Contents and Arrangement Collection View
Description:

Contains correspondence to/from Adolf Hitler and from members and officers of the NSDAP. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by last name of author (or, in some cases the recipient) within each subseries.

Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.

Description:

Consists of bonds and ration coupons issued by the Deutschen Reichs, passports of members of the NSDAP as well as photocopies of Hitler's Political Testament, Private Will, and papers relating to his marriage to Eva Braun.

Arranged by genre of material.

Description:

Consists of NSDAP armbands, identification tags, a test kit for hair, eye, and skin coloring, a recording of a speech by Paul von Hindenburg (1932), and a stamp album.

Arranged by genre of material.

Description:

Contains fragments of correspondence, poems, and other unidentified material.

Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.

Description:

consists of photographs removed from correspondence located in Series I as well as photographs of Hitler at various functions, and members and officers of the NSDAP in portraits. An addition consists of 3 photograph albums prepared for Hermann Goring by Lutz Heck containing 183 black and white photographs of Goring, other officers, friends and family mainly on hunting trips in the Bavarian mountains.

Arranged by subject of photograph.

Description:

Contains three books with the bookplate of Adolf Hitler.

Arranged alphabetically by author.

Scope and Contents

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.

Collection Creator Biography:

Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945.

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) was a German dictator and author.

Acquisition:

The collection was formed from three accessions: a 1946 gift to Princeton from a Colonel Given, a 1969 purchase from Chicago booksellers, and a 1999 gift from Harry A. Brooks (Class of 1935).

Appraisal

No appraisal information is available.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Marta Hanewald in May 1992 and updated by Barbara Volz in 1999. Finding aid written by Marta Hanewald in May 1992.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Adolf Hitler Collection; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/0z708w50f
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-5