333

ADOLF HITLER D.S.

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ADOLF HITLER D.S.
<b>333. ADOLF HITLER</b> (1889 - 1945)<b> </b>Fuhrer of Germany and Nazi Party leader, Hitler's bloody rise to power, his military seizure of most of Europe and North Africa and his genocidal racial policies culminated in suicide in his Berlin bunker as Russian troops approached. Rare, important late D.S. 2pp. large 4to., "<i>Fuhrer's Headquarters</i>", July 12, 1944, in which Hitler orders that due to the changing military situation, all sea transportation of the Army shall be brought under control of the Navy. The order, marked "<i>Secret Dispatch</i>" at top, reads in part: "<i>...The development of the military situation brings ocean navigation into an ever closer relationship with the management of the war at sea and requires therefore a close accounting within the Army of all requests for sea transport. I therefore order...consistent handling of all requests for...sea transport for the Army by the Commander in Chief of the Navy [Raeder]...The disposition and responsibility of the Reichskommisars for merchant shipping...[is] no longer in force...To cut off the operations of the enemies of the homeland...management of sea transport by the Commander in Chief of the Navy was the basis of my order of 25 October 1943...This determination relieves the Chief of Staff of the Army of responsibility with the Chief of the Navy and the Reichskommisar for sea transport...</i>". Boldly signed with a somewhat shaky hand. Initialed by Gen. <b>WILHELM KIETEL</b> and Gen. <b>KURT ZEITZLER</b>. This order was no doubt prompted by the Allies' powerful grip on the sea lanes in the Mediterranean, North Sea, and in the Channel. Hitler's shaky hand is explained by the fact that just two weeks earlier he had been wounded in the bomb attempt on his life. It had been only five weeks since D-Day, Cherbourg had fallen and Russian forces were making a determined attack from the east.<b> $3,000-4,000</b>