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Description
‘Altmark’ (‘The Altmark Incident’)
A Sea Drama of Epic Proportions: The Altmark, Graf Spee & Cossack.
Original drawing, depicted on the cover of the magazine Simplicissimus, 10 March 1940, 45th Volume, book 10.
By Erich Schilling, one of Germany’s greatest cartoonists who produced around 1500 cartoons from 1905 to 1945.
Schilling committed suicide on April 30, 1945 (same day as Hitler), shortly before the American troops captured his hometown Gauting (near Munich).
“Ist die Propaganda, wie wir sie verstehen, nicht auch eine Art von Kunst?“, Joseph Goebbels, Speech at the opening of the second Reichs Theatre Festival Week in Hamburg, 17. June 1935.
“Das Wesen der Propaganda aber ist – ich möchte fast sagen: eine Kunst“, Joseph Goebbels, Speech at the Sondertagung of the Gau- and Propagandaleaders at the occasion of the 7. Reichsparteitag of the NSDAP.
A Sea Drama of Epic Proportions: The Altmark, Graf Spee & Cossack
The Altmark, Graf Spee and Cossack were three ships linked by fate. They all played a significant role in the Altmark drama, but none of the ships survived the war. The Graf Spee was scuttled just outside the harbour of Montevideo, on December 17, 1939. The Cossack was on escort duty in the Atlantic when she was struck by a torpedo from a German submarine and went to the bottom in October 1941. The Altmark blew up on November 30, 1942 in the harbour of Yokohama.
Cover of Simplicissimus, 10 March 1940, 45th Volume, book 10.
The Altmark Incident
In February 1940, the German tanker, Altmark, was returning to Germany with 299 British merchant sailors on board. These were prisoners of war who had been picked up from ships sunk by the battleship Admiral Graf Spee. On its way from the southern Atlantic to Germany, Altmark passed through Norwegian waters. International law did not ban the transfer of prisoners of war through neutral waters. After being intercepted by the destroyer HMS Cossack, the Altmark sought refuge in the Jøssingfjord, but the HMS Cossack followed her in the next day. The Altmark’s Norwegian naval escorts blocked initial attempts to board the ship, and aimed their torpedo tubes at the Cossack. The HMS Cossack then asked the admiralty for instructions, and received the following orders directly from the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill:
‘Unless Norwegian torpedo-boat undertakes to convoy Altmark to Bergen with a joint Anglo-Norwegian guard on board, and a joint escort, you should board Altmark, liberate the prisoners, and take possession of the ship pending further instructions. If Norwegian torpedo-boat interferes, you should warn her to stand off. If she fires upon you, you should not reply unless attack is serious, in which case you should defend yourself, using no more force than is necessary, and ceasing fire when she desists. Suggest to Norwegian destroyer that honour is served by submitting to superior force.’
The British government made no particular objection to the fact of a prison ship traversing neutral waters. In their view the Altmark had gone hundreds of miles out of its way to make the long run through Norwegian waters to Germany, constituting a clear abuse of Norway’s neutrality, and a breach of international law. Moreover, the Norwegian government had not permitted the Germans to transport prisoners through Norwegian waters (the Altmark having falsely claimed to be carrying none).
The Norwegian forces refused to take part in a joint escort, reiterating that their earlier searches of Altmark had found nothing. In the ensuing action, Altmark ran aground. The British then boarded her on 16 February, and – after some hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets – overwhelmed the ship’s crew and liberated the prisoners. Seven German sailors were killed and eleven wounded; six seriously. The German dead were buried in Sogndal Cemetery above Jøsingfjord. HMS Cossack left the Jøssingfjord just after midnight on 17 February. The Norwegian escorts protested, but did not intervene. The official explanation later given by the Norwegian government was that, according to international treaty, a neutral country was not obliged to resist a vastly superior force.
The Norwegians were angered that their neutrality had been infringed, but they did not want to be dragged into a European war. Nonetheless, the Altmark incident sowed doubts about Norwegian neutrality among the Allies, as well as in Germany. Both sides had contingency plans for military action against Norway, primarily to control the traffic of Swedish iron ore, on which the German armaments industry depended in the early stages of the war. The Altmark incident convinced Adolf Hitler that the Allies would not respect Norwegian neutrality. Hitler, who on 14 December 1939 had decided on the invasion of Norway, ordered intensified planning on 19 February 1940 for attacks on Norway and Denmark, which eventually took place on 9 April 1940 under the code name Operation Weserübung.
Left: German dead are brought ashore for burial after the incident.
Right: The Altmark in the Jossingfjord.
Left: 18 June 1942, Reichsminister for Norway Josef Terboven visiting the place near the spot where the boarding took place (when the Nazis occupied Norway, they erected a sign there).
Right: the sign was double sided; one side is in the possession of a Norwegian museum, and the other side is owned by the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth.
German War Art in the Pentagon
‘Very good, outstanding and brilliant in conception…’
House of Representatives, Committee on Armed Services, Investigation Subcommittee, Washington, D.C. , September 23, 1981
At September 23, 1981, the House of Representatives discussed the transfer to Germany of 6.337 pieces of war art that were seized from the German Government by the United States Army in March 1947. Below some remarkable quotes from the discussion.
George William Whitehurst (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, journalist, professor) about the 6.337 pieces of German war art:
‘They are similar to the military works of art hanging on our own committee and subcommittee rooms. Part of the German collection is on display in the Pentagon…. This is war art, showing the life of German military personnel under the best and the worst conditions, as indeed soldiers, sailors, and airmen of all nations experienced it… ‘Asked by the Chairman about the value of the art: ‘Some of it is very, very good. The large canvas in my office is an outstanding work of art’.
Marylou Gjernes, Army Art Curator, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Department of the Army:
‘..The Air Force similarly favors retention of German war art integral to its museum operations at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and a small exhibit of paintings that they have in the Pentagon.’…. ‘Some of the paintings and drawings are brilliant in conception and execution. They show by their artistry, color and mood, the spirit of combat, and the desolation, destruction and tragedy of war. There are illustrations of the despair and boredom of the troops…They are a testament to the sensitivity of the artist regardless of nationality. The collection ..is utilized in ongoing exhibition programs and displays to provide a unique view of World War II that supplements and supports the written history of the conflict..’
Extreme scarce work of art
Art works considered as overt propaganda were massively destroyed
In accordance with the Potsdam Agreement of August 1945, the Allied Control Council laws and military government regulations, all collections of works of art related or dedicated to the perpetuation of German militarism or Nazism, were destroyed. Thousands of paintings were considered of ‘no value’ and burned. Around 8,722 artworks were shipped to military deposits in the U.S. In 1986 the largest part was returned to Germany, with the exception of 200 paintings which were considered as overt propaganda: depictions of German Soldiers, war sceneries, swastika’s and portraits of Nazi leaders.
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : paper: 40,5 x 33,5 cm. drawing: 32 x 29 cm |
| – signed | : monogram, right on top |
| – type | : mixed techniques on paper |
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