7176 - Arthur Seyss-Inquart Autograph Letter Signed as Prisoner of War: "Have you heard anything of Faust?"

Arthur Seyss-Inquart Autograph Letter Signed as Prisoner of War: "Have you heard anything of Faust?" ALS in pencil, in German, signed “Seyss-Inquart,” one page on a 5.5 x 3.25 "Prisoner of War Post Card," September 17, 1945. Handwritten letter asking for news on the Dutch famine, in full (translated): "Hopefully, this card may reach you and find you well. Have you heard anything of Faust? I am in good health. But of my people, since March, I know nothing. If you know anything, I should be grateful if you would send me news by prisoner of war postcard. All best wishes to you and your loved ones." In very good to fine condition, with scattered staining. The postcard’s reference to “Faust” is especially evocative in light of Seyss-Inquart’s final weeks as Reich Commissioner of the occupied Netherlands. During the catastrophic Dutch “Hunger Winter” of 1944-45, widespread food shortages brought much of the western Netherlands to the brink of starvation. In April 1945, Seyss-Inquart entered negotiations with Dutch and Allied representatives that permitted emergency food relief to reach the population before the German surrender. The best-known efforts were the Allied air drops of Operations Manna and Chowhound, while Operation Faust carried supplies overland: beginning May 2, Canadian and British trucks moved thousands of tons of food across the lines into still German-held western Holland. Seyss-Inquart personally participated in the negotiations at Achterveld that made these relief measures possible.