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The valuation of heroes is in many cases with an award and for Germany in the Second World War there was the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The special feature of this award, at least compared to the First World War, was that also the ordinary soldier could earn it. By doing so it expressed the meaning that a hero could be hidden in all grades.
Most officers and soldiers who received the Knight's Cross are forgotten, but in the period 1940-1945 they spoke to the imagination. Far from the front lines some of them were photographed in the studio of Tita Binz.
Tita (Juanita) Binz (1903-1970) came from an intellectual family where the love of art was obvious. Although very little is known about Binz, she seems to have chosen early for photography. That choice will be facilitated by the fact that her uncle in the fashionable Paris of those days had a successful photo studio where she went to learn the job. Afterwards she visited various studios in Berlin, to open her own studio in 1939. One of her first clients was the publisher Film-Foto-Verlag (till 1941 Ross-Verlag). This publisher is to this day, most famous for her postcards of movie stars who figured in the German cinema.
Binz is later on asked to portray soldiers with the Knight's Cross. Of course that is uncommon for a typical entertainment company, but apparently they were also under the control of the new rulers who needed as much means for propaganda. It is at this point that two differend worlds seems to run together at least in pictures. The actor, the hero of the silver screen and the soldier, the hero of the theater of war were both raised in the same way.
Who initially sees the picture Günter Goebel (1917-1993) will not immediately think of someone who fought in 1940 by the invasion of France, was present during the invasion of Russia, survived the Battle of Stalingrad and was to be found at the largest tank battle in history in 1943 at Kursk. Heinrich Schüler (1903-1945) fought in France and Russia, was present at the Battle of Kiev and the Caucasus. Finaly he was killed in action in Poland. And that is as true for almost all the pictures Binz made.
But it was not only the image itself but also the design of the postcard that ensured that these two worlds together began to look like one another. It was decided that the lay out for actors also had to be used for the knight cross bearers.
Examples how the Film-Foto-Verlag made use off her format for actors. The pictures both the actor and the soldier are by Binz. There was just one thing that good not be copied and that's the looks. Actors are most of the time handsome man while for soldiers nature does not feel the necessity to combine these two.
To illustrate these two worlds which overlap each other is the actor Hannes Stelzer (1910-1944). In 1941 he will star as a war pilot in the movie Stukas. He is photographed on that occasion for Ross-Verlag/Film-Foto-Verlag as an actor in a uniform of the Luftwaffe. Two years later, he is obliged to report for active duty and gets a pilot training. In 1944 he was killed in Russia as his fighter is knocked down.
Binz strips the war hero of the raw reality and focuses only on his character. And thus, these propaganda cards even in those days gave the feeling as 'not really', but they were no less popular. It is known that young women swoon acted at the pictures of Walter Scheunemann (1909-1949) and Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz (1893-1968).
Remarkably Binz photographed no soldiers of the Waffen-SS. This might be due to the fact that she was friends with Hans Oster (1887-1945), a convinced opponent of the Nazi regime. She knew by that friendship also the 'conspirators' Erwin von Witzleben (1881-1944) and Erich Hoepner (1886-1944) which she portrayed all three. These pictures where not made for Film-Foto-Verlag.
Tita Binz survived the war and died at the age of 67 at Mannheim (Germany).
Below a small survey of the pictures of Ritterkreuzträger by Binz for Film-Foto-Verlag.
