Goebbels love letters, fiction go to auction

12 years ago | Posted in: Culture/Art | 548 Views

AFP – Poems, love letters and works of fiction written by Joseph Goebbels before he became Adolf Hitler’s propaganda chief went on sale this week near New York.

Alexander Historical Auctions described the archive of Goebbels’ pre-war literary efforts as “the most important cache of World War II autographs to ever become available for sale.”

The collection, which is said to be in perfect condition and is estimated to be worth $200,000-$300,000, reveals a little-known side of the man who would join the inner circle in Germany’s Nazi Party.

In plays, a novel and other writings, Goebbels displayed his resentment and sensitivity, but also his rapidly hardening attitudes.

The auction house in Stamford, Connecticut, said the works trace the development of a “shy, romantic and easily-swayed college student with Marxist leanings” into “a radical Nazi and rabid anti-Semite, a brilliant propagandist at the right hand of the man who would within a decade conquer — and destroy — most of Europe.”

“It sums up the formative years of the number two man in the Third Reich, who was responsible for motivating the masses in Germany to back Hitler,” said Bill Panagopulos, the auction house’s president. “In my opinion, it shows how this rather simple, shy and love-struck college student really just became radicalized.”

Included in the hoard are school report cards and essays, personal letters, love letters, poetry and anti-capitalist dramas focusing on downtrodden workers in a corrupt world.

The auction closes Friday, with online bids early Monday reaching $100,000.

 

ref: www.france24.com

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