EICHMANN ADOLF: (1906-1962) Nazi SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer, known as the 'architect of the ...

EICHMANN ADOLF: (1906-1962) Nazi SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer, known as the 'architect of the Holocaust'. Brief autograph note, unsigned, comprising one word in the hand of Eichmann, one page (feint ruled paper), slim oblong 8vo, n.p. (Jerusalem), n.d. (c. June 1961), in German. In blue ink Eichmann has penned the word Wannseekonferenz. With blank integral leaf. Slightly irregularly torn to the upper and lower edges as a result of originally having been removed from a larger sheet of paper, and with a few creases slightly affecting the conclusion of the word. About VG

The Wannsee Conference, organised by Reinhard Heydrich, was a meeting of senior Nazi Germany government officials and SS leaders that took place in the Wannsee suburb of Berlin on 20^th January 1942. The purpose of the conference was to ensure the co-operation of administrative leaders of various government departments in the implementation of the Final Solution to the Jewish Question, whereby most of the Jews of German-occupied Europe would be deported to occupied Poland and murdered.

Eichmann played an important role at the conference and in preparation had drafted a list of the numbers of Jews in the various European countries. At the conclusion of the meeting Heydrich gave Eichmann firm instructions about what was to appear in the minutes, which were taken in shorthand at the conference by Eichmann's secretary. They were not to be verbatim and Eichmann ensured that nothing too explicit appeared in them.

Provenance: From the archive of Robert Servatius (1894-1983) German Lawyer known for his defence of Nazi war criminals including Adolf Eichmann.