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A HUGE 1943 NAZI PHOTO BOOK ABOUT BOHEMIA AND MORAVIA

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This is a very nice example of the huge Friedrich Heiss book called Das Böhmen und Mähren-Buch Volkskampf und Reichsraum (Bohemia and Moravia Book, National Battle and Region). It is divided into sections called Land and People, As Part of German History, German Folklore and German History, and Labor.

Right, Adolf Hitler and Reichsführer-SS Himmler meeting with survivors and relatives of ethnic Sudeten Germans that were murdered by Czechs. Below, SS-Obergruppenführer Sepp Dietrich at the border, ready to enter the Sudetenland.

The caption next to the photo of Adolf-Hitler-Square in Pilsen mentions the city’s important armament industry, “helping the Greater German Armed Forces toward Victory.”

Very important military vehicle and weapons manufacturing were principle industries in the city of Brno (Brünn). For security reasons, no doubt, the book does not mention the manufacturer of aircraft or other top secret products.

The book is dedicated to “all who died while fighting for the German provinces Bohemia and Moravia, who gave their blood for the existence and greatness of the German Reich. Their heroism was crowned in our days by the sacrificial death of Reinhard Heydrich, whose short but everlasting efforts made sure the flag of the Reich will fly atop Prague Castle in the future.”

The various subjects are written-up in chapters by different university professors, engineers, and government officials. SS-Gruppenführer Karl Hermann Frank wrote the chapter about the history of Bohemia and Moravia from 1918 until 1938. Bohemia and Moravia were removed from Austro-Hungarian rule at the end of World War I and along with the German Sudetenland formed the principal parts of the new country of Czechoslovakia in 1918.

SS-Gruppenführer Frank (shown below) also wrote the first chapter, a short synopsis about the return of Bohemia and Moravia to the German Reich of Adolf Hitler.

The section about the rise of National Socialism and the Sudetendeutsche Partei (SdP, the Nazi Party headed by Konrad Henlein) is also heavily illustrated with many photos not found in other Third Reich photo books.

Das Böhmen und Mähren-Buch was published by Volk und Reich Verlag in Prague in 1943 and printed in the city of Magdeburg, Germany. There is a handwritten dedication on the front flyleaf showing it was somebody’s birthday gift to their father on 7 May 1944.

The big 9-½ x 10-¼ inch hardcover book has 464 very heavily illustrated pages, weighs 3-¾ pounds and is 1-¼ inches thick! Interspersed in the text are many detailed maps, including several large three-color fold-out maps. The text and all the maps are printed on high-quality glossy paper.

The black & white photos in Das Böhmen und Mähren-Buch show rural villages in the Erzgebirge, historic Karlsbad, spas in Marienbad, Karlstein Castle, historical buildings and typical town squares all over the Bohemia and Moravia as well as cities and towns decorated with Nazi banners and eagle and swastika flags. Many photos show beautiful Prague, the historic Charles Bridge over the Moldau River, Hradcany castle and Wenceslas Square (left).

Towns famous for their industries are mentioned and shown, such as Gablonz an der Neisse where many factories changed production from costume jewelry to Nazi medals, pins and badges during the Third Reich.

There are pictures of the September 1938 Munich Agreement (above), followed by Nazi Wehrmacht troops entering the former German Sudetenland (left). They include the leader of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, SS-Obergruppenführer Sepp Dietrich at the border, Hitler reviewing Wehrmacht troops in Karlsbad (below), Hitler surrounded by female admirers, Hitler with Konrad Henlein, and Hitler and Reichsführer-SS Himmler meeting with relatives of ethnics Germans murdered by Czechs.

The post World War I country of Czechoslovakia was dissolved following intense meetings at the Reichschancellery in Berlin in March 1939, and the German troops that entered Bohemia and Moravia were greeted by an enthusiastic population. There are great photos of Nazi police, Wehrmacht troops on motorcycles and horses, armored vehicles, Hitler in the city of Brünn, and Hitler and Himmler entering Prague Castle. There are also heavily illustrated chapters about Bohemian and Moravia art, architecture, music, dress, farm houses, famous citizens, etc.

This 82+ year old hardcover Nazi photo book has an original black linen spine which a previous owner reinforced with narrow strips of black book tape on both sides, probably of the heavy weight and size of the book. The covers of the heavy book show expected wear, but the pages of the book are in very nice condition, and have no odor.