Gemlich letter

Last updated

The Gemlich letter refers to a letter written by Adolf Hitler at the behest of Karl Mayr to Adolf Gemlich, a German Army soldier. The letter, written in 1919 in response to a request for clarification on the Jewish question, is thought to be the first known piece of antisemitic writing by Hitler, [1] and the first political piece by Hitler. [2] Because the letter is the first record of Hitler's antisemitic views, and because it brought Hitler into politics, it is considered an important document in Holocaust studies.

Contents

In the letter, Hitler argues that antisemitism should be based on facts, Jews were a race and not a religious group, and that the aim for the government "must be the total removal of all Jews from our midst". Hitler also called for a "rational antisemitism" which would not resort to pogroms or senseless violence. He instead called for action to "legally fight and remove the privileges enjoyed by the Jews as opposed to other foreigners living among us. Its final goal, however, must be the irrevocable removal of the Jews themselves". [3]

History

Hitler, who remained in the German Army after the First World War, returned to Munich in September 1919. Assigned to an intelligence and propaganda unit of the Reichswehr which was run by Mayr, Hitler was ordered to draft a response to Gemlich's question on the army's position on the Jewish question. Hitler's response, dated 16 September 1919, was either written by him or dictated by him and subsequently typed by another. [1] Two copies of the letter are thought to exist. One is in the Bavarian state archives in Munich which is typewritten but unsigned, and the second is at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, also typewritten but signed by Hitler. [4] The second version, now believed to be the original, was discovered in a Nuremberg archive by a U.S. Army soldier, William F. Ziegler, who brought it to the United States, where it ended up in a private collection. In 1990, Charles Hamilton, the handwriting expert, authenticated the signature on the letter and, in 2011 it was purchased by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for $150,000. [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against, Jews. This sentiment is a form of racism, and a person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Primarily, antisemitic tendencies may be motivated by negative sentiment towards Jews as a people or by negative sentiment towards Jews with regard to Judaism. In the former case, usually presented as racial antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by the belief that Jews constitute a distinct race with inherent traits or characteristics that are repulsive or inferior to the preferred traits or characteristics within that person's society. In the latter case, known as religious antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by their religion's perception of Jews and Judaism, typically encompassing doctrines of supersession that expect or demand Jews to turn away from Judaism and submit to the religion presenting itself as Judaism's successor faith—this is a common theme within the other Abrahamic religions. The development of racial and religious antisemitism has historically been encouraged by the concept of anti-Judaism, which is distinct from antisemitism itself.

<i>The Dearborn Independent</i> Former American newspaper established by Henry Ford

The Dearborn Independent, also known as The Ford International Weekly, was a weekly newspaper established in 1901, and published by Henry Ford from 1919 through 1927. The paper reached a circulation of 900,000 by 1925, second only to the New York Daily News, largely due to a quota system for promotion imposed on Ford dealers. Lawsuits regarding antisemitic material published in the paper caused Ford to close it, and the last issue was published in December 1927. The publication's title was derived from the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dietrich Eckart</span> 19/20th-century German poet, playwright, journalist, and far-right political activist

Dietrich Eckart was a German völkisch poet, playwright, journalist, publicist, and political activist who was one of the founders of the German Workers' Party, the precursor of the Nazi Party. Eckart was a key influence on Adolf Hitler in the early years of the Party, the original publisher of the party newspaper, the Völkischer Beobachter, and the lyricist of the first party anthem, "Sturmlied". He was a participant in the failed Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 and died on 26 December of that year, shortly after his release from Landsberg Prison, of a heart attack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gottfried Feder</span> German economist and politician (1883–1941)

Gottfried Feder was a German civil engineer, a self-taught economist, and one of the early key members of the Nazi Party and its economic theoretician. One of his lectures, delivered on 12 September 1919, drew Adolf Hitler into the party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Wiesenthal Center</span> U.S. based Jewish human rights organization

The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance education, defending Israel, and its Museum of Tolerance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political views of Adolf Hitler</span>

The political views of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, have presented historians and biographers with some difficulty. Hitler's writings and methods were often adapted to need and circumstance, although there were some steady themes, including antisemitism, anti-communism, anti-slavism, anti-parliamentarianism, German Lebensraum, belief in the superiority of an "Aryan race" and an extreme form of German nationalism. Hitler personally claimed he was fighting against "Jewish Marxism" and "international Jewish finance".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael von Faulhaber</span> German Roman Catholic cardinal (1869–1952)

Michael Ritter von Faulhaber was a German Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Munich for 35 years, from 1917 to his death in 1952. Created Cardinal in 1921, von Faulhaber remained an outspoken monarchist and denounced the Weimar Republic as rooted in "perjury and treason" against the German Empire during a speech at the 62nd German Catholics' Day of 1922. Cardinal von Faulhaber was a senior member and co-founder of the Amici Israel, a priestly association founded in Rome in 1926 with the goal of working toward the Jewish people's conversion to Roman Catholicism, while also seeking to combat antisemitism within the Church.

