Arthur Seyss-Inquart (2) Autograph Letters Signed at Nuremberg, Urgently Preparing His Defense
Seyss-Inquart's race against the clock: urgent pleas to Airey Neave for a lawyer and access to his own case file
Two ALSs by Arthur Seyss-Inquart, both written while imprisoned at Nuremberg and affixed back-to-back on a single cardstock sheet:
- ALS in pencil, in German, signed “Seyss-Inquart,” one page, 8 x 10.5, November 5, 1945. Handwritten letter sent to the attention of Airey Neave at Nuremberg, in full (translated): "Since time is getting short, I urgently request that the question of my defense counsel be cleared and that I be allowed to inspect the documents, as requested before." Accompanied by a contemporary English translation.
- ALS in pencil, in German, signed “Seyss-Inquart,” one page, 8 x 10.5, November 10, 1945. Handwritten letter to Airey Neave, in full (translated): "Yesterday I received as defense first Dr. Servatius then Dr. Golling. I beg now however to be informed whether these names and/or which names were mentioned by Dr. Hans Frank. This should be, as I was told, permitted. Also inform me whether a defense has arrived from Vienna." An English translation has been typed in the lower margin.
Backed by lightweight cardstock and in fine condition, with professional cleaning to the paper.
Major Airey Neave, the addressee, was the British officer and Colditz escapee who had served the indictment on the Nuremberg defendants and worked with the Tribunal's legal machinery throughout the trial; he later became a Member of Parliament and was assassinated by the INLA in 1979. These letters capture Seyss-Inquart, weeks before formal proceedings began, scrambling over the basic mechanics of his own defense, who would represent him and whether he would be permitted to see the evidence against him. As Reich Commissar for the Occupied Netherlands, Seyss-Inquart oversaw deportations that sent over 100,000 Dutch Jews to their deaths. He was convicted on all four counts and hanged October 16, 1946.
Seyss-Inquart's race against the clock: urgent pleas to Airey Neave for a lawyer and access to his own case file
Two ALSs by Arthur Seyss-Inquart, both written while imprisoned at Nuremberg and affixed back-to-back on a single cardstock sheet:
- ALS in pencil, in German, signed “Seyss-Inquart,” one page, 8 x 10.5, November 5, 1945. Handwritten letter sent to the attention of Airey Neave at Nuremberg, in full (translated): "Since time is getting short, I urgently request that the question of my defense counsel be cleared and that I be allowed to inspect the documents, as requested before." Accompanied by a contemporary English translation.
- ALS in pencil, in German, signed “Seyss-Inquart,” one page, 8 x 10.5, November 10, 1945. Handwritten letter to Airey Neave, in full (translated): "Yesterday I received as defense first Dr. Servatius then Dr. Golling. I beg now however to be informed whether these names and/or which names were mentioned by Dr. Hans Frank. This should be, as I was told, permitted. Also inform me whether a defense has arrived from Vienna." An English translation has been typed in the lower margin.
Backed by lightweight cardstock and in fine condition, with professional cleaning to the paper.
Major Airey Neave, the addressee, was the British officer and Colditz escapee who had served the indictment on the Nuremberg defendants and worked with the Tribunal's legal machinery throughout the trial; he later became a Member of Parliament and was assassinated by the INLA in 1979. These letters capture Seyss-Inquart, weeks before formal proceedings began, scrambling over the basic mechanics of his own defense, who would represent him and whether he would be permitted to see the evidence against him. As Reich Commissar for the Occupied Netherlands, Seyss-Inquart oversaw deportations that sent over 100,000 Dutch Jews to their deaths. He was convicted on all four counts and hanged October 16, 1946.
