Late Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi wrote two letters to Late Adolf Hitler to persuade him to refrain from the death and destruction he was about to cause to millions of people in Europe.
Following is the second letter. It gives a clearer and unbiased view of the communications.
WARDHA,
December 24, 1940
DEAR FRIEND,
That I address you as a friend is no formality. I own no foes. My business in life has been for the past 33 years to enlist the friendship of the whole of humanity by befriending mankind, irrespective of race, colour or creed.
I hope you will have the time and desire to know how a good portion of humanity who have view living under the influence of that doctrine of universal friendship view your action. We have no doubt about your bravery or devotion to your fatherland, nor do we believe that you are the monster described by your opponents. But your own writings and pronouncements and those of your friends and admirers leave no room for doubt that many of your acts are monstrous and unbecoming of human dignity, especially in the estimation of men like me who believe in universal friendliness. Such are your humiliation of Czechoslovakia, the rape of Poland and the swallowing of Denmark. I am aware that your view of life regards such spoliations as virtuous acts. But we have been taught from childhood to regard them as acts degrading humanity. Hence we cannot possibly wish success to your arms.
But ours is a unique position. We resist British Imperialism no less than Nazism. If there is a difference, it is in degree. One-fifth of the human race has been brought under the British heel by means that will not bear scrutiny. Our resistance to it does not mean harm to the British people. We seek to convert them, not to defeat them on the battle-field. Ours is an unarmed revolt against the British rule. But whether we convert them or not, we are determined to make their rule impossible by non-violent non-co-operation. It is a method in its nature indefensible. It is based on the knowledge that no spoliator can compass his end without a certain degree of co-operation, willing or compulsory, of the victim. Our rulers may have our land and bodies but not our souls. They can have the former only by complete destruction of every Indian—man, woman and child. That all may not rise to that degree of heroism and that a fair amount of frightfulness can bend the back of revolt is true but the argument would be beside the point. For, if a fair number of men and women be found in India who would be prepared without any ill will against the spoliators to lay down their lives rather than bend the knee to them, they would have shown the way to freedom from the tyranny of violence. I ask you to believe me when I say that you will find an unexpected number of such men and women in India. They have been having that training for the past 20 years.
We have been trying for the past half a century to throw off the British rule. The movement of independence has been never so strong as now. The most powerful political organization, I mean the Indian National Congress, is trying to achieve this end. We have attained a very fair measure of success through non-violent effort. We were groping for the right means to combat the most organized violence in the world which the British power represents. You have challenged it. It remains to be seen which is the better organized, the German or the British. We know what the British heel means for us and the non-European races of the world. But we would never wish to end the British rule with German aid. We have found in non-violence a force which, if organized, can without doubt match itself against a combination of all the most violent forces in the world. In non-violent technique, as I have said, there is no such thing as defeat. It is all ‘do or die’ without killing or hurting. It can be used practically without money and obviously without the aid of science of destruction which you have brought to such perfection. It is a marvel to me that you do not see that it is nobody’s monopoly. If not the British, some other power will certainly improve upon your method and beat you with your own weapon. You are leaving no legacy to your people of which they would feel proud. They cannot take pride in a recital of cruel deed, however skilfully planned. I, therefore, appeal to you in the name of humanity to stop the war. You will lose nothing by referring all the matters of dispute between you and Great Britain to an international tribunal of your joint choice. If you attain success in the war, it will not prove that you were in the right. It will only prove that your power of destruction was greater. Whereas an award by an impartial tribunal will show as far as it is humanly possible which party was in the right.
You know that not long ago I made an appeal to every Briton to accept my method of non-violent resistance. I did it because the British know me as a friend though a rebel. I am a stranger to you and your people. I have not the courage to make you the appeal I made to every Briton. Not that it would not apply to you with the same force as to the British. But my present proposal is much simple because much more practical and familiar.
