Historian publishes previously private letters to Adolf Hitler

BERLIN -- At first glance, the letter carefully printed in a child’s hand seems innocuous, nothing more than the expression of a young crush: “I love you so much. Write me -- please. Many greetings. Your Gina.”

But the note takes on a more sinister tone when its recipient is known: Adolf Hitler.

The 1935 letter is one of 300 in a new book, “Briefe an Hitler” (“Letters to Hitler”), by German historian Henrik Eberle. He examined more than 20,000 letters in Russian archives.

The letters give a unique glimpse into the minds of Germans during the Nazi era, from party sycophants and ordinary citizens to political opponents and Jews suffering under the Nazi regime.

Eberle stumbled on the letters when researching an earlier book on Hitler.

“It is important to show the whole picture,” he said. “There are totally normal people’s feelings, and then there are also the thoughts of the prominent people.”

The Nazis kept meticulous records, and the letters had been carefully stored in Berlin. They were seized by the Soviet army at the end of World War II and taken to Moscow.

While some individual letters have been previously published -- like one from World War I hero Gen. Erich Ludendorff complaining of diminishing freedoms under the Nazis -- the vast majority have never been seen by the public.

“It was known that there was this archive, it was known it was available to be seen, but there hasn’t been a book that’s brought them all together,” Eberle said.

The 476-page book is only available in German. Publishers Gustav Luebbe GmbH & Co. said there were no immediate plans for an English edition.

The letters illuminate the German zeitgeist from 1925 -- the year Hitler published “Mein Kampf,” detailing his ideology and ambitions -- to 1945, when he ended his own life in a Berlin bunker.

The letters were primarily sorted by Rudolf Hess and Albert Bormann, brother of Hitler’s confidant and private secretary Martin Bormann. They were marked with red ink if not shown to Hitler, or green ink if he had been made aware of them, Eberle said.

Between 1933, when the Nazis were elected, and 1939, the year Germany invaded Poland, the number of letters increased dramatically -- and most expressed support for Hitler.

Letters sent near the war’s end showed the desperation of the German people.

“In 1945 there was a lot of advice, a lot about ‘wonder weapons’ -- the people wanted to do what they could against the Allies and would make suggestions,” Eberle said.

By 1945, the number of letters had dwindled. Hitler got about 10,000 birthday cards in 1938, Eberle said; in 1945 he got fewer than 100.