Remarkable photos show Adolf Hitler celebrating the wedding of his brother-in-law just a year before having him EXECUTED
The 12 black and white snaps sold at Marlows auctioneers of Stafford for £400
TAKEN just three days before D-Day, this remarkable photo shows Adolf Hitler celebrating the wedding of his future brother-in-law - who he had executed a year later.
A previously unseen image shows the Nazi dictator congratulating SS officer Hermann Fegelein and bride Gretl Braun, just days before the Second World War was about to turn against him.
It was found in an album of 12 black and white snaps of the wedding reception that lasted for thee days and was organised by Eva Braun, the elder sister of Gretl and Hitler's mistress.
The fuhrer was one of the witnesses to the marriage along with SS chief Heinrich Himmler and Martin Bormann, Hitler's private secretary.
Photos show the wedding guests having a jolly time of it at the Mirabell Palace in Salzburg with lots of dancing, champagne drinking and live music.
Three days later, Hitler was fast asleep at his nearby Berghof residence when the Allied invasion of Europe began.
As tens of thousands of British, American and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of Normandy at 6am on June 6, Hitler's staff were too afraid to wake him to inform him.
This delayed the German response and counter-attack and allowed the Allies to gain a foothold on Nazi-occupied Europe.
Eleven months later and with Germany on the brink of defeat, SS-Gruppenfuhrer Fegelein deserted his post.
Hitler, who by this time was holed up in his bunker in Berlin, ordered his brother-in-law's arrest and execution.
Gretl was heavily pregnant at the time and her sister pleaded with Hitler to spare Fegelein but the Fuhrer had him shot on April 28, 1945.
The next day Eva and Hitler married and on April 30 they both committed suicide; Eva by taking cyanide and Hitler by shooting himself.
Five days later Gretl gave birth to a daughter, Eva, who she named after her sister.
Eva killed herself in 1971 following the death of her boyfriend in a car accident.
Gretl married a textile distributer in 1954 and lived in Bavaria until 1987.
Now the 12 black and white photos taken at her first wedding have sold at Marlows auctioneers of Stafford for £400.