During this season when the hearts of the peoples of Europe yearn for peace, we have suspended even our own peaceful struggle. Is it too much to ask you to make an effort for peace during a time which may mean nothing to you personally but which must mean much to the millions of Europeans whose dumb cry for peace I hear, for my ears are attended to hearing the dumb millions? I had intended to address a joint appeal to you and Signor Mussolini, whom I had the privilege of meeting when I was in Rome during my visit to England as a delegate to the Round Table Conference. I hope that he will take this as addressed to him also with the necessary changes.
I am,
Your sincere friend,
M. K. GANDHI
Posted by: Anil C Thakuria , MD | May 31, 2012 2:51:07 PM
It is truly a shame that 99% of the people alive today could never live by Gandhi's life philosophy. The non-violence non-co-operation movement will probably never get off today as it did back in the era just before, during and just after the second world war. Gandhi was a man like few others before him, as a European his writings remind me of those written by the Stoic philosophers of ancient Rome. Zeno,Crysipphus, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius the Emperor...Gandhi would have made a great Stoic, although to me, he surpassed even the greatest Stoics that ever lived.
Posted by: Vlad | Jul 25, 2012 5:55:16 AM
Anil C Thakuria writes:
"Gandhi wrote two letters to Late Adolf Hitler to persuade him to refrain from the death and destruction he was about to cause to millions of people in Europe."
This paragraph above is in line with what the modern history gangsters consider "history" in their works, but contemporary research is beginning to show that Hitler was doing everything in his might to save Germany and the world a terrible war.
His letters to England and 10 Downing Street proves this. But his request for peaceful solutions were simply ignored because some people wanted the war and benefited hugely from it, whilst all others more or less lost everything - including Britain who lost their precious empire.
A very humble and humanistic appeal to an otherwise inhuman opponent. I wonder what thoughts went through Hitler's mind as he read that letter. There must have been some sort of inner-cry, however subtle from what remained of his humanity. Though, I wonder if he even read it.
Sorry for my incredulity, but it is not common for a hindu to write a German in that language
Posted by: Lita M | Feb 22, 2013 1:06:04 PM
contemporary research is beginning to show that Hitler was doing everything in his might to save Germany and the world a terrible war.
!!!!?
(P.S. Abbas, you might want to have peek at Herr Konsl's site to see where this comment is coming from.)
Posted by: Hal P. | Feb 22, 2013 1:48:08 PM
So much for "k0nsl"
Expo magazine reveals: The spider in the virtual revisionist web
Many of the Internet revisionists hide behind aliases and conduct their business anonymously. One of the most important, and mysterious, is "k0nsl". The Swedish anti-racist magazine Expo can now reveal that the man behind the pseudonym is Swedish and called Jonathan Andersson.
Writing under several different pseudonyms, the 22-year-old Jonathan Andersson has become a central figure in the online revisionist web. As the webmaster of CODOH Forum, he has a key role in the premier virtual meeting place for Holocaust deniers – a meeting place where he is also an active participant.
In addition, Jonathan Andersson runs his own homepage, the "Holocaust History Archive"; a revisionist "copy" of the genuine site "Holocaust History". It is a fact that several famous deniers link to articles on Jonathan Andersson's website.
Andersson has for quite some time eluded historians and writers specializing in the field of Holocaust denial. Using aliases such as "k0nsl", "system33r" and "Julius Streicher", he has been able to successfully start and run revisionist hate sites while remaining undercover.
He has also extolled the virtues of Holocaust denial in Internet forums related to completely different topics.
"The anonymity offered by the Internet makes it possible for people who trade in racial, religious and ethnic supremacy to safely market their ideas and beliefs," says Ray Franklin, one of America's foremost experts on Internet hate crime.
Apart from, for example, currently serving on the national Counter-Terrorism Training Coordination Working Group of the U.S. Department of Justice, Franklin runs a well-known website called The Hate Directory. It lists global hate sites, including Jonathan Andersson's "Holocaust History Archive."
"It is of utmost importance that we investigate the attempts made by these groups to disseminate their propaganda," says Franklin.
Journalist Albrecht Kolthoff works on the anti-racism research project Redok in Germany. He has followed "k0nsl" and his activities for years without knowing who's behind the pseudonym.
"This whole Internet scene is filled with disinformation, but we believe that "k0nsl" has been active for the past 4-5 years," says Kolthoff.
