Description:

ADOLF HITLER
(1889 - 1945) Führer of Germany and Nazi Party leader, Hitler's bloody rise to power, his military seizure of most of Europe and North Africa and his genocidal racial policies culminated in suicide in his Berlin bunker as Russian troops approached. Rare, fine content T.L.S. "Adolf Hitler" on his personal gold-lettered letterhead with swastika and eagle motif, 2pp. large 4to., Berlin, Dec. 10, 1942, to Field Marshal Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt sending him birthday greetings and apparently presenting him with a house! Von Rundstedt (1875-1953) commanded the armies which swept through Poland in 1939, and in 1940 was promoted to Field Marshal in recognition of his brilliant conquest of France. He later led Army Group South through the Ukraine and took Kiev, and headed offensive forces at the Bulge. Here Hitler writes von Rundstedt only eight days after sacking him for his failure to advance in Russia, and when Hitler's empire was at its height. In part: "…For your birthday I am sending you my most cordial greetings. I feel a sincere need to thank you, on this day, for the great services which you have acquired in peace and in crucial and deciding times on the way to victory in combat. We hope that the new year will above all contribute to the recovery of your health, after the great strain of the last months. I, myself, shall always remember with pleasure, your services rendered to the people and the armed forces - and shall be delighted to ask for these services again should they be needed in the future. Therefore, dear Mr. Field Marshal, please regard it merely as a small token of my personal gratitude and that of the German people, if I attempt, in its name, to be of assistance to you in establishing a home, which - as all hope - will give you and your esteemed wife many years of joy and recreation. With German greetings, Yours, devoted as comrade, Adolf Hitler…". Of von Rundstedt's "illness", such was the usual name given to the press to explain away why a general was relieved of duty. Very good condition.

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July 21, 2011 11:30 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

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