 |
|
|
|
June 7th, 2011
06:35 PM ET
1919 signed letter contains Hitler's first known stance on Jewish 'removal'By Dana Garrett, CNN New York (CNN) - A signed letter by Adolf Hitler, which contains what is believed to be the earliest written expression of his views on Jews and anti-Semitism, was unveiled at a press conference in New York on Tuesday by the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Rabbi Marvin Hier said the letter, written in 1919, is "one of the most important documents in the entire history of the Third Reich." Wearing white gloves to protect the fragile, yellowing document, Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Center, pointed out what he considered to be the most significant phrase in the four-page, typed letter - the words "Entfernung der Juden," German for "removal of Jews" - which Hitler wrote must be the government's "final goal."
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization, purchased the letter from a private dealer for $150,000 and will put it on permanent display in July at the center's Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.
Hitler was a 30-year-old veteran of World War I when he wrote the letter on September 16, 1919. At the time, he was working for the propaganda unit of the German army, Hier said. It was Hitler's supervisor, Capt. Karl Mayr, who assigned him the task of articulating the army's position on the Jews for Adolf Gemlich, who was an army spy. (At about the time he wrote the letter, he also attended a meeting of the German Workers' Party to find out more about them, at Mayr's request. Later, it would be the National Socialist Workers' Party, and Hitler would be its chairman.) The letter, which was written on a German army typewriter, is addressed to Gemlich. It was authenticated in 1988, according to the Wiesenthal Center. In the letter's English translation provided by the Wiesenthal Center, Hitler identifies Judaism as a race, not a religion, that has been preserved "through a thousands years of inbreeding" and is only concerned with "the pursuit of money and power." "The result of which is that a non-German race lives among us with its feelings, thoughts and aspirations, while having all the same rights as we do," Hitler wrote. He warned against anti-Semitism "born of purely emotional ground," which he wrote would only lead to pogroms - referencing the organized mob attacks that targeted Jews in Russia and, later, Germany. Hitler's letter makes clear he had a larger objective in mind. "The final goal must be the removal of Jews," he wrote. "To accomplish these goals, only a government of national power is capable and never a government of national weakness." Hier said the letter was found in 1945 in the Nazi Archives near Nuremberg by an American soldier, William F. Ziegler, and sold to an historical documents dealer. It has remained in private hands since then. Hier said a dealer offered him the letter in 1988, but then sold it to another collector before the Wiesenthal Center could verify its authenticity. When it was offered a second time, Hier said there was no hesitation. "We knew immediately that the Gemlich letter is absolutely historic. There is nothing like it in the world," he said. Hier said an unsigned "office copy" of the letter exists in Munich, which scholars have known about, but that the copy now in the hands of the Wiesenthal Center is the only signed copy. It has never been publicly displayed.
Hier said the letter is significant in large part is because there is no known signed order by Hitler for the extermination of the Jews. Instead, it was the No.2 man in the Reich, Hermann Goering, who gave the order in July 1941 to Reinhard Heydrich, the head of the Nazis' security apparatus, to carry out "the final solution of the Jewish question." "This is the first document and only document of its kind that deals with the Jews exclusively and postulates the solution," Hier said of the Hitler letter. Whether Hitler had in mind concentration camps and mass extermination at the time is not a question that can be answered by this document, Hier said. "But I can tell you that Hitler in 1919 said we don't want any Jews in the country that I live, and I don't want them removed by corner pogroms. I need them removed by a legal system where the government legally removes them," Hier said. "That is unprecedented." he added. Hier said he hopes the letter, which will be part of an interactive display in Los Angeles, will be used to teach students young and old about demagogues and the consequences of taking them lightly. He said if people had taken bets in 1919," they all would have bet this is a lot of nonsense, nothing would happen like this. And 22 years later, it happened exactly as he wrote it.," he said. |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGSvqMBj-ig
Lovely song, but WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH HITLER KILLING THE JEWS?
I think there are very few similarities between butterflies and the holocaust.
Name, I couldn't disagree with you more on this one. James Black is clearly pointing out the beauty Hitler saw in a Jew free Germany and that is symbolized by the butterfly. And then the music is peaceful and soothing as Hitler envisioned the world being if the Jews were gone. See if you just looked deep enough you could have seen the HORRIFIC TRUE MEANING of this video.
its very connected. Butterflies are free and beautiful, something non-existent in the ghettos and concentration camps. In the children's barracks in a specific concentration camp (i forget which) there are butterflied scratched into the walls with fingernails and rocks. Also other people mention them how there are no butterflies in the ghetto. Quite sad
It's not the race that's always been a problem, it's the religion.
