Description:

OTTO WACHTER
(1901-1949) SS-Gruppenfuhrer and the Governor of the District of Krakow in occupied Poland. In 1944 he was appointed as head of the German Military Administration in the puppet state of the Republic of Salo in Italy. In 1940, 68,000 Jews were expelled from Krakow, and in 1941, the Krakow Ghetto was created for the remaining 15,000 Jews by his decree. Most of these Jews died as a result of Operation Reinhard. Wachter also organized the Waffen-SS Galizien, later the First Division of the Ukrainian National Army. War-date T.L.S. on ‘Governor of Galicia' letterhead, 3pp. large 4to., Lemberg, Feb. 18, 1942, to ALWIN SEIFERT (1890-1972), considered one of the most important representatives of the early ecology movement and biodynamic agriculture. In 1933 he was assigned to the staff of Fritz Todt, and in 1934 appointed advisor for questions relating to the integration of the landscape in motorway construction. He used this function to get in close contact with Nazi party leaders; he conducted intensive correspondence with Rudolf Hess, Martin Bormann, Heinrich Himmler, Walther Darre, Albert Speer, and Oswald Pohl and became an ardent Nazi. In part: ‘…However, I have now been removed from my previous position as governor of the Krakow district and appointed governor of the Galician district. Such a huge amount of conversion and initial construction work was required that I was unaware of any non-immediate matters. Meanwhile, to the deep shock of all of us, Reichminister Dr. Todt has had an accident. We will all find this blow very difficult to get over and I can imagine how you, as his immediate colleague, is affected by this truly fateful blow for our German people…The late Reichminister Dr. Todt had written me in the meantime, referring to your letter and suggesting that I make a suggestion as to which area Mr. Bauch should be appointed. Dr. Todt is prepared to make him available for this. I have therefore applied to the Governor General to appoint Mr. Werner Bauch as regional lawyer for the Krakow and Galicia District…I would also be extremely pleased if you, dear Professor, would continue your trip to the Krakow district planned for this spring and come to me in Galicia. I would be delighted to get to know your opinions on the landscape of my new field of work directly during a tour with you…' FRITZ TODT (1891-1942) was a Nazi military engineer who supervised the building of the Autobahn, the Siegfried Wall and the chain of submarine bases on the coast of France. Died mysteriously in a plane crash. Werner Bauch was a landscape architect who worked with Seifert in providing the greenery for various concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Dachau. File holes with a staple hole in the upper lefthand corner, otherwise very good.

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June 26, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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