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 Nuremberg. HIMMLER ACCEPTS DONATIONS FROM STANDARD OIL, SUPPORTING THE MURDER OF JEWS Historic content T.L.S. on his Reichsfuhrer-SS letterhead, 1p. large 4to., 'Field Headquarters', Nov. 24, 1943, to EMIL HELFERICH, Director of the German-American Petroleum Company. In part: 'Dear Party Comrade Helfferich This year, too, I received a large amount of funds from the Circle of Friends, which made it possible for me to help in many emergencies in the same way as in previous years. SS-Brigadefuhrer Baron von Schroder informed me, that in addition to the total donation in the name of the German-American Petroleum Company, you donated a sum of RM 10,000 - I would like to thank you first with these lines for your willingness to help, which you have shown again in a loving way. I hope to be able to convey my thanks to you personally at the next meeting of the Friends...' Boldly signed, with holograph subscription. File holes, some toning at top margin, else very good. Deutsch-Amerikanische Petroleum Gesellschaft, also known as the German-American Petroleum Company, was a subsidiary of Standard Oil and was founded in 1890. In 1938, Standard Oil of New Jersey owned 94% of the company. As the Nazis considered the German-American Petroleum Company a 'German' company, it was put on the list of defense contractors who would receive preferential treatment. The 'Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft', or 'Circle of Friends of the Economy' (also called 'Freundeskreis Reichsführer-SS and 'Freundeskreis Himmler') was a group of German industrialists, politicians and military officers whose alleged aim was to strengthen the ties between the Nazi Party and business and industry. The size of the group never exceeded 40 members. From 1936 to 1944, the members of the circle donated approximately one million marks a year to Himmler for uses 'outside the budget'. One use of the money was to fund the Ahnenerbe, which conducted Aryan historical and eugenicist research. Horrifically, it also sponsored the Jewish skeleton collection, when 86 victims were selected at Auschwitz, then gassed at Natzwiler and the corpses shipped to Reichsuniversitat Strassburg for defleshing and ultimately public display.

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December 7, 2021 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $499 $20
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 + $10,000