HITLER ADOLF: (1889-1945) Fuhrer of the Third Reich 1933-45. A significant World War II date D.S., Adolf Hitler, three pages (separate leaves), 4to, Fuhrer Headquarters, 11^th September 1941, to the Head of the High Command of the Wehrmacht [Wilhelm Keitel], marked Secret Command Document, in German. Hitler states, in part, 'The armaments industry is more than busy with orders. The implementation of the programmes I have determined is therefore only possible if the demands of the departments of the Wehrmacht are coordinated and brought into line with the capacities of the industry. The programmes I have determined therefore require the following measures: 1.) Concentration and limitation of all procurements of the departments of the Wehrmacht on their own armaments, 2.) Balancing within the entire Wehrmacht by the High Command of the Wehrmacht if deliveries of orders cannot be guaranteed…..3.) General adjustment and coordination of necessary procurements of the departments of the Wehrmacht considering the capacities of the industry. In order to carry out these measures, I command that the demands of the departments of the Wehrmacht regarding procurement and development be sent to the procurement offices via the Head of the High Command of the Wehrmacht. The latter, together with the Reich Minister for Armament and Ammunition, examines the capabilities of the armaments industry to meet the demands and decides on my behalf about the type and scope of the orders. I authorise the Head of the High Command of the Wehrmacht to make cuts in non-urgent production and to issue corresponding refusals…..If production should only be possible by restricting productions of priority programmes, I reserve the right to decide. The Head of the High Command of the Wehrmacht issues implementing regulations in agreement with the Reich Minister for Armament and Ammunition'. A typed notation at the conclusion indicates that copies of the document were also sent to the Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, the Reich Minister for Armament and Ammunition and the Reichsfuhrer SS, along with the instruction 'Document to be destroyed!'. The verso of the final page features various typed details and indelible pencil annotations and initials regarding the distribution (and destruction) of copies of the Fuhrer's Secret Command Document. Two file holes to the left edge of each page, and with some slight tears and small areas of paper loss to the edges, none of which significantly affect the text, and none touching Hitler's signature, otherwise about VG

Wilhelm Keitel (1882-1946) German Field Marshal who held office as chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany's armed forces, from 1938-45.

Hitler's 'Secret Command Document' was issued just three days after the Fuhrer's Directive 35 in which he ordered the beginning of Operation Typhoon, the German strategic offensive which led to the Battle of Moscow, a military campaign lasting from 2^nd October 1941 to 7^th January 1942. The Battle of Moscow, one of the most important battles of World War II, is regarded by historians as the first critical turning point of the war. The Soviets were able to successfully prevent the most serious attempt to capture their capital and represented the first time since the Wehrmacht began its conquests in 1939 that it had been forced into a major retreat.