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ALS in German, signed “Your W.,” one page, 8 x 11.75, U.S. Government "Prisoner of War" letterhead, March 24, 1946. Handwritten letter to his wife Margarete, in full (translated): "I got your last letter on Wednesday. You will have had my postcard of the 20th in reply, and already it seems to me like half an eternity, and I wait with longing for further news of you. Perhaps it will come tomorrow. Oh, in these lovely spring days I have a longing for you, my dear Grete, and for the children which is doubly strong. How happily I could ramble with you, as we used to do, through the field and meadow, and eavesdrop on nature as she awakens. Today I have to content myself with the miserable, silent circuit of a courtyard, and I am delighted to hear the happy little song of a chaffinch. But I won't become sentimental, otherwise one could jump out of one's skin. The trial still grinds along. Goering was finished with first; now Hess is in play. My turn will probably come next of the week after. I reckon that we shan't be finished before Whitsun. Dr. P. has been in Berlin all week, I expect him back tomorrow. Hopefully, Paul is with you now and can help you a bit. How glad I should be to do that. I will do my best with the defense. Above all, keep well and don't let anything make you lose your composure. With a thousand kisses for you, R. and D." Frick writes his full name, "Dr. Wilhelm Frick," and Nuremberg internment address at the bottom. In fine condition.
Written from his prison cell at Nuremberg as the defense phase of the International Military Tribunal gathered momentum, this poignant letter reveals a strikingly personal side of Wilhelm Frick, Hitler's longtime Reich Minister of the Interior and one of the principal architects of the Nazi regime's racial legislation. His observations on the progress of the trial—Göring's testimony had concluded and Hess's defense was underway—offer a firsthand glimpse of the proceedings, while his reference to "Dr. P." concerns his attorney, Dr. Otto Pannenbecker, who would present Frick's defense in late April 1946.
Frick's tender expressions of longing for his wife and children, and his wistful description of springtime beyond the prison walls, stand in stark contrast to his central role in establishing the legal machinery of Nazi persecution, including the infamous Nuremberg Race Laws. Ultimately convicted of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, Frick was sentenced to death and hanged on October 16, 1946, less than seven months after writing this letter.
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