Letter From Martin Bormann

Authors

Object ID

2012.1.375

Object Name

Letter

Date

2-28-1939

Files

Content Warning

The Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection consists of images, documents, and artifacts related to the Holocaust. The collection contains materials that depict a number of topics that may be difficult for viewers to engage with, including: antisemitic descriptions, caricatures, and representation of Jewish people; Nazi imagery and ideology; descriptions and images of German ghettos; graphic images of the violence of the Holocaust; and the creation of the State of Israel. For more information, see our policy page.

Description

White paper with "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei" (National-socialist German Workers' Party) letterhead. Includes typewritten message. Signed on back side by Martin Bormann.

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:

Martin Bormann (1900-1945) was head of Nazi Party Chancellery and private secretary to Adolph Hitler. By the end of World War II Bormann had become second only to Hitler himself in terms of real political power. This document is on official German Workers' Party letterhead and addressed to Reichstag member Josef Burckel in Vienna. It was regarding the law on the legal status of Israeli religious communities in the country of Austria. In part: "It is... a wish that the Israeli religious communities in Austria no longer comprise a corporate body under the law. I therefore oppose the proposed. I therefore have no objection to the draft of the law. I would advise you on the following: once the draft of the law is submitted, the Israeli religious communities in Austria must pay income tax..." as well as more legal content. Josef Burckel was a Nazi politician and an early and influential member of the SDAP. In 1938 he was appointed acting head of the party to carry out annexation of Austria to Germany and served from April 1938-March 1940 to fully integrate the country. A month before this letter, Burckel had been chosen to replace the notorious Gauleiter Odilio Globocnik at the order of Hermann Goering and worked aggressively within Austria to promote antisemitic laws and confiscate property of Jews within Austria.

Dimensions

11 3/4 x 8 1/4"

Keywords

reich seal, Nazi Party, Chancellery, Private secretary, german workers party, Vienna, Austria, SDAP, Martin Bormann, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Burckel

Subcollection

Early

Recommended Citation

"Letter From Martin Bormann" (1939). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2012.1.375.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/1063