[NAZI OCCULT]: WILIGUT CARL MARIA: (1866-1946) Austrian occultist and SS-Brigadefuhrer, a leading figure in the Irminism movement who was personally recruited to the SS by Heinrich Himmler. An extremely rare T.L.S., K. M. Weisthor (the alias with which he was inducted into the SS), one page, 4to, Berlin, 7th February 1938, to Heinrich Himmler, in German. Wiligut writes concerning Die Mar vom Raidenstein ('The Tidings from the Raidenstein') by Gunther Kirchhoff, stating that Kirchhoff had sent him a latter and a copy of the book, in two volumes, remarking 'Since the book appeared to me to be exceptionally informative, I went through it in detail. In so far as I can make a judgement on the basis of the written evidence, the views which Kirchhoff advances are good' and further adding 'To my knowledge, Kirchhoff has relationships with several 'initiates'. He has maintained these contacts for some years. I can give my final judgement on this work only when I have undertaken on the spot a thorough examination of his treatment of the Raidenstein. If this study confirms the correctness of Kirchhoff's treatment, I will then send you my considered view'. Initialled ('HH') by Himmler in green indelible pencil to the head of the page alongside his name, and with an official stamp and pencil annotations to the lower left corner. A letter of interesting content and excellent association. Two file holes to the upper and lower edges, not affecting the text or signatures, VG

Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) Nazi German politician, Reichsfuhrer of the Schutzstaffel (SS) 1929-45.

Gunther Kirchhoff (1892-1975) German esotericist, crypto-historian and List Society member who interpreted legends as reflections of actual prehistorical incident.

'In August 1934 Weisthor brought Gunther Kirchhoff, a fellow enthusiast for Germanic prehistory with whom he had corresponded since the spring, to the attention of Himmler.....Greatly impressed by his letters, Weisthor sent the Kirchhoff correspondence to Himmler, with the excited comment that "there were still thank goodness other "initiates" besides himself who read the times correctly". He also.....followed up by sending another Kirchhoff essay.....with the vigorous recommendation that "its content was of momentous importance both with respect to our own prehistoric past and for its links with the present"......The essay described the organisation of prehistoric Germany with explicit reference to List's Armanenschaft. Kirchhoff claimed that ancient Europe had been ruled by the Great Three, namely the Uiskunig of Goslar, King Arthur of Stonehenge, and Ermanrich of Vineta or Vilna......Kirchhoff ultimately exhausted the patience of the Ahnenerbe [a Nazi German pseudoscientific think tank established by Himmler in 1935 as an SS appendage] which Himmler had ordered to study his essays......Having by now had enough of Kirchhoff's endless submissions, the Ahnenerbe took a hard line, describing him as a "fantasist of the worst kind" and his work as "rubbish" in their reports. Nevetheless, Himmler still wanted to know why Kirchhoff was being neglected by the Ahnenerbe and took a great interest in his description of a hexagonal religious complex in the countryside around the Raidenstein near Gaggenau.......Himmler insisted that the recalcitrant Ahnenerbe pursue the matter with Kirchhoff but the proposed archaeological dig was postponed indefinitely at the outbreak of the war. The real importance of this dispute is its demonstration of Himmler's essential support for a lay occultist in the face of academic opposition from his staff in the Ahnenerbe. The fact that Wesithor and Kirchhoff continued to win the attention and favour of the Reichsfuhrer-SS over their heads must have rankled badly with the members of the institute' (extracted from The Occult Roots of Nazism - Secret Aryan Cults and their Influence on Nazi Ideology by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke).

Autographs of Wiligut are of the utmost rarity and we are unaware of any other example having previously appeared at auction.