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 uncharacteristically amusing T.L.S. with several holograph corrections, 2pp. legal folio, "Fuhrer Headquarters", Gogolin, Poland, Sep. 14, 1939. At the height of the German invasion of Poland, Himmler takes the time to obviously self-type a letter to an unknown friend and describe an event which occurred during a tour of the Westwall in May. In part: "...we had lunch with a unit. I noticed a good-looking and intelligent corporal standing behind the Fuhrer...he looked like officer material. He gave his name as 'Schlag' [hit, punch, smack]...[I] wanted to recruit him as an officer. Schmundt replied that if he had any qualifications he would have been promoted already...Two days later Schmundt showed us a letter from the commander of the unit where we ate. He wrote that one of his lieutenants, Baron von Werthern...grabbed a corporal's uniform and went along with the field kitchen. The commander was now in a precarious situation since there was no Corporal 'Schlag'...I remember how he might have come up with the name...The Fuhrer told a story about the time he ate at a unit during the invasion of the Sudetenland. After the Fuhrer finished his first plate, a server asked him: 'May I give the Fuhrer another 'schlag'?', which of course meant another plate full. This was overheard by the 'corporal' and so he gave his name as 'schlag'. We told the Fuhrer the story and he enjoyed it. I believe he sent Baron von Werthern his photograph. Corporal 'Schlag' is pictured between Keitel and the lieutenant colonel. This story is particularly gratifying because a young aristocratic officer is willing to do kitchen duty just to see the Fuhrer, clearly demonstrating the changes in the officer corps...". Files holes affect a few types letters, else boldly signed and very good. Certainly out of character for the usually staid and severe Himmler.

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May 8, 2012 11:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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