Unseen picture of Heinrich Himmler withdrawn just before auction

Previously unseen picture of Heinrich Himmler, which was taken just minutes after he had bitten down on a cyanide capsule, was withdrawn minutes before going under the hammer.

The unseen picture shows the still warm body of Himmler, head of the dreaded SS and the twisted mastermind of the Holocaust.

It was taken by Corporal Guy Adderley of the Intelligence Corps in May 1945, one of the team who interrogated Himmler after his arrest at a British checkpoint in northern Germany as he tried to flee in disguise following the fall of the Third Reich.

After his death, propaganda photographs of Himmler's corpse slumped on a makeshift bed were released. But Adderley kept this grainy photograph among his wartime mementoes, which have remained hidden from the world for decades.

Adderley's family planned to sell the picture at auction in Bristol. It was estimated to fetch thousands of pounds, a startling sum that reveals the historical value of such an image.

But just before the sale, the picture was withdrawn. Speculation that this was because the family feared repercussions over selling such an inflammatory image were dismissed by Malcolm Claridge, head of medals and militaria at Dreweatt's auctioneers, reports the Daily Mail.

Had it gone on sale, the photograph would almost certainly have been snapped up by one of the many anonymous and wealthy individuals who like to collect Third Reich memorabilia.

It would have counted as the crown jewel in any Nazi trophy-hunter's  display cabinet - for almost more  than any other Nazi leader, it was Himmler who held the regime together and implemented some of its most repellent policies.