Hitler himself has Jewish background, but considered himself a Christian, doing God's work. No religion, no grouping of "us against them".
Führer was never a Christian and disliked Christianity which he considered a brunch of Judaism.
Nazis embraced a brew of occultism and Germanic legends and folklore.
Bobrock you are a 'religion bore,' change the record. Hitler was not a Christian. He was an occultist. The Muppet thought the 'dark powers' could make him super human. The god he was talking about in Mein Kamf was Satan. It was Nothing to do with God.or religion per se. However I must mention that some of the most outstanding acts of bravery in the camps were done by people who DID have religion. Look at my response to David – I can't be bothered re-writing it for you. You will see that Hitler had quite a different agenda .
Sorry V.I but Hitler was raised a Catholic. He never abandoned his Catholicism and he frequently used it as inspiration for his oratory.
I believe today that I am acting in the sense of the Almighty Creator. By warding off the Jews I am fighting for the Lord's work.
– Adolf Hitler, Speech, Reichstag, 1936
Anyone who dares to lay hands on the highest image of the Lord commits sacrilege against the benevolent creator of this miracle and contributes to the expulsion from paradise.
– Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf Vol. 2 Chapter 1
I believe today that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator.
– Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Vol. 1 Chapter 2
Even today I am not ashamed to say that, overpowered by stormy enthusiasm, I fell down on my knees and thanked Heaven from an overflowing heart for granting me the good fortune of being permitted to live at this time.
– Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Vol. 1 Chapter 5
The folkish-minded man, in particular, has the sacred duty, each in his own denomination, of making people stop just talking superficially of God's will, and actually fulfill God's will, and not let God's word be desecrated. For God's will gave men their form, their essence and their abilities. Anyone who destroys His work is declaring war on the Lord's creation, the divine will.
– Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf Vol. 2 Chapter 10
We don't ask the Almighty, 'Lord, make us free!" We want to be active, to work, to work together, so that when the hour comes that we appear before the Lord we can say to him: 'Lord, you see that we have changed.' The German people is no longer a people of dishonor and shame, of self-destructiveness and cowardice. No, Lord, the German people is once more strong in spirit, strong in determination, strong in the willingness to bear every sacrifice. Lord, now bless our battle and our freedom, and therefore our German people and fatherland.
– Adolf Hitler, Prayer, May 1, 1933
To do justice to God and our own conscience, we have turned once more to the German Volk.
– Adolf Hitler in speech about the need for a moral regeneration of German, February 10, 1933
Wow, that evil guy sure sounds like an athiest to me lol. Unless you actually STUDY history that is...just sayin....
Good job! The world would be a much better place without religion!
Clearly, Hitler was not a Christian. Your implication that he was is sad. It's also sad that you yourself don't know the Lord. Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to the Father in Heaven. ALL other paths lead to hell.
"Jeus" is lord. That's fantastic. Good job, moron.
@Bobrock There you go again! Why don't you just try to string a sentence together with a few facts thrown in ?
Lovely words, thanks for posting..............
Hitler was ghey.
They paid $150,000 for the letter,I really hope it is authentic.
I support the Jews exposing Hitler for what he was....EVIL. Now I hope they turn the microscope inward and ask what there is about Israel that would do to Palestine what they did and are doing. Evil is never one sided.
What is happening in Israel now is mostly a Zionism political issue, the Likud party. Most Jews are not Zionist and do not support Israel apartheid policies.
Hi Jo An, if you are a Christian then you should be a student of the Bible. If you are, then you know that the Jews are still God's chosen people and that Israel is their promised land. You also understand that salvation came to the Gentiles through the Jews. God said He would bless those who bless Israel (the people) and curse those who curse them. So, be careful what you think/say about God's chosen people. As for Palestine, they don't want peace – and they don't want a Jewish nation to exist ANYWHERE. CNN does not report what is really going on in Israel. Try GodsLearningChannel.com if you want to get accurate information. Peace.
