YNET NEWS: Amount of fan mail sent to Nazi leader between 1925 and 1945 rivalled that of The Beatles, The Independent reports
LONDON - The amount of fan mail sent to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler between the years 1925 and 1945 rivalled that of The Beatles, British newspaper The Independent reported Tuesday.
According to the report, the up to 1,000 letters a month written to Hitler during the course of his political career included not only fawning pledges of allegiance and declarations of love but bizarre requests from ordinary Germans for permission to bake cakes named after the Nazi leader.
The contents of the letters have been published in a new book by German historian Henrik Eberle, who unearthed a rich source of hitherto unseen Nazi fan mail in historical archives in Moscow.
According to The Independent, excerpts from Dr Eberle's book, Letters to Hitler – a People Writes to its Leader, were published Monday in Germany's Bild newspaper.
Some of the letters praise Hitler's leadership, while others were written by people seeking to reveal the fuehrer's personal tastes and habits.
A telegram written by a Walter Zickler, dated June 1925, pledges "unalterable allegiance and unshakeable faith in our leader, Adolf Hitler", on behalf of the "College of German Farmers".
"How does HE stand regarding the question of alcohol?" asks Alfred Barg, in a letter written to Hitler in May 1925. According to the report, Dr Eberle notes in his book that Hitler rarely set eyes on any of the letters himself but relied primarily on Rudolf Hess, his deputy, to read and reply to them.
To Barg's letter, Hess replies nine days later: "Herr Hitler does not drink any alcohol, except for a few drops on very special occasions. He does not smoke at all." Love letters sent to Hitler revealed (more) By Hagit Klaiman
Mark Alexander
