7159 - Fritz Sauckel Autograph Letter Signed, Naming a Nazi Banker for His Defense

Fritz Sauckel Autograph Letter Signed, Naming a Nazi Banker for His Defense ALS in pencil, in German, signed "Fritz Sauckel," one page both sides, 8 x 11.25, June 24, 1945. Written in pencil from his prison room barely six weeks after Germany's surrender, Sauckel opens with an apology: an unauthorized visit to "Minister Ohnsorge" had drawn a disciplinary punishment, which he accepts, while asking to be restored to his old room once the punishment ends. He explains he had gone to Ohnsorge only to seek "a little advice." The substantive portion follows, with Sauckel naming a witness he wants on record for his defense: Director Karl Goetz, a Dresdner Bank executive who Sauckel states "was never in the Party" and was arrested and imprisoned in connection with the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler, a claim Sauckel presents as evidence of Goetz's anti-Nazi credibility. Sauckel describes bringing Goetz onto his staff as a consultant on wage payments to the families of foreign workers, and argues Goetz, "held in high esteem, especially abroad," could speak credibly to his conduct and character. He supplies Goetz's address near Munich for the record. In fine condition, with uniform toning. Goetz did in fact accompany Sauckel to wartime labor negotiations in Paris with French Prime Minister Pierre Laval, and his written affidavit was later admitted into the Nuremberg record as Exhibit Sauckel-10 after the Tribunal denied Sauckel's request to call him as a live witness, claiming Sauckel had pressed for humane treatment of foreign workers. It did not save him. Sauckel was convicted on two counts, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and hanged October 16, 1946.