Description:

HEINRICH HIMMLER
(1900 - 1945) Hitler's Chief of the Gestapo placed in charge of security and responsible for the construction and operation of extermination camps. He chose suicide rather than face a hangman's noose at Nuremburg. An ironic item, a copy of a German translation of Nicolai Gogol's novel Taras Bulba (Munich: Ulbert Langen, 1940), hardbound with orange linen boards, signed by Himmler's poet friend, HANNS JOHN who adds a dedication to Himmler on the flyleaf: "To the Reichsfuhrer SS My friend Heinrich Himmler In Christmas cordiality most warmly, Hanns John. On verso of title page, John adds a nationalist poem: "On Bulba A great, raw hard book of strength! It is in the struggle, the naked struggle for existence. It is in the divine fights committedly a people is seized with belief in itself! Hanns John. Himmler then adds a note on the half-title page: "read Gmund. 24.XII.1940", i.e., Christmas Eve! Taras Bulba was Gogol's story about a band of religious Russian pilgrims who make a trip to Ukraine where they join their brethren and declare war on Poland. Ernest Hemingway dubbed Taras Bulba as among the ten greatest novels, and a German film version was made in 1935. Indeed, so profound was the work's influence that Ukranian General Vasyl Borovets took the name "Taras Bulba-Borovets", and organized the Ukranian Insurgent Army during World War II to fight with the Germans. Very good condition.

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January 21, 2010 10:00 AM EST
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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