Copy of Letter from Adolf Hitler to Reichsleiter Bouhler and Dr. Med. Brandt (copy from USHMM)

Authors

Object ID

2015.2.26

Object Name

Copy, Reprographic

Date

9-1-1939

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

Front: Copy on printed paper of letter. Nazi insignia in upper left corner of the letter with Hitler's name printed. Date in upper righthand corner. Message typewritten with Hitler's signature beneath it. Writing below in black ink. The letter states that "Reichsleiter Bougler [sic] and Dr. med. Brandt are charged with the responsibility to broaden the authority of certain doctors to the extend that (persons) suffering from illnesses judged to be incurable may, after a humane, most careful assessment of their condition to be granted a mercy death. Adolf Hitler."

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:

The letter states that “Reichsleiter Bouhler and Dr. med. Brandt are charged with the responsibility to broaden the authority of certain doctors to the extent that (persons) suffering from illnesses judged to be incurable may, after a humane, most careful assessment of their condition, be granted a mercy death. Adolf Hitler.”

Philipp Bouhler (1899-1945) was an SS-Obergruppenfuehrer who served as chief of Hitler's chancellery and head of the T4 “euthanasia” program. Bouhler, along with Karl Brandt, was tasked by Hitler to develop the T4 program. Karl Brandt (1904-1948) was an SS-Gruppenfuehrer, personal physician of Adolf Hitler, co-director of the T4 program and Reich Commissioner for Health and Sanitation. After the war, Brandt was placed on trial as one of the main defendants at the Doctors' Trial in Nuremberg. In addition to his membership in the SS, he was charged with special responsibility for the numerous medical experiments to which thousands of concentration camp inmates were subjected, as well as with the planning and execution of the euthanasia program. Brandt was sentenced to death and hanged in 1948.

Dimensions

10 x 8"

Keywords

Death, T-4, Euthanasia, Reich Commissioner for Health and Sanitation, Doctors' Trial, Nuremberg, Nuremberg Trials, Adolf Hitler, Philipp Bouhler, Philip Bouhler, Philippe Bouhler, Karl Brandt

Subcollection

Euthanasia, Trial

Recommended Citation

"Copy of Letter from Adolf Hitler to Reichsleiter Bouhler and Dr. Med. Brandt (copy from USHMM)" (1939). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2015.2.26.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/149