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Adolf Hitler Collection
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) was a German dictator and author.
The collection contains letters (1912-1940) to and from Hitler and correspondence files (1915-1945) of various members of the NSDAP (Nationalsozialistiche Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei), including Hitler's adjutants Wilhelm Bruchner and Fritz Wiedemann, as well as Hans Frank, Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Goebbels, the Hohenzollern family, and Rudolf Hess. Original Hitler material consists primarily of birthday wishes, New Year's wishes, and such. Other letters and documents concern Nazi Jewish policy, the concentration camps at Dachau and Buchenwald, military issues, and the Joe Louis/Max Schmeling boxing match (1939). Also present are photographs of Hitler, Hermann Goring, and other officers at the front and in posed portraits, celebrity portraits, ration stamps, Nazi arm bands, a race identification kit, passports, bonds, military identification cards, postcards, Hitler Jugend identification booklets, and a recording of a speech by Paul von Hindenburg (1932). Copies of Hitler's will, political testament, and papers relating to his marriage to Eva Braun are also included. Many of the letters and documents are accompanied by English translations. Most of the Nazi officers present at the Nuremburg Trials are featured in the collection.
An addition to the collection consists of three photograph albums prepared for Hermann Goring by Lutz Heck. The albums contain 183 black and white photographs primarily reflecting Goring's interest in hunting as Commissioner of Woods and Forests. The first album, "Saujagd in Springe, 14 Dezember 1934," contains 84 photographs of Goring and others, boar, lodges, antelope, hunting dogs, etc.; the second, "Roth 1937," contains 56 photographs of Goring and others in hunting parties, at Konigssee and of dogs, boar, etc.; the third, "Rominten 1940," contains 43 photographs of Goring, Werner Molders, Erhard Milch, his daughter Edda, and others, as well as stags, boar and other hunting scenes. Also present are three published books with the ex libris of Adolf Hitler: Meine Kriegserinnerungen 1914-1918 (Berlin: E. S. Mittler, 1919) by Erich Ludendorff, Kamerad Hund; ein Buch fur Tierfreunde (Berlin: Safari-Verlag, 1934) by Alfred Muhr, and Die Armee des Konigreichs Westfalen, 1807-1813 (Berlin, C. Leddihn, 1935) by Fritz Lunsmann.
Originally housed in six boxes, the Hitler collection is now contained in five. Photocopies of original documents were filed separately, along with summary translations. The copies were discarded and translations were placed with the originals. Most documents have translations, some more accurate than others; hand-written correspondence remains for the most part untranslated as the script is a difficult cursive fraktur.
The collection was formed from three accessions: a 1946 gift to Princeton from a Colonel Given, a 1969 purchase from Chicago booksellers, and a 1999 gift from Harry A. Brooks (Class of 1935).
This collection was processed by Marta Hanewald in May 1992 and updated by Barbara Volz in 1999. Finding aid written by Marta Hanewald in May 1992.
No appraisal information is available.
People
Organization
Subject
- Anschluss movement, 1918-1938
- Hunting -- Germany -- Bavaria -- 20th century -- Photographs
- Hunting dogs -- Germany -- Bavaria -- 20th century -- Photographs
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Causes
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Concentration camps
Place
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Author
- Marta Hanewald
- Finding Aid Date
- 1999
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Collection Inventory
Contains correspondence to/from Adolf Hitler and from members and officers of the NSDAP. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by last name of author (or, in some cases the recipient) within each subseries.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
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Consists of bonds and ration coupons issued by the Deutschen Reichs, passports of members of the NSDAP as well as photocopies of Hitler's Political Testament, Private Will, and papers relating to his marriage to Eva Braun.
Arranged by genre of material.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of NSDAP armbands, identification tags, a test kit for hair, eye, and skin coloring, a recording of a speech by Paul von Hindenburg (1932), and a stamp album.
Arranged by genre of material.
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Contains fragments of correspondence, poems, and other unidentified material.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
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consists of photographs removed from correspondence located in Series I as well as photographs of Hitler at various functions, and members and officers of the NSDAP in portraits. An addition consists of 3 photograph albums prepared for Hermann Goring by Lutz Heck containing 183 black and white photographs of Goring, other officers, friends and family mainly on hunting trips in the Bavarian mountains.
Arranged by subject of photograph.
Physical Description2 boxes
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Contains three books with the bookplate of Adolf Hitler.
Arranged alphabetically by author.
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