Estelle Bechoefer collection

The collection consists of an album containing photographs of Nazi Party meetings and training camps which was given as a Christmas present from Heinrich Himmler to Franz Xaver Schwarz in 1935 and a newspaper article from the "Washington Evening Star" of August 30, 1945, titled "D.C. Attorney Gathers Records on Nazi Seizures from Jews." Dedication in photograph album reads: "Reichsschatzmeister, SS Obergruppenführer / Franz X. Schwarz / userem treuesten Freund / von der SS zu Weinachten 1935 / H. Himmler." Franz X. Schwarz (1847-1947) was an early member of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei (NSDAP) (1922) and served as "Erster Schatzmeister" (First Treasurer) for the Party from 1923. Schwarz was known within the NSDAP as "Reichsschatzmeister." Eventually, Schwarz came to oversee the finances of all Party organizations and its affiliates. Schwarz died in the Regensburg internment camp in 1947.