Captain Karl Mayr was a German General Staff officer and Adolf Hitler's immediate superior in an Army Intelligence Division in the Reichswehr, 1919–1920. Mayr was particularly known as the man who introduced Hitler to politics. In 1919, Mayr directed Hitler to write the Gemlich letter, in which Hitler first expressed his anti-Semitic views in writing.

Antisemitism at universities has been reported and supported since the medieval period and, more recently, resisted and studied. Antisemitism has been manifested in various policies and practices, such as restricting the admission of Jewish students by a Jewish quota, or ostracism, intimidation, or violence against Jewish students, as well as in the hiring, retention and treatment of Jewish faculty and staff. In some instances, universities have been accused of condoning the development of antisemitic cultures on campus.

<i>The Sixth Battalion</i> 1998 film

The Sixth Battalion is a 1998 documentary film that examines the history of Jewish soldiers who fought for the Slovak Republic, a puppet state created by Nazi Germany, during World War II. The documentary combines interviews with archival footage and photographs of the Slovak Republic in order to provide a brief history of the state, exploring the rise of antisemitism and how it affected these Jewish soldiers.

Martin Luther (1483–1546) was a German professor of theology, priest and seminal leader of the Reformation. His positions on Judaism continue to be controversial. These changed dramatically from his early career, where he showed concern for the plight of European Jews, to his later years, when embittered by his failure to convert them to Christianity, he became outspokenly antisemitic in his statements and writings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antisemitism in the United States</span>

Antisemitism has long existed in the United States. Most Jewish community relations agencies in the United States draw distinctions between antisemitism, which is measured in terms of attitudes and behaviors, and the security and status of American Jews, which are both measured by the occurrence of specific incidents. FBI data shows that in every year since 1991, Jews were the most frequent victims of religiously motivated hate crimes. The number of hate crimes against Jews may be underreported, as in the case for many other targeted groups.

Antisemitic incidents escalated worldwide in frequency and intensity during the Gaza War, and were widely considered to be a wave of reprisal attacks in response to the conflict.

The Jewish community in Sweden has been prevalent since the 18th century. Today Sweden has a Jewish community of around 20,000, which makes it the 7th largest in the European Union. Antisemitism in historical Sweden primarily manifested as the confiscation of property, restrictions on movement and employment, and forced conversion to Christianity. Antisemitism in present-day Sweden is mainly perpetrated by far-right politicians, neo-Nazis, and Islamists.

Anti-Jewish boycotts are organized boycotts directed against Jewish people to exclude them economical, political or cultural life. Antisemitic boycotts are often regarded as a manifestation of popular antisemitism.

Antisemitism in Venezuela has occurred throughout the history of the Jews in Venezuela. However, under the presidencies of both Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, allegations of antisemitism grew following actions and statements by the Venezuelan government, while also occurring in public incidents. The Bolivarian government would also use the words of "Jewish" and "Zionist" interchangeably in order to avoid accusations of antisemitism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli Students Combating Antisemitism</span>

Israeli Students combating antisemitism (ISCA) online has been founded in 2011 and operates with the purpose of fighting the growing antisemitism, xenophobia and Holocaust denial on the internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany</span>

Comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany, sometimes called Holocaust inversion, occur frequently in the political discourse of anti-Zionism. Given the legacy of the Holocaust, the legitimacy of and intent behind these accusations are a matter of debate, particularly with regard to their potential nature as a manifestation of antisemitism. Historically, figures like British historian Arnold J. Toynbee have drawn parallels or alleged a relationship between Zionism and Nazism; British professor David Feldman suggests that these comparisons are often rhetorical tools without specific antisemitic intent. French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy argues that such comparisons not only lack historical and moral equivalence, but also risk inciting anti-Jewish sentiment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hitler's prophecy</span> Adolf Hitlers speech on 30 January 1939

During a speech at the Reichstag on 30 January 1939, German Führer Adolf Hitler threatened "the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe" in the event of war:

If international finance Jewry inside and outside Europe should succeed in plunging the nations once more into a world war, the result will be not the Bolshevization of the earth and thereby the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe.

The claim that there was a Jewish war against Nazi Germany is an antisemitic conspiracy theory promoted in Nazi propaganda which asserts that the Jews, framed within the theory as a single historical actor, started World War II and sought the destruction of Germany. Alleging that war was declared in 1939 by Chaim Weizmann, president of the World Zionist Organization, Nazis used this false notion to justify the persecution of Jews under German control on the grounds that the Holocaust was justified self-defense. Since the end of World War II, the conspiracy theory has been popular among neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers.

References

  1. 1 2 Ewing, Jack (2011-06-03). "Letter of Hitler's First Anti-Semitic Writing May Be the Original". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  2. "Adolf Hitler's First Antisemitic Writing". JewishVirtualLibrary.org . The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. 2010. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  3. Ian Kershaw, Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris, pp.125-126
  4. Usborne, David (2011-03-17). "Letter early sign of Hitler's anti-Jewish vision, says centre". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  5. "Landmark Hitler letter on Jews unveiled in New York".
  6. Rawlings, Nate (2011-06-08). "The Seeds of Hitler's Hatred: Infamous 1919 Genocide Letter Unveiled to the Public". Time. Archived from the original on June 9, 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-12.