Hitler’s typewriter in a South African bank vault

The Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre (JHGC) has an odd item on display: Adolf Hitler’s typewriter, which he had before becoming chancellor of Germany in 1933. In the early 1930s, he used it for personal correspondence while living in Braunau, Austria. Ge sold it to his friend, Josef Julius MATZNER, before World War II began.

Absa Bank owns the typewriter, which it has indefinitely loaned to the JHGC as an instructional tool for teaching about the dangers of Nazi ideology and propaganda. The late Dr. Piet SNYMAN, who was Absa’s art and museum curator, purchased the typewriter from Josef. After Eleanore Maria, Josef’s daughter who worked for Volkskas Bank, passed away in Johannesburg in 1991, Dr. SNYMAN acquired the typewriter from her husband, Robert Karl Horst MAUFF.

Josef was born on November 23, 1885, in Mauerkirchen, Austria, the son of Josef MATZNER and Kathrina BOTTINGER. He once resided in Braunau and was friends with Hitler. Josef arrived in San Francisco on July 28, 1915, on the SS Mongolia from Kobe, Japan, where he was living. His father still lived in Mauerkirchen, Austria. Josef had paid for his trip and was a confectioner. His final stop was San Antonio, Texas, where his friend A. LEITNER lived at 523 King William Street.

In March 1917, Josef, a cake baker, lived at 757 Burlington Avenue in Los Angeles. On March 6, 1917, he declared that he was unmarried and had travelled to America from Kobe, Japan, aboard the SS Mongolia, arriving in San Francisco on August 18, 1915, although the correct date was actually July 28, 1915. He intended to apply for US citizenship.

He married Eleanore Sophia PITTNER on May 4, 1918, in Los Angeles, California. She was born on May 22, 1889, in Eichwald, Czechoslovakia, the daughter of Hermann PITTNER and Josephene PAUZNER.

On August 1, 1923, Josef (37, born in Mauerkirchen, Austria), his wife Eleanore (32, born in Eichwald, Czechoslovakia), and their daughter Eeanore (3, born in Salzburg, Austria) arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, onboard the SS Tyrrhenia from Hamburg, Germany. Josef stated that he was a merchant, and the family were Austrian citizens. Josef had paid for his family’s journey. Their anticipated permanent residence was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where an aunt, Mary PAUTZNER, already resided at 1713 Monument Street. Josef and his wife had previously been in Los Angeles from 1915 until 1920.

It is unclear how or when the family landed in South Africa. In January 1940, authorities arrested Josef and interned him at the Leeuwkop internment camp. They released him in March 1940.

In September 1939, the Union of South Africa declared war on Germany, prompting authorities to detain around 5,000 German men as “enemy aliens.” The outbreak of war created a challenging situation for both naturalised and non-naturalised Germans living in South Africa, as they faced suspicions about their political allegiance. The government halted the naturalisation process for Germans and stopped accepting applications for changes to German names. By the end of the war, officials had detained 6,636 individuals, including 4,069 non-naturalised Germans, 833 German Union nationals (158 of whom were born in South Africa), 1,466 Italians, 12 British subjects, and 256 individuals from other nationalities. South African authorities did not intern any female German residents.

By May 1946, Josef applied for South African naturalisation. At that time, he worked as a confectioner and lived at 248 Louis Botha Avenue in Orange Grove, Johannesburg. Josef passed away on June 19, 1959, at his home on 11 Boundary Road in Robindale, Johannesburg, and the cremation took place at Braamfontein Crematorium. Eleanore Sophia died on July 24, 1980, at her home on 11 Boundary Road in Robindale.