Stadler's letter to Himmler of 17 September 1943 (original document)
Below is a copy of the original hand-written "Thank You" letter from Stadler to Himmler (who is being addressed in the letter as, "Esteemed Reichsführer"). Himmler had just sent a congratulatory telegram on the occasion of Stadler becoming the 303rd recipient of the Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross. That such documents have survived at all is quite remarkable and history should be grateful for their preservation, as they give us an insight into both the persons concerned and their times. See the transcript for an English translation.
In the letter below Stadler is using what was in the Nazi era the standard script for hand-written documents. This form of writing is called, Sütterlin after its originator, a German calligrapher of that name. It looks somewhat strange to modern eyes, for example, what looks like "if" is in fact "ch" and the odd-looking capital letter "Y" is a "G". What is notable though is that when he writes his own name, both at the top and bottom of this letter, Stadler uses normal script. Compare the "a" in "Stadler" with the "a" in "SS Osubaf" on the line immediately below. This reply was actually posted to Himmler and not transmitted in the form of a telegram or radio message, as can be seen by the stamp at bottom left from the, "Personlicher Stab RF-SS" (The personal staff of the Reichsführer-SS).
© Michael Williams revised December 2007