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Love letters from Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler published

BERLIN, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- A German newspaper Sunday published the first installment of a cache of World War II-era love letters written by Nazi Germany's notorious Heinrich Himmler.

Himmler's notes to his wife Margareth have been locked away for several years in Israel, where they made their way while changing hands in the years after the war.

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The collection of letters that began running in Die Welt Sunday date from the late 1920s, when the Nazi Party began to take shape, into 1945, the year the war ended and Himmler committed suicide following his capture by the British.

The letters contain little new insight into the workings of the Nazis and the Holocaust, but some made reference to the couple's mutual dislike of Jewish people and the gradual change of Germany's fortunes on the battlefield.

"The fighting is very difficult, particularly for the SS," Himmler said in one letter written as the invasion of the Soviet Union bogged down.

In another note, Himmler, who headed the Schutzstaffel -- infamously known as the SS -- cheerily informed Mrs. Himmler that he was "heading to Auschwitz" for an inspection of the notorious concentration camp.

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The Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post noted that the letters didn't gloss over Himmler's staunch anti-Semitism. In a 1928 letter, Himmler commiserated with his wife after she sold her share of her medical practice to her Jewish partners.

"Don't get angry about the Jews, good woman," Himmler said. "I can help you."

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