[BOHME FRANZ]: (1885-1947) Austrian General in the Wehrmacht during World War II, serving as Commander of the XVIII ...

[BOHME FRANZ]: (1885-1947) Austrian General in the Wehrmacht during World War II, serving as Commander of the XVIII Mountain Corps, Hitler's Plenipotentiary Commanding General in the Balkans, and Commander-in-Chief in German-occupied Norway during World War II. Bohme was arrested for trial by a US Army Tribunal in Nuremberg as part of the Hostages Trial on a charge of having massacred thousands of Serbian civilians. Bohme committed suicide when his extradition to Yugoslavia seemed imminent. A.L.S., Franz, by Bohme's nephew, a Colonel and Luftwaffe pilot born in 1908, two pages, 4to, Munster (Westphalia), 10th September 1944, to Franz Bohme ('Dear Uncle Franz'), on the printed stationery of the Chief of the General Staff in Air Sector VI, in German. Bohme apologises for not having written earlier due to his heavy work load and remarking 'Ten days ago, however, I took over a non-flying duty, and have become so thoroughly acquainted with it that I can once again find time for a letter', further writing 'I have learned with great sorrow of your aircraft accident and of your having, as a consequence, to endure the loss of your command…..I can only hope that all is turning out for the good, particularly since the situation in which you would now find yourself in the Balkans would not be too pleasant…..Yes, it is a pity about France, that lovely country, but it is more important to hold on to what we have and to 'force our rapacious enemies to make peace'. My air sector is now a frontier one, and a host of connections come through my particular area - which is presumably why they put me - a pilot - here. In addition, there is in the Ruhr one of the strongest concentrations of A.A. in the Reich. The Gen. Comd. is….Schmidt; a daughter of his got married to an officer of the staff (the deputy comd., Gen. Krebs) in Salzburg…..' Accompanied by the original envelope hand addressed by Bohme. Together with a vintage 3.5 x 3.5 photograph of Bohme standing outdoors in a full length pose on a balcony, wearing his uniform, signed to the verso in fountain pen ink with his first name only, also adding the place and date, 1940, in his hand. VG, 2