BALDUR VON SCHIRACH

BALDUR VON SCHIRACH
(1907 - 1974) Nazi leader of the Hitler Youth and Gauleiter of Vienna, sentenced at Nuremburg to twenty years for war crimes. Great association A.L.S. 'Baldur', 2pp. 4to., [n.p.], Dec. 30, 1969, writing to his friends in America, in part: 'Today the Dodd hearings arrived and kept me busy...this is a sad story. Many leading industrialists in Germany seem to have been foolish in signing contracts with Mr. Klein, but after all, if a Senator of the U.S. tells Adenauer, von Brentano, Echard, Schroeder, Abs (the banker), that Mr. Klein is a man of the greatest merits...who can be blamed for following such advice?...Our high officials in the government and our industrialists...established so many relationships to leading figures in your administration that nobody here would be a victim of the advice of a U.S. Senator without further inquiry. Do you think Dodd has a chance to be reelected? I hope not...' von Schirach signs at the conclusion. Slight staple holes at top left, horizontal fold at bottom of first page, else fine condition. THOMAS J. DODD (1903 - 1971) was an American senator from Connecticut from 1959 to 1971, and one of only six people censured by the Senate in the 20th century. The censure was a condemnation of his misuse of campaign funds and his illicit dealings with JULIUS KLEIN, a lobbyist for several West German clients, including those mentioned in the letter. Schirach's outrage may have ulterior motives, however, as Dodd also acted as Executive Counsel for the Nuremberg Trials, where he cross-examined and drafted indictments for several Third Reich officials, including Wilhelm Keitel, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Walther Funk... and Baldur von Schirach. A nice piece with an interesting backstory!