Did Lenin and Hitler face off at a chess board?
Russia
Today, the
Daily Telegraph
and other broadsheets are reporting that the British auction house Mullock’s
has put a controversial item up for bidding: an etching picturing Hitler and Lenin
at a chess board. The owner of the picture is sure of its authenticity. Historians,
however, are not. According to Mullock’s auctioning house, there are five
copies of this etching. The one that has been placed on offer has the pencil
signatures of Hitler and Lenin on the reverse. Experts are only 80% sure that
the signatures are original.
The story according
to RT is that back in 1909, Adolf Hitler was a jobbing artist in Vienna
and Lenin was in exile. The house where they allegedly played the game belonged
to a prominent Jewish family which departed from the Austro-Hungarian capital in the run-up
to the Second World War and left a part of their property to the housekeeper.
The etching and the chess set pictured on it were among the possessions left.
The etching was allegedly drawn from life by the future Führer’s art
teacher, Emma Löwenstramm, and is dated 1909. Now the image and the chess set
belong to the great-great grandson of the housekeeper, who wants to sell
the items. The unnamed vendor asserts that his father devoted all his life to
proving the authenticity of the image. The lot is accompanied by a 300-page research
document with, it is claimed, proof that the paper and the signatures are original. The preliminary
price of the two items is estimated at £40,000 (approximately $65,000).
Experts still doubt the authenticity of the engraving. Historians have no confirmed information that Lenin and Hitler ever met at all. Nor are they sure that Lenin happened to be in Vienna in 1909. Moreover, by that time,
Lenin was already bald, whereas the engraving pictures somebody not lacking
hair (Hitler would be on the left, by the window, with Lenin opposite
him). The last argument, however, was challenged by the auctioneer, who has asserted that Lenin could have worn a wig for the sake of conspiracy.
The British historian Helen Rappaport, who wrote the book “Conspirator:
Lenin in Exile”, believes that the engraving is the fruit of imagination.
However, she assumes that the player opposite Hitler could be someone from
the Bolsheviks, or one of Lenin’s acquaintances who had emigrated.
Mullock’s have set 1 October as the date for the auction.
The above is not our first encounter with this controversial picture. In Unsolved
Chess Mysteries from 14 February 2007 the chess historian Edward Winter discussed
the authenticity of the same picture.
Hitler and Lenin (C.N. 4055)
Finally in the present selection, there is the alleged picture of Hitler playing
chess against Lenin:
Click to enlarge
Raising this topic in Chess Notes, Edward Hamelrath (Germany) wrote:
‘This etching comes from the extreme right-wing (and now defunct) magazine
Europa Vorn (spezial Nr. 1/4. Quartal 1991), in an article entitled
“Ungeist aus der Flasche” by a “v. Freisaß”. The article is just a rambling
diatribe on twentieth-century world politics and makes no reference to the
picture itself. It is not even clear exactly what the title is – either “Lenin
mit Hitler” or “‘Lenin mit Hitler’ beim Schachspiel in Wien 1909”. (The “Das
Oberkommando ...” comment under the picture was simply plucked out of the
text.) In any case, the Hitler figure corresponds more to his appearance in
the mid-1920s than in 1909.’
Such a picture should, of course, be viewed with extreme circumspection, but
what more can be discovered? All we can add at present is a reference to Hitler
having possibly played chess with Lenin in Vienna in 1909 which appeared on
page 188 of Persönlichkeiten und das Schachspiel by B. Rüegsegger (Huttwil,
2000):
‘Die jüdische Malerin Emma Löwenstamm (1879-1941) brachte in Wien Hitler
und Lenin zusammen, um sie gemeinsam zu malen. Sie lud beide ins Atelier von
Julius von Ludassy ein. Im Donau-Kurier Ingoldstadt vom 19. July 1984
erwähnt Bernd Kallina in seinem Artikel die damals angefertige Zeichnung,
wo Lenin auf der Rückseite die Worte “Lenin mit Hitler” hingeschrieben haben
soll.’
Weiter wird erwähnt, dass sich beide 1909 in Wien getroffen und zusammen
Schach gespielt haben.’
Translation: ‘The Jewish painter Emma Löwenstamm (1879-1941) brought Hitler
and Lenin to Vienna in order to paint them together. She invited both
to the studio of Julius von Ludassy. In the Donau-Kurier Ingoldstadt
dated 19 July 1984 Bernd Kallina mentions in his article the drawing that
was made at the time, on which Lenin is supposed to have written the words “Lenin
with Hitler” on the back. It is further mentioned that the two met in Vienna
in 1909 and played chess together.’
The original item (C.N. 4055) was published by Edward Winter on 17 December 2005.
ChessBase articles
by Edward Winter
Current Chess Notes page
