The images and the entire text used on this and all other USMBOOKS web pages are the copyrighted property of USM Inc.  Those images and the text may be used by others ONLY AFTER completion of a formal international licensing agreement and payment of a licensing fee! It is therefore, illegal for anyone to take any of the material found on USMBOOKS.com and use it for their own purposes without our written permission, irrespective of any excuse they may feel they have for doing so.

As every student of the history of the Nazi Party is aware, Heinrich Hoffmann was a very early party member. He was a well-established businessman and photographer, a good friend of Hitler and owned a photographic company with offices at number 50 Schellingstrasse on the near north side of downtown München (Munich), Germany. His commitment to the Nazi Movement allowed them to move their offices out of a beer hall near Hitler's rental apartment and into Hof or courtyard rooms in Hoffmann's property on Schellingstrasse. It was not until German industrialist Fritz Thyssen purchased the Braunes Haus for the NSDAP in early 1930s that they moved from the Schellingstrasse address.

With the political success of the Nazi Party the good fortunes of Heinrich Hoffmann increased exponentially. He made photos of all the people in, and every aspect of the growth of the Nazi Party in Germany. To promote the NSDAP and to profit from his association with Hitler and the Nazi Party, Hoffmann developed a line of medium-sized, inexpensive, high quality photographic books, most of which sold in very large quantity in Nazi Germany.

The extremely rare book offered on this USMBOOKS web page is entitled Deutschlands Erwachen (Germany's Awakening) and is the first documentary book published by Hoffmann in a series that eventually numbered more than 50 different titles. This book was probably published in 1924 but bears no publication or copyright date. It measures 9-1/8 x 12-1/4 inches and it contains 32 pages. It has a well written text by Marc Sesselmann and dozens and dozens of obscure historical photographs of the personalities and venues connected with the early days of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, all appropriately captioned.

The photo documentary begins by explaining the political misfortune that befell Germany in the wake of the Allied victory in World War I. It describes the earliest efforts of the very earliest members of the Nazi Movement to unseat the communists who had taken over the government of Bavaria.

There are photos of people like Anton Drexler, Gottfried Feder, Dietrich Eckart, Julius Streicher, Ernst Röhm, Dr. Frick, Hermann Esser, Marc Sesselmann, Alfred Rosenberg and Adolf Hitler, all taken in about 1920. There are photos of the very earliest gatherings of Party members before anything like standardization of uniforms, flags, etc. Most of the photographs in this book are unique to this book.  

Deutschlands Erwachen ends with a full-page crepe draped memorial to the 14 Nazi martyrs of the failed November 1923 Putsch in München  (photo directly below).

The back cover of the book has two pro-Nazi advertisements, run in an effort to offset the cost of publication. The top ad is for Hoffmann's own photographic firm and the bottom ad is for Nazi book publisher M. Müller & Son.

Our example of Deutschlands Erwachen is complete but well-used and taped along the spine with scotch tape and a 4-inch piece of see-through tape at the center of the front and back cover near the spine. There is no loss of pictures, captions or text. A previous owner did some underlining of the text on pages 2, 3, 4, 8, and 12 which does not obscure any of the type or deface any of the photos. Good used condition, no odor.

This is a very rare, historic Nazi publication rarely offered for sale! When offered for sale in fair to good condition, asking prices range from a low of $900 to as much as $1500.00. Our original 94 year old, completely readable example of Deutschlands Erwachen is priced much more reasonably!