WS328      “The Death of Fegelein” 

           Hermann Fegelein’s rise to the higher echelons of the Third Reich was just as spectacular as his fall.

           A skilled and proficient horseman he joined the SS in 1933 and rose rapidly through the ranks.  By the beginning of WW2 he commanded the SS Totenkopf’s Cavalry Regiment first in Poland in 1939 before the French Campaign in 1940.

           In April 1943 he was promoted to command the entire SS Cavalry Division, “Florian Geyer” before moving on, once more, to Hilter’s Headquarters Staff in Berlin as Himmler’s personal liaison officer during 1944.

            His marriage in June 1944 to Eva Braun’s sister Gretlfurther solidified his position close to the Fuhrer. Fegelein actively cultivated a kind of friendship with Martin Bormann.

            By April 1945 Germany was on the brink of defeat and Fegelein decided to ‘desert the sinking ship’. Unfortunately for him he was caught at a mistress’s apartment in Berlin and dragged back drunk ‘ to face the music’.  Found guilty by a summary court martial he was taken into the bomb shattered remains of the Reich Chancellery ... and shot!

            Our little 3-figure set illustrates the disheveled, still drunk Fegeleinslumped in a chair and clutching a bottle of champagne about to be dispatched by an SD officer and a Waffen SS soldier of the 33^rd “Charlemagne” Division.