Hundreds of previously unpublished personal letters, notes and photographs from SS chief and Nazi Interior Minister Heinrich Himmler have surfaced in Israel, the German newspaper Die Welt reported.
The documents, shedding light on one of the most notorious members of Hitler's inner circle, include letters Himmler wrote his wife Marga from 1927 until five weeks before his suicide in 1945, as well as many photographs and even recipe books.
Some of the documents, stored in a bank vault in Tel Aviv, will be revealed in a series of articles by Die Welt in the coming weeks, starting on Sunday.
The documents were kept at the private home of an Israeli Jew until they made their way into the hands of a collector, the father of Israeli movie director Vanessa Lafa, who prepared a film based on them which will be screened at the Berlin Film Festival in February.
The second most important official of the Third Reich, Himmler was a key figure in the preparation of the Final Solution for the Jewish Problem in Europe, according to the Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. When Germany surrendered to the Allied Forces, Himmler attempted to flee under an assumed name but was apprehended by the British. On May 23, 1945, before being put to trial, Himmler swallowed a poison capsule concealed in his mouth and died.
The German Federal Archive (Bundesarchiv) has authenticated the documents. According to Die Welt, many of the letters are signed "Dein Heini" ("Your Heini") or "Euer Pappi" ("Your Daddy") and the handwriting matches other verified letters by Himmler. The newly discovered letters also correspond with Himmler's wife's letters, kept by the German Federal Archives for years.
The wealth of documents found is exceptional compared to the personal written legacy by others in the Nazi top brass, historian Michael Wildt told Die Welt. "Adolf Hitler and his official deputy Hermann Göring left virtually no personal records. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, the fourth leading Nazi, left a huge inventory of handwritten diaries and daily dictations. But they are almost, without exception, material for future propaganda and not really private documents," he said.
The private correspondence adds many details previously unknown about Himmler's life, and offer a rare glimpse into his personality, day-to-day conduct and acquaintances, Die Welt reported. The letters paint a fuller picture regarding Himmler's rise in the Nazi ranks, as well as his developing relationship with Marga.
Keeping his wife out of the public eye, the two drifted apart due to his ongoing affair with his secretary, starting on 1938. However, the letters reveal that the two remained in good relations to Himmler's last day.
Heinrich Himmler's private letters found in Tel Aviv bank vault
'I'm off to Auschwitz, kisses,' Himmler writes in a letter to his wife. No less incredible than the letters' discovery is how they reached Israel.
So how did Heinrich Himmler’s personal letters end up in a Tel Aviv bank vault, and why have they only come to light 69 years after the SS chief committed suicide at the end of World War II?
German newspaper Die Welt has reported that 700 letters written by Himmler ended up in a Tel Aviv bank vault. The paper plans to publish some of them in the coming weeks.
According to Die Welt, many of the letters are signed “Dein Heini” (“Your Heini”) or “Euer Pappi” (“Your Daddy”) and the handwriting matches other verified letters by Himmler.
"I'm off to Auschwitz, kisses, your Heini," Himmler wrote in one of them.
After the war, two American soldiers collected hundreds of letters and documents from Himmler’s home in Bavaria. According to Die Welt, these papers found their way into the possession of Chaim Rosenthal of Tel Aviv. Rosenthal kept the letters for 40 years under his bed.
In the 1980s, Rosenthal tried to sell the letters after the German Federal Archives had authenticated them. But in 1983 German magazine Stern published excerpts from an alleged Hitler diary that turned out to be fake. In that atmosphere, the world wasn’t interested in more documents from Nazi leaders that could turn out to be forgeries.
When Rosenthal was 90, his son finally persuaded him to hand over the material for publication and, in 2007, Belgian diamond dealer David Lapa bought them for a symbolic fee, Die Welt reported. Lapa gave the documents to his daughter Vanessa, a film director, to make a documentary about them.
In 2011, Vanessa Lapa approached a reporter at Die Welt through her lawyer and proposed that the material be published. Later, at a meeting with a reporter from the paper, she brought Himmler's letters and photographs from 1927 to 1945 – the year he committed suicide.
In the three years since, Die Welt has been authenticating the letters with the help of the German Federal Archives. The handwriting matches that in letters from Himmler to his wife in the archives.
On June 22, 1941, after hearing on the news about Operation Barbarossa – the German invasion of the Soviet Union – she wrote to her husband: "There is still caviar left in the fridge. Take it." His daughter, Gudrun, wrote: "It is terrible we are going to war with Russia. They were our partners. After all ... Russia is too big. The battle will be very difficult – if we want to conquer it all."
Two days after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, Himmler made his way to Hitler. He tried ringing home almost every day but forgot about one very important date. "I am so sorry that I forgot our anniversary," he wrote to Marga four days late on July 7, 1941. "Many things happened during those days," he added. "The fighting was very difficult, especially for the SS."
The collection also includes some love letters and erotic messages.
"I am so fortunate I have a bad husband who loves his bad wife… as she loves him," Marga wrote. In other instances, the lovebirds use the word "revenge" flirtatiously." The revenge - it will be fun," he wrote to her on January 9, 1928, while aboard a train to Munich. "I am nothing but revenge. Forever," he added. "My black soul thinks about impossible things."
