Autograph – Colonel General Walter Heitz (1878–1944) – handwritten, two-page letter to a female collector, 1939

Autograph – Colonel General Walter Heitz (1878–1944) – handwritten, two-page letter to a female collector, 1939.
Letter written in blue ink on A4 paper (folded twice), dated "Feb. 8, 1939" in the top right corner. The first paragraph expresses thanks for well-wishes on his 60th birthday. He then recounts various stages of his personal life to the collector—including the deaths of his parents—and concludes the letter with the sign-off, "Yours, always devoted, Walter Heitz." Included is the original mailing envelope, addressed to the collector and postally used (opened by slitting). Walter Heitz joined the 2nd West Prussian Field Artillery Regiment No. 36 in 1898 and served in the First World War as a captain and battery commander. From October 1939, he served as the Commanding General of the VIII Army Corps. On September 4, 1940, at the age of 61, he was awarded the Knight's Cross (RK). This honor was granted because, acting on his own initiative and leading from the front—he personally scouted river crossings while under enemy fire—he led his troops across the Oise River near Carmain on June 10, 1940. Following a successful advance toward the Volga, he was awarded the Oak Leaves (EL) to his Knight's Cross on December 2, 1942. While trapped in the Stalingrad pocket in 1943, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel General (Generaloberst).
Provenance: The autograph collection of Gertrud Hoffmann and her daughter Else Karmann—"A German Autograph Collection, 1850–1967."