{{Short description|Letter written by Adolf Hitler in 1919}} The '''Gemlich letter''' refers to a letter written by Adolf Hitler at the behest of Karl Mayr to Adolf Gemlich, a German Army soldier. The letter, written in 1919 in response to a request for clarification on the Jewish question, is thought to be the first known piece of antisemitic writing by Hitler,<ref name="Ewing2011-06-03" /> and the first political piece by Hitler.<ref name="JVL" /> Because the letter is the first record of Hitler's antisemitic views, and because it brought Hitler into politics, it is considered an important document in Holocaust studies.
In the letter, Hitler argues that antisemitism should be based on facts, Jews were a race and not a religious group, and that the aim for the government "must be the total removal of all Jews from our midst". Hitler also called for a "rational antisemitism" which would not resort to pogroms or senseless violence. He instead called for action to "legally fight and remove the privileges enjoyed by the Jews as opposed to other foreigners living among us. Its final goal, however, must be the irrevocable removal of the Jews themselves".<ref>Ian Kershaw, ''Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris'', pp.125-126</ref> In the letter, Hitler blames Jews for the German revolution of 1918–1919.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Longerich |first1=Peter |title=Hitler: A Biography |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-005673-5 |page=986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5jCoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA986&dq=plockinger+hitler&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjFvsfEu7iQAxXHkmoFHVXdOsQQ6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=plockinger%20hitler&f=false |language=en}}</ref>
==History== Hitler, who remained in the German Army after the First World War, returned to Munich in September 1919. Assigned to an intelligence and propaganda unit of the ''Reichswehr'' which was run by Mayr, Hitler was ordered to draft a response to Gemlich's question on the army's position on the Jewish question. Hitler's response, dated 16 September 1919, was either written by him or dictated by him and subsequently typed by another.<ref name="Ewing2011-06-03" /> Two copies of the letter are thought to exist. One is in the Bavarian state archives in Munich which is typewritten but unsigned, and the second is at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, also typewritten but signed by Hitler.<ref name="Usborne2011-03-17" /> The second version, now believed to be the original, was discovered in a Nuremberg archive by a U.S. Army soldier, William F. Ziegler, who brought it to the United States, where it ended up in a private collection. In 1990, Charles Hamilton, the handwriting expert, authenticated the signature on the letter and, in 2011 it was purchased by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for $150,000.<ref name = "bbc2011june8">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13692755|title=Landmark Hitler letter on Jews unveiled in New York}}</ref><ref name="Rawlings2011-06-08" />
==References== <references>
<ref name="Ewing2011-06-03"> {{cite news | last = Ewing | first = Jack | date = 2011-06-03 | title = Letter of Hitler's First Anti-Semitic Writing May Be the Original | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/world/europe/03iht-hitler03.html | accessdate = 2011-06-12 }} </ref>
<ref name="JVL"> {{cite web | title = Adolf Hitler's First Antisemitic Writing | year = 2010 | work = JewishVirtualLibrary.org | publisher = The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise | url = http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Adolf_Hitler's_First_Antisemitic_Writing.html | accessdate = 2011-06-12 }} </ref>
<ref name="Usborne2011-03-17"> {{cite news | last = Usborne | first = David | date = 2011-03-17 | title = Letter early sign of Hitler's anti-Jewish vision, says centre | newspaper = The New Zealand Herald | url = http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10731077 | accessdate = 2011-06-12 }} </ref>
<ref name="Rawlings2011-06-08"> {{cite magazine | last = Rawlings | first = Nate | date = 2011-06-08 | magazine = Time | title = The Seeds of Hitler's Hatred: Infamous 1919 Genocide Letter Unveiled to the Public | url = http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2076346,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110609182304/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2076346,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = June 9, 2011 | accessdate = 2011-06-12 }} </ref>
</references>
==External links== * [https://www.museumoftolerance.com/assets/documents/hitler-letter-handout-1.pdf Gemlich letter in German and English] {{See also|Bibliography of the Holocaust#Primary sources}}
Category:Holocaust historical documents Category:Works by Adolf Hitler Category:1919 documents Category:Letters (message)