Description:

ADOLF HITLER BEGS FORGIVENESS OF WINIFRED WAGNER
Incredible, deeply personal A.L.S. 'Adolf' in pencil on his personal letterhead, 2pp. (front-to-back) 4to., Detmold, Jan. 8, 1933, a shockingly sentimental letter to his friend and rumored lover WINIFRED WAGNER (1897 - 1980), daughter of the composer Richard Wagner who also was of course much admired by Hitler. In large part: 'My honored and dear Wini, For weeks and weeks, I am again involved in a difficult and hard work - troubles and worries. I do not know whether you are able to understand me altogether only I beg of you to forgive me...that I express my thanks only today for a present with which you gave me... For two years the Christmas season is only a season of sorrow for me [Hitler's niece Geli Raubal, also a rumored lover, had died about two years previous on Christmas Day] and I cannot overcome myself to be like the years before...I must beg you very heartily to accept my thanks...I believe there will be a time when I may be able to prove my grateful attachment to you, not only with words but with deeds. Unfortunately, there will always be new mountains to conquer. I can't understand today why in my youth Richard Wagner and his fate meant more to me than so many other great Germans. It may be the same suffering of the eternal fight against hatred, envy and ignorance - those are the same sorrows and only for that reason do I dare, my dear Wini, to write like that to you and express my wishes on the 8th of January while others do on the 1st... I wish you and the children for this year everything good out of the bottom of my heart...May the summer be a success for you [referencing the Wagner Bayreuth Festival]. May fate permit me to be able to contribute somewhat....' Very light folds, two creases or possibly repaired tears, though evidence of repair is so expertly undertaken as to be indiscernible, otherwise in fine condition. Sold with a full translation. Hitler, who greatly admired Richard Wagner's music, first met Winifred Wagner in 1923, when they grew very close. When Hitler was jailed for his part in the Beer Hall Putsch, Wagner sent him food parcels and stationery on which part of Hitler's political manifesto 'Mein Kampf' may have been written. Her relationship with Hitler grew so close that by 1933 there were rumors of impending marriage, though there were similar rumors about her love for English novelist Hugh Walpole. Haus Wahnfried - Wagner's home in Bayreuth - became Hitler's favorite retreat. True to the promise he makes in this letter, when Hitler gained power, he ensured that Winifred Wagner was given a yearly allowance of 100,000 Reichsmarks, and gave the festival government assistance and tax-exempt status. As for Winifred, her posthumous devotion to the man she cryptically referred to as 'USA' - for 'Unser Seliger Adolf' ('our blessed Adolf') - remained undimmed. An incredible, soul-baring letter that does much to expose the relationship between Hitler and his beloved composer's daughter.

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May 22, 2021 10:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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