division “Nord”.

The signatures are particularly attractive because they are placed directly alongside the corresponding biographical entries, providing an unusually strong connection between the book’s historical content and the individuals themselves.

The Sepp Dietrich signature is dated 12 April 1958, while the Theodor Wisch signature is dated 16 December 1984, providing useful postwar provenance for two of the autographs.

The book itself is the 1955 edition, 439 pages, and represents one of the principal early postwar reference works on the Knight’s Cross holders of the Waffen-SS. A specialist dealer has independently documented a copy with this same combination of five signatures — Dietrich, Meyer, Wisch, Simon and Schreiber — describing it as an exceptionally rare collector’s item.

The book shows substantial age and handling wear, including wear to the cloth binding, spine and edges, staining/foxing and various signs of use. Several pages have been marked with period/postwar paper notes. The signatures themselves are the principal collecting feature of this example.

A superb opportunity for the specialist collector of Waffen-SS Ritterkreuzträger autographs, signed reference books and postwar veterans’ autographs.

Five original Ritterkreuzträger signatures in one 1955 reference volume is an exceptionally uncommon combination.