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World War II-dated TLS, one page, 6 x 8, personal Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force letterhead, April 17, 1945. Letter to Earl Carroll, in full: ?When I returned to my office today, having been visiting troops in forward areas, I found your splendid package on my desk. It is the best fruit I have had in a long time and I want to tell you how much I appreciate your great kindness in thinking of me so generously.? In very good to fine condition, with staple holes, scattered stains, light creasing, and toning from prior display. Accompanied by a modern photo of Eisenhower visiting the newly liberated Ohrdruf concentration camp.
Eisenhower?s mention of ?forward areas? is a reference to his tour of the Ohrdruf concentration camp on April 12th, the very same day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt died. Per the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: 'While Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had studied his World War II enemy, he was unprepared for the Nazi brutality he witnessed at Ohrdruf concentration camp in April 1945. Bodies were piled like wood and living skeletons struggled to survive. Even as the Allied Forces continued their fight, Eisenhower foresaw a day when the horrors of the Holocaust might be denied. He invited the media to document the scene. He compelled Germans living in the surrounding towns and any soldier not fighting at the front to witness the atrocities for themselves.' Two days later, on April 14th, he halted the American drive to Berlin. When he returned to his headquarters to enjoy the fruit, he was able to celebrate what essentially amounted to the end of major battles for American troops in Europe. Eisenhower letters dated between D-Day and the German surrender are scarcer than their presidential counterparts.
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