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| Hermann Graf 1912-1988 |
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| Hermann Graf 1912 - 1988 |
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| Kurt Gehrke 1903 - 1944 |
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| Hugo Primozic 1914 - 1996 |
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| Walter Paulus 1911 - 1987 |
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| Johannes Morawietz 1911 - alive 2013 |
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| Karl Hausmann 1912 - 1997 |
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| Otto Schulze 1914 - 1945 |
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| Klaus Wagner 1917 - 1966 |
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| Gerhard Hein 1916 - 2008 |
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| Bruno Kohnz 1914 - 1945 |
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| Friedrich Schneider 1899 - unkown |
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| Hans Christern 1900 - 1966 |
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| Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz 1893 - 1968 |
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| Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz 1893 - 1968 |
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| Bernd von Doering 1903 - 1944 |
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| Heinz Guderian 1888 - 1954 |
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| Heinz Guderian 1888 - 1954 |
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| Harald von Hirschfeld 1912 - 1945 |
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| Hermann Graf 1912 - 1988 |
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| Johann Mickl 1893 - 1945 |
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| Oskar Dinort 1901 - 1965 |
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| Werner Rausch 1916 - 1998 |
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| Josef Bremm 1914 - 1998 |
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| Heinrich Schüler 1903 - 1945 |
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| Richard Henze 1895 - 1985 |
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| Eberhard Zahn 1910 - 2010 |
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| Peter Frantz 1917 - 2001 |
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| Werner Lau 1908 - 1980 |
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| Gerhard Boldt 1918 - 1981 |
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| Kurt Dix 1908 - 1994 |
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| Rudolf Schlee 1913 - 1979 |
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| Alfred Müller 1916 - 1944 |
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| Herbert Ruhnke 1914 - 1945 |
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| Wilhelm Okrent 1916 - 1945 |
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| Walter Scheunemann 1909 - 1949 |
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| Fritz Arndt 1910 - 2003 |
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| Werner Baumgarten-Crusius 1919 - 1995 |
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| Bruno Kohnz 1914 - 1945 |
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| Ernst Nobis 1901 - 1963 |
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| Karl Torley 1913 - 1943 |
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| Ekkehard Kylling-Schmidt 1918 - 2000 |
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| Werner Ziegler 1916 - 2001 |
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| Hans Erwin Schröder 1916 - 1943 |
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| Albert Dressel 1914 - 1944 |
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| Günter Vollmer 1917 - 2004 |
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| Harro Brenner 1911 - 1998 |
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| Heinrich Mahnken 1889 - 1944 |
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| Wolf Hagemann 1898 - 1983 |
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| Karl Allmendinger 1891 - 1965 |
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| Johann Hlauska 1914 - 1965 |
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| Fritz Fessmann 1913 - 1944 |
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| Hans Mikosch 1898 - 1993 |
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| Alfred Hemmann 1895 - 1957 |
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| Gerhard Graf von Schwerin 1899 - 1980 |
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| Robert Meissner 1888 - 1953 |
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| Harald von Hirschfeld 1912 - 1945 |
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| Ernst Kruse 1915 - 1944 |
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| Heinrich Boigk 1912 - 2003 |
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| Gerhard Lemke 1919 - 2004 |
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| Otto Starosta 1916 - 1985 |
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| Walter Kalkhoff 1913 - 1960 |
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| Johann Schmölzer 1911 - 1997 |
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| Kurt Kirchner 1911 - 1944 |
.jpg "R328 Film Foto Verlag Tita Binz") |
| Erich Bärenfänger 1915 - 1945 |
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| Erich Bärenfänger 1915 - 1945 |
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| Günter Goebel 1917 - 1993 |
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| Georg Rietscher 1918 - 1991 |
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| Hugo Primozic 1914 - 1996 |
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| Georg Michael 1917 - 1944 |
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| Karl Löwrick 1894 - 1945 |