Evil CAN BE, & often IS, one sided ! Quit being so pompous !
jesus is lord The bible does indeed say not to curse the chosen people but it does not say we are to be their slave,support their view that Jesus is not the messiah, God does not say that we are to bless them He will or show them honor, protect them. By the way their "chosen land" was to be one of a spiritual nature – do the Jews not believe they are to rule the entire world. In most countries today you can not even say that Jesus was killed by the Jews. We must remember the USA was a nation set aside to have religious freedom not judgement and control. Jesus, the Bible, nor God ever said go convert and control the people- but love, live by the spirit, and minister to one another. Just because you receive a blessing doesn't mean you can't use that blessing for evil.
Jo an – I'm not patronising you; I think you are sincere. But if you study the recent history with an open mind you will understand why BOTH sides act as they do. Read Hammas' Charter and listen to Iran's president's speeches. The best Arab ever for this situation was President Sadat. Just as peace plans were going well he was assassinated publicly in his own country. Golda Meir was great too. She said to the Arabs; "We can forgive you for killing our sons. We will never forgive you for making us kill yours".
Muslims are taking over where Hitler left....
sanjosemike
Throughout this article, just cut & paste Palestinian for Jew.
And Ultra-Nationalist for Hitler.
It resonates perfectly, for they are the miscreant offspring.
@Houston, you can't come out to play with the big boys till you know your history facts! Go away.
Not true. Arabs are doing bad things here and there, harming others, but really they are getting way more harmed in return. The rest of the Muslims, the non-Arab ones, are peaceful and just living their lives. Keep in mind that there are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, only 300 million of them are Arabs, and an estimated 10 thousand of them are terrorists. Trying to take it out of context is not good, it just causes hatred against people who don't deserve it at all and makes everybody's lives miserable.
Everyone talks about how horrible hitler was , the true is that no one cared about the jewish people, no one care to helped because the world was and is full of racist that think that they are better than others. Do some research and you will see how ships full of jewish people scaping from hitlers government where turn away from US coast and from Cuba back to Germany , many of the people later died in concentration camps. Remember that here in the states jewish people were being discriminated too and not mention something called "segregation" that was taking place in " the land of free"
That is the short list of who turned the Jews away, sending them back to Germany to be killed. I believe the decision to create Israel out of the Palestinian homeland (for over 2000 years) was out of guilt for refusing to take them in. No one wanted them so they created a homeland out of the mythological Land of the Chosen People. We didn't care about the Palestinians either and still don't. The concentration camps that a couple of generations of Palestinians live in are much nicer than the ones the Nazi's had. You can live and raise your children and grandchildren in the concentration camps unlike the Nazi one's where you were worked to death and starved. So much better. Hitler was Austrian and probably part Jewish. Anti-semitism goes all the way back to the first self-named Jews. It rarely includes Arabs and other Semites though. I think the bigotry of telling everyone that the Jews are Gods Chosen People and you aren't has something to do with it.
More proof that The Armenian genocide influenced the holocaust...
Nah, there was never a genocide against Armenians, it's bogus as a three dollar bill. If the Armenians starting a war against Turks and losing the war they started inspired Germans, so be it. But winning sides of wars are not genocide committers and losing sides of wars are not genocide victims. Take your lies and propaganda elsewhere.
Just in time for the Wiener hearings. Hey, can I schnorr a ride to the Capital?
Only an Atheist/Satanist would be evil and stupid enough to go after Gods choosen people.
And by the way, The Nation of Israel is still here.
But the Third Reich is gone.
Won't be for long, unless the Jews kill all the
Won't be long, unless the Jews kill all the Palestinians in like 20 to 30 years they will out breed the Jews
Of course all atheists are evil. Here is a thought, we are all born without a belief in god making us atheists at birth. Therefore, we were all born evil. Lulz
Sorry to burst your bubble but Hitler was a Christian, repeatedly states that god was with them(its even on the nazi's belt buckles), tons of pictures of him at various services at many of the churches in Germany. He also tried to prove that the "aryan" bloodlines started with Jesus Christ...
Hitler WAS NOT an athiest. He was a very religious man. Only someone who has not read a shred of what the (evil) man wrote could make such an ignorant statement. 'If Adolf Hitler was an atheist, why did he keep saying that he believed in God, had faith in God, and was convinced that he was doing God's work? Adolf Hitler was not just certain that his attacks on Jews were divinely mandated, but also his efforts to clamp down on society by restoring traditional morality. Christian apologists only seem to claim that Hitler was an atheist because they cannot handle the idea that a Christian theist would cause so much evil in the name of their God.'
