Description:

ADOLF HITLER
(1889 - 1945) Fuhrer 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. HITLER WRITES DR. ROBERT LEY URGING HIS DEDICATION TO THE NSDAP FOLLOWING THE SUICIDE OF LEY''S WIFE Incredible content and association T.L.S. on his personal gold-embossed letterhead, 2pp. 4to., "Fuhrer Headquarters", Dec. 31, 1942 to DR. ROBERT LEY, head of the German Labor Movement and a devoted friend of Hitler''s since 1924. Hitler writes in reaction to the suicide of Ley''s young wife, Inge, making reference to the ongoing slaughter at Stalingrad. In part: "My dear Ley! I want to express to you my heartfelt emotion for the terrible misfortune that has affected you. When I first received the news of this tragic event, it was completely incomprehensible to me. I know how much you loved your wife, and can grasp the great suffering her death has now caused. Nevertheless, I ask you...to accept...that we all have to bear above our own lives the duties imposed upon us in totality... In a world in which millions of men are swept away from their families, hundreds of thousands of women lose their husbands, mothers lose their sons, each one of us has a duty to devote himself primarily to his work... It''s not a lot harder...[Germany collectively will] take on a hundred thousand others. In this complete surrender to our duty, a man is more able to cope with his feelings and with his pain. At least you are lucky enough to have three children from your wife... As the leader of the movement and your loyal friend, I expect that especially now you will be that which you were...the leader of the German Workers'' Front... You are not alone in trying to overcome the voice of your heart, but you carry the same destiny as countless others... In loyal friendship and with deepest empathy..." Hitler was deeply affected by the suicide of Ley''s attractive wife, Inge. Two nights earlier, she and her husband had engaged in a drunken brawl when Robert Ley announced his intention to depart to meet Hitler at the Wolf''s Lair for war planning. Inge retired to her bedroom where the 26 year old shot herself with a pistol. Hitler had been enamored of Inge Ley for years, and the two were rumored to have been lovers. Hitler''s letter also clearly seeks to steel Ley and bring his attention to the more serious matter of production and the defeat at Stalingrad, where the German effort at relief had been abandoned a week earlier. Fine condition.

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December 19, 2017 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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