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| Erich von Manstein 1887 - 1973 |
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| Erwin Rommel 1891 - 1944 |
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| Josef Harpe 1887 - 1968 |
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| Erich Jaschke 1890 - 1961 |
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| Karl Wilhelm Specht 1894 - 1953 |
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| Karl Wilhelm Specht 1894 - 1953 |
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| Erich Löffler 1908 - 1945 |
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| Wilhelm von Malachowski 1914 - 1980 |
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| Hermann Ammer 1914 - 2000 |
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| Wolfgang Darius 1911 - 2000 |
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| Karl-Heinz Noak 1916 - 1978 |
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| Heinz-Georg Haase 1914 - 1943 |
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| Robert Vogel 1918 - 1975 |
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| Otto Riehs 1921 - 2008 |
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| Robert Rahlenbeck 1923 - 2008 |
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| Hans-Joachim von Stolzmann 1898 - 1971 |
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| Franz Bäke 1898 - 1978 |
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| Waldemar von Gaza 1917 - alive 2013 |
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| Bodo Spranz 1920 - 2007 |
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| Hans-Georg Romeike 1920 - 1944 |
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| Paul Baumann 1914 - 1944 |
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| Rudolf Fuchs 1919 - 1998 |
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| Josef Schreiber 1919 - 1945 |
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| Rolf Rocholl 1918 - 1943 |
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| Adelbert Schulz 1903 - 1944 |
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| Adelbert Schulz 1903 - 1944 |
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| Richard Metzger 1912 - 1982 |
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| Walter Eggemann 1911 - 1957 |
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| Berhard Walterbach 1918 - 1997 |
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| Hans-Ulrich Rudel 1916 - 1982 |
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| Hans-Valentin Hube 1890 - 1944 |
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| Walter Nowotny 1920 - 1944 |
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| Otto Ernst Remer 1912 - 1997 |
Some pictures of the Knight Cross holders 'serie' where not taken bij Binz;
R 305 Eckehard Kylling-Schmidt*
R 306 Werner Ziegler*
R 335 Erwin Rommel*
R 358 Rolf Rocholl*
List of numbers en pictures of the knight cross holders by Tita Binz (Film-Foto-Verlag)
| R 262 | Hermann Graf (1) | R 270 | Otto Schulze |
| R 263 | Hermann Graf (2) | R 271 | Klaus Wagner |
| R 264 | Harald von Hirschfeld (1) | R 272 | Gerhard Hein |
| R 265 | Kurt Gehrke | R 273 | Bruno Kohnz (1) |
| R 266 | Hugo Primozic (1) | R 274 | Unkown |
| R 267 | Walter Paulus | R 275 | Friedrich Schneider |
| R 268 | Johannes Morawietz | R 276 | Hans Christern |
| R 269 | Karl Hausmann | R 277 | Hyacint Strachwitz (1) |
| R 278 | Hyacint Strachwitz (2) | ||
| R 279 | Bernd von Doering | ||
| R 280 | Heinz Guderian (1) | R 290 | Eberhard Zahn |
| R 281 | Heinz Guderian (2) | R 291 | Peter Frantz |
| R 282 | Harald von Hirschfeld (2) | R 292 | Werner Lau |
| R 283 | Hermann Graf (3) | R 293 | Gerhard Boldt |
| R 284 | Johann Mickl | R 294 | Kurt Dix |
| R 285 | Oskar Dinort | R 295 | Rudolf Schlee |
| R 286 | Werner Rausch | R 296 | Alfred Müller |
| R 287 | Josef Bremm | R 297 | Herbert Ruhnke |
| R 288 | Heinrich Schüler | R 298 | Wilhelm Okrent |
| R 289 | Richard Henze | R 299 | Walter Scheunemann |
| R 300 | Fritz Arndt | R 310 | Harro Brenner |
| R 301 | Werner Baumgarten-Crusius | R 311 | Heinrich Mahnken |
| R 302 | Bruno Kohnz (2) | R 312 | Wolf Hagemann |
| R 303 | Ernst Nobis | R 313 | Karl Allmendinger |
| R 304 | Karl Torley | R 314 | Johann Hlauschka |
| R 305 | Eckehard Kylling-Schmidt* | R 315 | Fritz Fessmann |
| R 306 | Werner Ziegler* | R 316 | Hans Mikosch |
| R 307 | Hans Erwin Schröder | R 317 | Alfred Hemmann |
| R 308 | Albert Dressel | R 318 | Gerhard graf Schwerin |
| R 309 | Günter Vollmer | R 319 | Robert Meissner |
| R 320 | Harald von Hirschfeld (3) | R 330 | Georg Rietscher |
| R 321 | Ernst Kruse | R 331 | Hugo Primozic (2) |
| R 322 | Heinrich Boigk | R 332 | Georg Michael |
| R 323 | Gerhard Lemke | R 333 | Karl Löwrick |
| R 324 | Otto Starosta | R 334 | Erich von Manstein |
| R 325 | Walter Kalkhoff | R 335 | Erwin Rommel* |
| R 326 | Johann Schmölzer | R 336 | Josef Harpe |
| R 327 | Kurt Kirchner | R 337 | Erich Jaschke |
| R 328 | Erich Bärenfänger | R 338 | Karl Wilhelm Specht (1,2) |
| R 329 | Günter Goebel | R 339 | Erich Löffler |
| R 340 | Wilhelm von Malachowski | R 350 | Waldemar von Gaza |
| R 341 | Hermann Ammer | R 351 | Bodo Spranz |
| R 342 | Wolfgang Darius | R 352 | Gerhard Konopka |
| R 343 | Karl-Heinz Noak | R 353 | Hans-Georg Romeike |
| R 344 | Heinz-Georg Haase | R 354 | Paul Baumann |
| R 345 | Robert Vogel | R 355 | Rudolf Fuchs |
| R 346 | Otto Riehs | R 356 | Josef Schreiber |
| R 347 | Robert Rahlenbeck | R 357 | Johannes Kümmel |
| R 348 | Hans-Joachim von Stolzmann | R 358 | Rolf Rocholl* |
| R 349 | Franz Bäke | R 359 | Adelbert Schulz (1) |
| R 360 | Adelbert Schulz (2) | ||
| R 361 | Richard Metzger | ||
| R 362 | Hans Gidion | ||
| R 363 | Walter Eggemann | ||
| R 364 | Bernhard Walterbach | ||
| R 365 R 366 |
Hans-Ulrich Rudel Hans-Valetin Hube |
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| R 367 | Walter Nowotny |
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