"Of course, "k0nsl" cannot be compared to someone like Ernst Zündel, but he uses his Internet-related talents to promote something he believes will further the national socialist goals," Kolthoff points out.
One of the reasons why Jonathan Andersson up until now has been able to keep his identity a secret, is his unusually good computer skills.
"He is a very talented and able person when it comes to computer programming, and has created hacker programs and 'Trojans' infecting computers all over the world," Kolthoff explains.
Andersson himself claims to have been a member of the famous hacker group "Sm0ked Crew", who during the early 2000s hacked companies such as Intel, Compaq, the New York Times and Hewlett-Packard. It is not clear whether or not he is a suspect in these crime cases.
Jonathan Andersson's forum posts are characterized by a poorly concealed anti-Semitism:
The German civilian population who was the victim of repeated fire-bombs are "holocaust" victims a hundred times more than the Jews who were just sent to concentration camps (safe-keeping), where they learned how to work, how to be somewhat decent.
There was no "jewish holocaust", no "gas chambers" and no "systematic extermination". (…)
To hell with the "holocaust" lies and those who try to uphold them.
Albrecht Kolthoff believes that it is important to expose persons such as Jonathan Andersson: "The public has a right to find out about what kind of actors claim to 'just be searching for the truth.'
"They use very nasty and dishonest methods to spread their ideas. If any one of them has done something illegal, we should be able to hand over these lunatics to the law enforcement."
@jefinc
But seriously... Hitler didn't have people to translate the diplomatic correspondence arriving from non-German speaking countries?
What about your own typo? Gandhi takes a capital.
Posted by: Georg | Feb 24, 2013 8:51:51 AM
Really? Gandhi wrote the letter in english?
Sorry for my incredulity, but it is not common for a hindu to write a German in that language _ Lita M.
But seriously... gandhi wrote in english??? And made a typo to boot "forgiveneas"!? _ jefinc
Wow, just wow! I have rarely seen anything as ignorant as these two comments on 3 QD. Gandhi trained as a lawyer in London and practiced law in South Africa. One would think that he was pretty adept at writing letters in English.
How incredulous are these two commenters that so many "Hindus" (and Muslims for that matter) as also others whose mother tongue is not English, write in English all over the place, including right here on 3 QD?
Gandhi was completely capable of writing a letter in English, as are most Indians. Of the twenty some languages spoken in India English is second only to Hindi. And as far as stereotyping Hitler as simply German.. Hitler was Bavarian, raised in Austria and spoke German with an accent, he also spoke rudimentary French and English. At that point in time England had already conquered over one fifth of the world at one point or another and English was an easily translatable and very familiar language anywhere on the planet. So no it's not to ridiculous that man educated in England would be able to write a letter an English all things considered.
Posted by: Teej | Jun 6, 2013 9:17:26 PM
I don't understand why so much fuss to prove that Gandhi was fluent in English, the language of the colonists, when it would have been to his credit if he did not know English at all. No wonder the people of the subcontinent are confused and submissive as compared to say Arabs, Persians, Afghans, Turks, people who were not colonized for centuries on and take pride in their own language and culture.
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Comments
Late Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi wrote two letters to Late Adolf Hitler to persuade him to refrain from the death and destruction he was about to cause to millions of people in Europe.
Following is the second letter. It gives a clearer and unbiased view of the communications.
WARDHA,
December 24, 1940
DEAR FRIEND,
That I address you as a friend is no formality. I own no foes. My business in life has been for the past 33 years to enlist the friendship of the whole of humanity by befriending mankind, irrespective of race, colour or creed.
I hope you will have the time and desire to know how a good portion of humanity who have view living under the influence of that doctrine of universal friendship view your action. We have no doubt about your bravery or devotion to your fatherland, nor do we believe that you are the monster described by your opponents. But your own writings and pronouncements and those of your friends and admirers leave no room for doubt that many of your acts are monstrous and unbecoming of human dignity, especially in the estimation of men like me who believe in universal friendliness. Such are your humiliation of Czechoslovakia, the rape of Poland and the swallowing of Denmark. I am aware that your view of life regards such spoliations as virtuous acts. But we have been taught from childhood to regard them as acts degrading humanity. Hence we cannot possibly wish success to your arms.
