A Unique Artifact, Signed by Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Sheds Light on a Forgotten, Powerful Event During World War II
Among the Other Offerings: Churchill’s Original Letter to the British People Celebrating Victory Over the Nazis
The Raab Collection announced today the discovery of an important document from World War II, a forgotten relic of a great mission connecting the victory against the Nazis to a little known US/UK exchange, never before seen by the public or offered for sale. The document is being unveiled at the start of the firm’s Winston Churchill Week, a celebration of Churchill, victory, and sacrifice running through June 6, D-Day. Throughout the week, Raab will unveil and offer for sale several historical gems, which include: the above relic, valued at $100,000, and Churchill’s original signed letter to the British people following the war’s end, valued at $200,000.
A Memento Connecting Churchill, FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the British and American Workers Who Mobilized Together to Fight the Germans and Hitler
In 1943, the US and UK governments sponsored an important transatlantic worker mission to bolster industrial cooperation between the two nations, who had mobilized to supply the soldiers on the front lines. Four American union workers were chosen to visit English factories, and four Englishmen came to do likewise in the states. The US Government found the initiative of sufficient importance, both as an act of cooperation and of public relations to create a 30-minute wartime documentary to document these momentous events.
The UK delegates met with hundreds of US workers, as well as the president and first lady, the mayor of New York City, and others. John H. Jones, a British steel worker, union leader, and future MP who was a protagonist in the documentary, carried with him a photograph of his family, which he used to collect the autographs of those he met, thus creating a unique relic of the historic mission. The photo, signed by Churchill, FDR, and Eleanor Roosevelt, among others, was acquired from his heirs and has never before been offered for sale.
Churchill’s Original Victory Letter
Upon Germany’s unconditional surrender on May 7, 1945, letters poured in, congratulating Prime Minister Winston Churchill on winning the war. In his heartfelt reply later that month, Churchill says he is “deeply touched” and expresses his personal gratitude for “all the messages of good will which have reached me at this time.” While he sent a copy of this note to many people, the one offered at Raab is the typed, signed original from which the facsimiles were made. There is no other.
The Enduring Legacy of Winston Churchill
The British PM who served from 1940-1945, and again from 1951-1955, is widely saluted for his unfailing leadership during WWII and in the postwar period. During Winston Churchill Week, Raab offers newly acquired pieces that provide insight into Churchill’s work. Further highlights include:
Operation Torch
A typed, signed letter from November 16, 1942, in which Churchill declares Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, an “unqualified success” is a rare example of the leader directly addressing the great operations of the war.
Churchillian Diplomacy
A five-page letter to Pierre Mendès-France demonstrates Churchill’s diplomatic skills as he pressures the French leader to agree to Western European defense measures as the Cold War dawns.
“But having ever since 1910 worked and fought with and for France, for whose people I have a deep affection, I should feel the utmost sorrow to see her isolated and losing her influence with the rest of the free world. I hope indeed that it will fall to you to save your country from this evil turn of fortune….”
To learn more about these rare and important documents, Nathan Raab, author of The Hunt for History, is available for interviews and commentary.
