Germany, SS. A Letter From Heinrich “Gestapo” Müller to Goebbels Concerning the 20 July Plot Investigation

A letter from SS-Gruppenführer and Lieutenant General of Police Heinrich “Gestapo” Müller to Reichsminister Joseph Goebbels concerning the investigation into the 20 July Plot. Dated 8 November 1944, Müller indicates that he will be sending a number of reports to Goebbels with the cooperation of SS-Obergruppenführer Ernst Kaltenbrunner, and would like the documents to be returned to him after they have been examined by Goebbels. It is signed by the author and measures 210 mm (w) x 296 mm (h). Minor yellowing is evident, but the document is in an otherwise extremely fine condition.

Footnote: A First World War veteran who later joined the Munich Police, Heinrich Müller enlisted in the SS in 1934 and became Operations Chief of the Gestapo by 1936, answering to SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich. Characterized as a ruthless workaholic, Müller ran counter-intelligence operations and became a key perpetrator of the Holocaust during the war years after he ascended to the helm of the Gestapo in 1939. Müller was placed in charge of the investigation of the 20 July Plot, where he oversaw the arrest of 7,000 suspects, resulting in nearly 5,000 executions. Müller’s last confirmed sighting was on 1 May 1945, when he departed the Führerbunker in advance of its capture by the Red Army.

Throughout the Cold War, rumours persisted that Müller escaped Berlin and was working for American or Soviet intelligence, and despite the efforts of Israeli and other operatives to locate him, he remains the most senior figure of the Third Reich whose fate is unknown. He received the moniker “Gestapo” Müller to distinguish him from another SS General with the same name.