The Gemlich letter refers to a letter written by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

at the behest of

Karl Mayr Captain Karl Mayr (5 January 1883 – 9 February 1945) 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 intro ...

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 Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

writing by Hitler, and first political piece by Hitler. 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 The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

studies. 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".Ian Kershaw, ''Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris'', pp.125-126

History

Hitler, who remained in the German Army after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, returned to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

in September 1919. Assigned to an intelligence and propaganda unit of the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

which was run by Captain Karl Mayr, Hitler was ordered to draft a response to Adolf 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. Two copies of the letter are thought to exist. One in the Bavarian state archives in Munich which is typewritten but unsigned, and the second at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, also typewritten but signed by Hitler. The second version, now believed to be the original, was discovered in a

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

archive by a GI, William F. Ziegler, who brought it to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where it ended up in a private collection. In 1990,

Charles Hamilton Charles Hamilton may refer to: People in Canada * Charles Hamilton (bishop) (1834–1919), Anglican bishop of Ottawa * Charles Edward Hamilton (1844–1919), Canadian politician * Sir Charles Hamilton, 2nd Baronet, of Marlborough House (1767–184 ...

, the handwriting expert, authenticated the signature on the letter and, in 2011 it was purchased by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for $150,000.

External links

Text of the Gemlich letter

References

{{reflist , refs = {{cite news , last = Ewing , first = Jack , date = 2011-06-03 , title = Letter of Hitler's First Anti-Semitic Writing May Be the Original , newspaper = The New York Times , url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/world/europe/03iht-hitler03.html , accessdate = 2011-06-12 {{cite web , title = Adolf Hitler's First Antisemitic Writing , year = 2010 , work = JewishVirtualLibrary.org , publisher = The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise , url = http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Adolf_Hitler's_First_Antisemitic_Writing.html , accessdate = 2011-06-12 {{cite news , last = Usborne , first = David , date = 2011-03-17 , title = Letter early sign of Hitler's anti-Jewish vision, says centre , newspaper =

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

, url = http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10731077 , accessdate = 2011-06-12 {{cite magazine , last = Rawlings , first = Nate , date = 2011-06-08 , magazine = Time , title = The Seeds of Hitler's Hatred: Infamous 1919 Genocide Letter Unveiled to the Public , url = http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2076346,00.html , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110609182304/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2076346,00.html , url-status = dead , archive-date = June 9, 2011 , accessdate = 2011-06-12 Holocaust historical documents Works by Adolf Hitler 1919 documents Letters (message)