BERGER GOTTLOB: (1896-1975) German SS Obergruppenfuhrer und General der Waffen-SS, Chief of the SS Main Office responsible for Schutzstaffel (SS) recruiting during World War II. Signed 4 x 3 photograph, the vintage image depicting Berger standing outdoors in a half-length pose, wearing his uniform, engaged in conversation with two other gentlemen, one Haj Amin-al Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, with his back to the camera. Signed ('Berger') by Berger in blue ink to the image, adding an abbreviated form of his rank above his signature. Further annotated in his hand to the verso, in German, indicating that the photograph was taken in connection with the SS Handschar. About EX

 

Haj Amin-al Husseini (1897-1974) Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem 1921-48. During World War II he collaborated with both Italy and Germany by making propagandist radio broadcasts and by helping the Nazis recruit Bosnian Muslims for the Waffen-SS.

 

The 13^th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar was a mountain infantry division of the Waffen-SS that served alongside the Wehrmacht during World War II. It was the first non-Germanic Waffen-SS division, and its formation marked the expansion of the Waffen-SS into a multi-ethnic military force.