TheGemlich letter refers to a letter written byAdolf Hitler at the behest ofKarl Mayr toAdolf Gemlich, aGerman Army soldier. The letter, written in 1919 in response to a request for clarification on theJewish question, is thought to be the first known piece ofantisemitic writing by Hitler,[1] and the first political piece by Hitler.[2] 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 inHolocaust 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 topogroms 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".[3]
Hitler, who remained in the German Army after theFirst World War, returned toMunich in September 1919. Assigned to an intelligence and propaganda unit of theReichswehr 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.[1] 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 theSimon Wiesenthal Center, also typewritten but signed by Hitler.[4] The second version, now believed to be the original, was discovered in aNuremberg archive by aU.S. Army soldier, William F. Ziegler, who brought it to theUnited 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.[5][6]