Karl Gebhardt (1897-1948) Letter to Rudolf Hess

Authors

Object ID

2019.2.9ab

Object Name

Letter

Date

11-29-1937

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

Two pages, first page includes "Persönlich!" printed in black print and underlined in top center and "2" in bottom right corner of page, next page marked with "2" at top center and includes signature of Ihr Dankbarer

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:

Gebhardt was the personal physician to both Himmler and Hess, as well as president of the German Red Cross, and medical superintendent of the Hohenlychen Sanatorium, a medical facility for treating injured or sick SS personnel. Involved in coordinating surgical experiments on inmates of Ravensbruck and Auschwitz in an effort to justify his surgical approach to treating contaminated wounds as opposed to using antibiotics, he was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Nuremberg Doctors’ Trial and sentenced to death by hanging. In this letter to Hess on his personal Hohenlychen medical letterhead, Gebhardt offers his opinions on an examination of the aunt of Hess’s wife, Ilse.

Dimensions

11 3/4 x 8 1/4"

Keywords

Karl Gebhardt, Rudolf Hess, Ravensbruck, Auschwitz, Hohenlychen, Heinrich Himmler

Subcollection

Early

Recommended Citation

"Karl Gebhardt (1897-1948) Letter to Rudolf Hess" (1937). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2019.2.9ab.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/1413