Once again you will see that (as always) it was a combination of relgion and nationalism at the root this evil.
Fool. Hitler was a Catholic and in Mein Kampf wrote that he was pursuing God's Work. He may have been a poor excuse for a Christian, but he most certainly was not an atheist. As for Satanists, by definition all Satanists are Christian because Satan is a concoction of Christianity. You can't believe in Satan unless you first believe in the Bible and its derived mythos, so an atheist is as far removed from a Satanist as an atheist is far removed from a Christian. Don't talk about things you don't understand.
Hitler was a Roman Catholic not an athiest.
I believe today that I am acting in the sense of the Almighty Creator. By warding off the Jews I am fighting for the Lord's work.
– Adolf Hitler, Speech, Reichstag, 1936
Evil yes, athiest clearly not. Try reading what the guy actually wrote and said before you open your mouth with such ignorant statements. Athiest indeed!
Rabbi Green said, "Hitler was a Christian."
But calling Hitler a Christian is like calling bald and hair color. Christ taught that we should love our enemies, not hate them. Christ never forced anyone to do anything against their will. Christ never used his power to hurt people. There is nothing in the teachings of Christ that justifies what Hitler believed and what he did to millions of innocent people.
theevilchristian- Christians actually believe all are born evil which goes against their own bible which says that all are born with the spirit of god in them.
@Rabbi Green. Yeah! of course he was a Christian! Just like Heydrich and so many others; any Nazi with tainted blood [part-Jewish] became a Christian overnight. They used Christian symbols while dabbling in black magic, pagan rituals and German folklore. No wonder they followed Hitler; he's sure got you fooled too.
@D Russell. You are sooooooooo deluded. Satanists call their boss god.[ I expect you think Satan has horns and a tail?] The Inca and Mayan god was the sun. Hitler, by virtue of his policies and real beliefs, excluded himself from the Christian community. For a ' Christian' he murdered an awful lot of Catholics. Get my drift?
Like all religiously indoctrinated idiots, you have no idea what you are talking about. Religion is evil. It is inherently evil, its doctrines are evil. There is no religion that actually practices what it preaches. Its built upon a mythical untestable unprovable bronze age idea of a "God"......... Religion poisons everything......
'For a ' Christian' he murdered an awful lot of Catholics. Get my drift?'
and an awful lot of 'christians' owned slaves and used the bible to justify slavery. Get my drift?
The typed statement is not necessarily his own position at the time - he articulated the prevailing sentiments of German military authorities. It remains uncear what his personal convictions were at the time. > 20 years elapsed after this was written, plenty of time for his decline into genocidal megalomania fueled by the German mileau. Hitler was a product of his dysfunctional political environment. He could not have accomplished what he did anywhere else at the time.
the man was anti-semitic even before he joined the german army in WW1. This is just it in writing
@hi – Great post. You are so right!
Everybody get over it and stop living in the past! What are you gonna do to make this world a better place. Right now you are just as bad as each other! "You are part of the solution or part of the problem" PICK ONE!
This post is about the past !!!!! What is your problem? – touch of dyslexia. You're a bit like the atheist dyslexic. Didn't believe in dog. He couldn't stay on the subject either!
I thought trying a solution **was** the problem back in those days!
Too bad I can't go back in time.
If I could, I would put a bullet in Hitler's head.
George Vreeland Hill
Me too!
If you could, and did, then some other person would have taken his place. What this letter shows is that this was a common opinion and even the official position of the German Army. In other words Hitler's thinking was hardly unique. After all he was ELECTED to office by German voters
I wouldn't
If you did, you might never be born. If you were never born, then you can't go back in time to prevent yourself from ever being born. Uh oh! Smells like a paradox. Fact is, there is no such thing as time travel.
If I could go back in time, I would roast a dinosaur. I'll bet they were tasty.
thats intersting about hitler and the nazis
And the far right Republicans and Teabaggers say 'Hate EVERYONE who doesn't think as we do, act as we do, worship as we do, look as we do', etcetera. And the great unwashed masses cry in unison 'We all say YES!' Scary stuff, just like what's happening to this nation.
What's scary is you are comparing Republicans and the Tea Party to Hitler. You must have a lot of hate in you.
