Call Number:

C0735

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

5 boxes

Language:

English and German

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Adolf Hitler Collection, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1912-1946 (inclusive) and 1933-1940 (bulk)

Creator:

Princeton University. Library. Special Collections and Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945.

Form:

Correspondence -- 20th century, Memorabilia -- 20th century., and photographs -- 20th century

Abstract:

Consists mostly of correspondence among members of the NSDAP (Nationalsozialistiche Deutsches Arbiterspartei) and with Hitler's adjutants Wiedemann and Brückner. Original material from Hitler himself is limited and of no real contextual importance (birthday wishes, New Year's wishes, thanks for wishes made unto him, etc.). There are a few letters concerning Nazi "Judenpolitik" (Jewish policy), some regarding arrests and camp conditions, others concerning scandalous associations with Jews. Military concerns are few and interspersed throughout. The majority of the material, mostly directed to Hitler, consists of wishes of health, happy birthdays, thank you's. Most of the Nazi officers present at the Nuremburg Trials are featured in the collection.

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.