"We, the thugs of the German struggle for freedom, are meant to be lonely and banished," he wrote to her on Christmas of 1927. And on December 30 of the same year, he wrote, "I can imagine the horror waiting for us in the future, that sooner or later I will bring pain and suffering to the dearest to my heart on Earth."
Soon after, in January of 1928, Marga called her husband, a "bad man with a hard and coarse heart." In response, he called her a "small woman."
Marga's anti-Semitism is apparent in the couple's correspondences.
On February 27, 1928, she wrote to him about "the Jewish scum." Himmler responded: "My poor love, you have to deal with the Jews because of the money." Before they wed, she had sold her share in a Berlin clinic to her Jewish partner. "A Jew will always be a Jew," Himmler wrote to his wife, after she complained to him. "If only I could help you," he wrote.
On November 14, 1938, after Kristallnacht, Marga wrote in her journal: "This thing with the Jews – when will the scum leave us alone so that we can live our happy lives?"
The correspondence contains no mention of the genocide against the Jewish people, nor any mention of the concentration camps. "I'm off to Auschwitz, kisses, your Heini" is an example of how Himmler brought up his work. "In the coming days I'll be in Lublin, Auschwitz, Lviv and then in new parts. I wonder if I'll be able to phone…best wishes, have a nice trip and enjoy our little daughter. Many warm blessings and kisses, you daddy," he wrote to his wife on July 15, 1942.
German newspaper Die Welt has reported that 700 letters written by Himmler ended up in a Tel Aviv bank vault. The paper plans to publish some of them in the coming weeks.
According to Die Welt, many of the letters are signed “Dein Heini” (“Your Heini”) or “Euer Pappi” (“Your Daddy”) and the handwriting matches other verified letters by Himmler.
"I'm off to Auschwitz, kisses, your Heini," Himmler wrote in one of them.
After the war, two American soldiers collected hundreds of letters and documents from Himmler’s home in Bavaria. According to Die Welt, these papers found their way into the possession of Chaim Rosenthal of Tel Aviv. Rosenthal kept the letters for 40 years under his bed.
In the 1980s, Rosenthal tried to sell the letters after the German Federal Archives had authenticated them. But in 1983 German magazine Stern published excerpts from an alleged Hitler diary that turned out to be fake. In that atmosphere, the world wasn’t interested in more documents from Nazi leaders that could turn out to be forgeries.
When Rosenthal was 90, his son finally persuaded him to hand over the material for publication and, in 2007, Belgian diamond dealer David Lapa bought them for a symbolic fee, Die Welt reported. Lapa gave the documents to his daughter Vanessa, a film director, to make a documentary about them.
In 2011, Vanessa Lapa approached a reporter at Die Welt through her lawyer and proposed that the material be published. Later, at a meeting with a reporter from the paper, she brought Himmler's letters and photographs from 1927 to 1945 – the year he committed suicide.
In the three years since, Die Welt has been authenticating the letters with the help of the German Federal Archives. The handwriting matches that in letters from Himmler to his wife in the archives.
On June 22, 1941, after hearing on the news about Operation Barbarossa – the German invasion of the Soviet Union – she wrote to her husband: "There is still caviar left in the fridge. Take it." His daughter, Gudrun, wrote: "It is terrible we are going to war with Russia. They were our partners. After all ... Russia is too big. The battle will be very difficult – if we want to conquer it all."
Two days after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, Himmler made his way to Hitler. He tried ringing home almost every day but forgot about one very important date. "I am so sorry that I forgot our anniversary," he wrote to Marga four days late on July 7, 1941. "Many things happened during those days," he added. "The fighting was very difficult, especially for the SS."
The collection also includes some love letters and erotic messages.
"I am so fortunate I have a bad husband who loves his bad wife… as she loves him," Marga wrote. In other instances, the lovebirds use the word "revenge" flirtatiously." The revenge - it will be fun," he wrote to her on January 9, 1928, while aboard a train to Munich. "I am nothing but revenge. Forever," he added. "My black soul thinks about impossible things."
"We, the thugs of the German struggle for freedom, are meant to be lonely and banished," he wrote to her on Christmas of 1927. And on December 30 of the same year, he wrote, "I can imagine the horror waiting for us in the future, that sooner or later I will bring pain and suffering to the dearest to my heart on Earth."
Soon after, in January of 1928, Marga called her husband, a "bad man with a hard and coarse heart." In response, he called her a "small woman."
Marga's anti-Semitism is apparent in the couple's correspondences.
On February 27, 1928, she wrote to him about "the Jewish scum." Himmler responded: "My poor love, you have to deal with the Jews because of the money." Before they wed, she had sold her share in a Berlin clinic to her Jewish partner. "A Jew will always be a Jew," Himmler wrote to his wife, after she complained to him. "If only I could help you," he wrote.
On November 14, 1938, after Kristallnacht, Marga wrote in her journal: "This thing with the Jews – when will the scum leave us alone so that we can live our happy lives?"
The correspondence contains no mention of the genocide against the Jewish people, nor any mention of the concentration camps. "I'm off to Auschwitz, kisses, your Heini" is an example of how Himmler brought up his work. "In the coming days I'll be in Lublin, Auschwitz, Lviv and then in new parts. I wonder if I'll be able to phone…best wishes, have a nice trip and enjoy our little daughter. Many warm blessings and kisses, you daddy," he wrote to his wife on July 15, 1942.