But ours is a unique position. We resist British Imperialism no less than Nazism. If there is a difference, it is in degree. One-fifth of the human race has been brought under the British heel by means that will not bear scrutiny. Our resistance to it does not mean harm to the British people. We seek to convert them, not to defeat them on the battle-field. Ours is an unarmed revolt against the British rule. But whether we convert them or not, we are determined to make their rule impossible by non-violent non-co-operation. It is a method in its nature indefensible. It is based on the knowledge that no spoliator can compass his end without a certain degree of co-operation, willing or compulsory, of the victim. Our rulers may have our land and bodies but not our souls. They can have the former only by complete destruction of every Indian—man, woman and child. That all may not rise to that degree of heroism and that a fair amount of frightfulness can bend the back of revolt is true but the argument would be beside the point. For, if a fair number of men and women be found in India who would be prepared without any ill will against the spoliators to lay down their lives rather than bend the knee to them, they would have shown the way to freedom from the tyranny of violence. I ask you to believe me when I say that you will find an unexpected number of such men and women in India. They have been having that training for the past 20 years.
We have been trying for the past half a century to throw off the British rule. The movement of independence has been never so strong as now. The most powerful political organization, I mean the Indian National Congress, is trying to achieve this end. We have attained a very fair measure of success through non-violent effort. We were groping for the right means to combat the most organized violence in the world which the British power represents. You have challenged it. It remains to be seen which is the better organized, the German or the British. We know what the British heel means for us and the non-European races of the world. But we would never wish to end the British rule with German aid. We have found in non-violence a force which, if organized, can without doubt match itself against a combination of all the most violent forces in the world. In non-violent technique, as I have said, there is no such thing as defeat. It is all ‘do or die’ without killing or hurting. It can be used practically without money and obviously without the aid of science of destruction which you have brought to such perfection. It is a marvel to me that you do not see that it is nobody’s monopoly. If not the British, some other power will certainly improve upon your method and beat you with your own weapon. You are leaving no legacy to your people of which they would feel proud. They cannot take pride in a recital of cruel deed, however skilfully planned. I, therefore, appeal to you in the name of humanity to stop the war. You will lose nothing by referring all the matters of dispute between you and Great Britain to an international tribunal of your joint choice. If you attain success in the war, it will not prove that you were in the right. It will only prove that your power of destruction was greater. Whereas an award by an impartial tribunal will show as far as it is humanly possible which party was in the right.
You know that not long ago I made an appeal to every Briton to accept my method of non-violent resistance. I did it because the British know me as a friend though a rebel. I am a stranger to you and your people. I have not the courage to make you the appeal I made to every Briton. Not that it would not apply to you with the same force as to the British. But my present proposal is much simple because much more practical and familiar.
During this season when the hearts of the peoples of Europe yearn for peace, we have suspended even our own peaceful struggle. Is it too much to ask you to make an effort for peace during a time which may mean nothing to you personally but which must mean much to the millions of Europeans whose dumb cry for peace I hear, for my ears are attended to hearing the dumb millions? I had intended to address a joint appeal to you and Signor Mussolini, whom I had the privilege of meeting when I was in Rome during my visit to England as a delegate to the Round Table Conference. I hope that he will take this as addressed to him also with the necessary changes.
I am,
Your sincere friend,
M. K. GANDHI
Posted by: Anil C Thakuria , MD | May 31, 2012 2:51:07 PM
http://mystical-politics.blogspot.com.es/2008/01/mahatma-gandhi-and-jews.html
Posted by: pep | Jun 14, 2012 3:03:25 AM
It is truly a shame that 99% of the people alive today could never live by Gandhi's life philosophy. The non-violence non-co-operation movement will probably never get off today as it did back in the era just before, during and just after the second world war. Gandhi was a man like few others before him, as a European his writings remind me of those written by the Stoic philosophers of ancient Rome. Zeno,Crysipphus, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius the Emperor...Gandhi would have made a great Stoic, although to me, he surpassed even the greatest Stoics that ever lived.