Seem like someome needs to look into a mirror. Another Liberal hate monger.
@ Praetorian: way to show off your hatred and petty bigotry.
Strangely, tea party people I know are nothing like that. in fact the only people who call them those sorts of names are political enemies of the tea party.
hmmm...
It is STUNNING when otherwise lucid people can't see and admit the myriad similarities between the mentality that spawned Nazism and the mentality now prevalent in the Rabid RIght – including the so-called "Tea Party". Extreme Nationalism, xenophobia, couching ideas in religious language, its all there.
Trying to silence critics of the Rabid Right by twisting the observations back on the observers (i.e., "You say the Tea Party is racist, so you must be a racist/hater" - huh?!?) is not logical and does not make the original observation less valid. In fact, more so – a pogrom of observational analysis. No longer permitted in the Fourth Reich! Sieg Rush!
I wonder what percent of its hate agenda the Rabid Right will have accomplished 22 years form now. And I wonder how we will explain our having allowed the Fourth Reich to rise to our children.
steveinmn - you are soooo right! we have lots of racist-nationalists here who are behind much of the worst hate-and-fearmongering using the methods they used in Germany back then. We are seeing a re-run with a more modern and complicated society in place of the gibbering Germanics.
I foresee you will become a great Jedi.
But is he wrong? Aren't the Tea Baggers demagogues?
He couldn't even keep his signature in between the lines. Fail!
and he was a horrible artist too!
If you want to anyoy the neo-nazis, just remind them that hitler was a quarter jewish, gay, and had dementia by 1945.
They will love you for that.
Gay! I don't think so. Last I heard he was believed to be into water sports with women. He was just an all around pathetic and creepy guy! There is no indication he was suffering from dementia. More like crippling rage towards the end. He was never a good military strategist but was a great man for the homeland and the German people until the war got out of hand. Only a fool, but not necessarily a person with dementia, opens a second front in a war.
No, not dementia, it was Parkinson's Disease.
Nazis says to youth, "Hate the Jews."
Terrorists say to youth, "Hate America."
Hollywood says to youth, "Hate Christians."
One nice planet of terrors.
Nazis say kill everyone not of pure aryan descent.
Terrorists say kill anyone for no good reason.
Hollywood says love Jews they are wonderful and smart.
FairGarden says be stupid and hateful for the glory of God.
There, fixed it for you.
Hollywood says hate Christians? Citation Needed.
FHD says, "Hate facts."
Some fundie type Christians like to pretend to be persecuted minorities, yet don't know a damn thing about what it's like to actually be discriminated against.
Christians say to youth, Hate Muslims
Conservatives say to youth, Hate Liberals
Teabaggers say to youth, Hate Obama
One nice planet of terrors.
Yes indeed, around and around we go.
"Christians say to youth, Hate Muslims"
Citation needed
"Chris
Christians say to youth, Hate Muslim"
Ever heard of Fox News?
One good thing is , you don't "have to believe them"
@Akira. You indicate that " small " groups suffering persecution is unimportant. Don't you think ONE person dying for their faith is one too many? I do. Did you know that in India right now there are 50,000 Christians hiding out in Wild areas and forests just to stay alive? Facts, girl, facts.
@Voice of Reason: That is absolutely NOT what Akira said. Mischaracterizing another person's statement and then calling for "facts"? Really?
Villains hate God's people for all time. Today's America resembles a lot to the pre-war Germany. Immorality is such a sanctioned duty for all citizens in USA. Even the Germany before WW2 did not contaminate its own youth so badly like today's Western media and entertainment do.
Really sick of this god's people bu.ll sh.it. It is classroom psychology. Teacher spoils trouble maker. Spoiled trouble maker gets beat up by peers. Teacher turns around and hides laughter. Owned.
Hey look! Justina/Frederica/Adelina has yet another name! That's really effective there, Justina/Frederica/Adelina/FairGarden – new name but the same old crazy extremist insanity. Nobody could ever spot that, ever. How clever!
Hitler's goals were def set for a long time. If only someone could have seen him for what he was.
Happy Shavuot!
Sad to say, more than a few people saw him for exactly what he was, and were a-okay with it.
Hitler's goals were the same as the prevailing Germany military regime in which he prospered. He was not all that original in the context of the German Zeitgeist.
@John Richardson- Usually madmen need support in their actions by finding like minded madmen.