1941 DOCUMENT TO KEITEL SIGNED BY SS-OBERGRUPPENF. REINHARD HEYDRICH

Offered for sale is a very rare

ORIGINAL DOCUMENT SIGNED BY THE CHIEF OF THE RSHA AND A PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT OF THE HOLOCAUST

SS-OBERGRUPPENFÜHRER REINHARD HEYDRICH

FULL MONEY BACK GUARANTEE FOR AUTHENTICITY

SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei  Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich was a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (including the Gestapo, Kripo, and SD). He was also Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor (Deputy/Acting Reich-Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia. He served as president of the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC, later known as Interpol) and chaired the January 1942 Wannsee Conference which formalized plans for the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question”—the deportation and genocide of all Jews in German-occupied Europe.

Many historians regard Heydrich as the darkest figure within the Nazi regime; Adolf Hitler described him as “the man with the iron heart”.  He was the founding head of the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service, SD), an intelligence organization charged with seeking out and neutralizing resistance to the Nazi Party via arrests, deportations, and murders. He helped organize Kristallnacht, a series of coordinated attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938. The attacks were carried out by SA Stormtroopers and civilians and presaged the Holocaust. Upon his arrival in Prague, Heydrich sought to eliminate opposition to the Nazi occupation by suppressing Czech culture and deporting and executing members of the Czech resistance. He was directly responsible for the Einsatzgruppen, the special task forces that travelled in the wake of the German armies and murdered more than two million people by mass shooting and gassing, including 1.3 million Jews.

Heydrich was mortally wounded in Prague on 27 May 1942 as a result of Operation Anthropoid. He was ambushed by a team of Czech and Slovak soldiers who had been sent by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile to kill the Reich-Protector; the team was trained by the British Special Operations Executive. Heydrich died from his injuries a week later. Nazi intelligence falsely linked the Czech and Slovak soldiers and resistance partisans to the villages of Lidice and Ležáky. Both villages were razed; the men and boys age 14 and above were shot, and all but a handful of the women and children were deported and killed in Nazi concentration camps. [source: Wikipedia]

At the time SS-Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich message to Generalfeldmarschall Keitel in the Führerhauptquartier on Heydrich’s official letterhead from his office at Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse 8 in Berlin. The letter was sent on 9 March 1941 and was received by Keitel’s office (Adjutantur der Wehrmacht beim Führer) two days later. Heydrich thanks Keitel for his birthday wishes and a book that Keitel gifted to him. Heydrich’s birthday was 7 March.

Here is the entire text: ‘Herrn Generalfeldmarschall Keitel / Führerhauptquartier – Sehr geehrter Herr Generalfeldmarschall! Ich danke Ihnen herzlichst für Ihre Glückwünsche zu meinem Geburtstage. Über das dem Schreiben beiliegende Buch habe ich mich sehr gefreut. Heil Hitler! Ihr sehr ergebener Heydrich’

Keitel was a German field marshal and convicted war criminal who held office as chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany’s armed forces, for most of World War II. In that capacity, Keitel was Germany’s de facto war minister. He signed a number of criminal orders and directives that led to numerous war crimes. After the war, Keitel was indicted by the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg as one of the “major war criminals”. He was found guilty on all counts of the indictment: crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, criminal conspiracy, and war crimes. He was sentenced to death and executed by hanging in 1946.

The document is in nice condition and the signature is strong. This item ships from one of our affiliates in Germany. It comes from a private collection and has never been offered for sale before. It was purchased directly out of a German archive. The seller gives a full money back guarantee for the authenticity of the document and signature. Includes shipping worldwide.