Heinrich Himmler Feldpost "Souvenir" Signature?

[komet45]

This piece was recently acquired as a part of a larger collection that had many wonderful original items, as well as many outright fakes. The prospect is tantalizing, but the presentation is troublesome to say the least!

The signature-in-question has been inscribed upon what appears to be a Mid War Feldpost PAN-B Papier envelope, a similar one is offered for sale here: (Germany Feldpost Michel 16 Fb postally used letter sheet VF – R. Schneider Stamps). The only difference I can spot in the two is the lack of "stamp lines" on the piece in question. This example is also similar, (1944 DEUTSCHES REICH Official Feldpost envelope (PAN B Papier)), though the colors of the text and lines are different. Of note, the text on the right side of this example is not found on the piece in question and this could possibly denote it having been cut and resized. The paper was exposed to UV light and did not "glow" or react in any other strange way. The real question concerning the paper is why would Heinrich Himmler have signed a Feldpost envelope? The only plausible reason I can imagine is that it was a "last minute" scrap of paper found to be used as a souvenir....but that theory has many problems that simply do not hold up under scrutiny! Where would Himmler have been where there wasn't an appropriate piece of paper available for him to sign? I feel the "fantastic" mist beginning to creep in...

The ink stamp is extremely troublesome, as it lacks many fine details of original examples I could find. The profile of the eagle is obviously different than these fine examples shared here on this forum: (Himmler signed promotion documents.). As we all know, the ink stamp can truly be the "final nail in the coffin" for so many of the fakes that have been peddled over the years.

The signature appears to have been done by hand and with an ink fountain pen. The weight of the ink is very light and the pen nib appears to have been very narrow. There are glaring differences that can be noted in this signature when compared to genuine originals. Both "H"s have slightly heavier weights at their ends, the "L" is not looped at it's top, the "I" appears to have been written twice, the "E" lacks all definition. However, the "M"s look almost close and the "R" is close at best too. The date format is also suspect to me, with many handwritten dates using a Roman numeral for the month.

The Certificates Of Authenticity are even more damaging to the case. The two men named on the documents, Jerry Swallow and Richard "Richie" Triolo, apparently have a history of "producing" paintings from Hitler: (https://www.droog-mag.nl/hitler/2021...-auctions.html) and (https://www.droog-mag.nl/hitler/coa/swallow/index.html). I cannot vouch for this source but the information contained is interesting to say the least and possibly helpful when sorting out fraudulent pieces in the future. This is another supposed Himmler signature that sold with the same provenance: (https://live.affiliatedauctions.com/...r-signed-photo). Heinrich Jurs, who apparently was an SS-Oberfuhrer who served with the 29th Waffen Grenadier Division, has no presence outside discussion of these signatures.

I am very confident this signature is in fact pure fantasy but I would greatly appreciate any other criticisms and opinions you would care to offer. At the very least, this exercise could document a known source of bad items and save other collectors from falling into the trap.