The letter was written in pencil on two pieces of paper. It is addressed to a Major Kelly, dated to October 9, 1945, and signed “C. von Neurath”. The letter includes a short biography of Neurath, focussing mostly on health issues, his own as well as those of his parents, wife, and children. Measuring 205 mm (w) x 331 mm (h), presenting two folding creases, and minor creasing and fraying of the edges, remains near extremely fine. The letter comes with an English transcript.
Footnote: Konstantin Hermann Karl Freiherr von Neurath was born on February 2, 1873 in Kleinglattbach (present day Vaihingen an der Enz, southwest Germany). He was a member of a Swabian noble family. After studying law, Neurath entered into civil service, working for the Foreign Office in Berlin since 1901. From 1903 to 1908, he was assigned to the German embassy in London, and in 1914 to the one in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire. With the outbreak of the First War, Neurath served as an infantry officer, being awarded the Iron Cross. He was severely wounded in 1916. Neurath returned to diplomatic service in 1919 at the embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark. Between 1921 and 1930 he served as ambassador in Rome, and afterwards again in London. Neurath returned to Germany in 1932 to become Minister of Foreign Affairs. He joined the NSDAP in 1937 and was awarded the Golden Party Badge. He was also made an honorary SS-Gruppenführer. However, Neurath objected to AH’s plans for plunging Germany into another war, as he feared, correctly, that France and Britain would inevitably enter it as enemies of Germany, and German rearmament efforts should be granted more time. Therefore, in early 1938, AH had Neurath removed from his position as Foreign Minister. He was replaced by Joachim von Ribbentrop. Neurath’s international reputation prevented him from being removed from politics completely, and he became a minister without portfolio.
Neurath was made Reich Protector of occupied Bohemia and Moravia in March of 1939, partly because AH wanted to use his international reputation to appease the outrage his annexation of Czechoslovakia had caused. Neurath was responsible for instituting measures to keep occupied Czechoslovakia in line with national socialist doctrine. As such, he instituted press censorship, banned political parties and trade unions, subdued student protests, and oversaw persecution of Jews. Even so, his rule was comparatively gentle, for German occupational standards at the time. This prompted AH to replace Neurath with Reinhard Heydrich in September of 1941. Nominally, Neurath was still in charge until his resignation was accepted in 1943, yet he had had no actual power anymore since Heydrich had arrived. In June of 1943, Neurath was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer. After the war, Neurath was tried at Nuremberg in 1946. He was found guilty of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He was released prematurely in 1954 on account of his poor health. Neurath died on August 14, 1956.