Posted by: Vlad | Jul 25, 2012 5:55:16 AM
Anil C Thakuria writes:
"Gandhi wrote two letters to Late Adolf Hitler to persuade him to refrain from the death and destruction he was about to cause to millions of people in Europe."
This paragraph above is in line with what the modern history gangsters consider "history" in their works, but contemporary research is beginning to show that Hitler was doing everything in his might to save Germany and the world a terrible war.
His letters to England and 10 Downing Street proves this. But his request for peaceful solutions were simply ignored because some people wanted the war and benefited hugely from it, whilst all others more or less lost everything - including Britain who lost their precious empire.
Faithfully,
Kuensl
Posted by: k0nsl | Feb 21, 2013 1:48:30 PM
A very humble and humanistic appeal to an otherwise inhuman opponent. I wonder what thoughts went through Hitler's mind as he read that letter. There must have been some sort of inner-cry, however subtle from what remained of his humanity. Though, I wonder if he even read it.
Posted by: Terence | Feb 21, 2013 2:39:05 PM
Did Hitler ever write back?
Posted by: Zack | Feb 21, 2013 7:37:06 PM
Really? Gandhi wrote the letter in english?
Sorry for my incredulity, but it is not common for a hindu to write a German in that language
Posted by: Lita M | Feb 22, 2013 1:06:04 PM
contemporary research is beginning to show that Hitler was doing everything in his might to save Germany and the world a terrible war.
!!!!?
(P.S. Abbas, you might want to have peek at Herr Konsl's site to see where this comment is coming from.)
Posted by: Hal P. | Feb 22, 2013 1:48:08 PM
So much for "k0nsl"
Expo magazine reveals: The spider in the virtual revisionist web
Many of the Internet revisionists hide behind aliases and conduct their business anonymously. One of the most important, and mysterious, is "k0nsl". The Swedish anti-racist magazine Expo can now reveal that the man behind the pseudonym is Swedish and called Jonathan Andersson.
Writing under several different pseudonyms, the 22-year-old Jonathan Andersson has become a central figure in the online revisionist web. As the webmaster of CODOH Forum, he has a key role in the premier virtual meeting place for Holocaust deniers – a meeting place where he is also an active participant.
In addition, Jonathan Andersson runs his own homepage, the "Holocaust History Archive"; a revisionist "copy" of the genuine site "Holocaust History". It is a fact that several famous deniers link to articles on Jonathan Andersson's website.
Andersson has for quite some time eluded historians and writers specializing in the field of Holocaust denial. Using aliases such as "k0nsl", "system33r" and "Julius Streicher", he has been able to successfully start and run revisionist hate sites while remaining undercover.
He has also extolled the virtues of Holocaust denial in Internet forums related to completely different topics.
"The anonymity offered by the Internet makes it possible for people who trade in racial, religious and ethnic supremacy to safely market their ideas and beliefs," says Ray Franklin, one of America's foremost experts on Internet hate crime.
Apart from, for example, currently serving on the national Counter-Terrorism Training Coordination Working Group of the U.S. Department of Justice, Franklin runs a well-known website called The Hate Directory. It lists global hate sites, including Jonathan Andersson's "Holocaust History Archive."
"It is of utmost importance that we investigate the attempts made by these groups to disseminate their propaganda," says Franklin.
Journalist Albrecht Kolthoff works on the anti-racism research project Redok in Germany. He has followed "k0nsl" and his activities for years without knowing who's behind the pseudonym.
"This whole Internet scene is filled with disinformation, but we believe that "k0nsl" has been active for the past 4-5 years," says Kolthoff.
"Of course, "k0nsl" cannot be compared to someone like Ernst Zündel, but he uses his Internet-related talents to promote something he believes will further the national socialist goals," Kolthoff points out.
One of the reasons why Jonathan Andersson up until now has been able to keep his identity a secret, is his unusually good computer skills.
"He is a very talented and able person when it comes to computer programming, and has created hacker programs and 'Trojans' infecting computers all over the world," Kolthoff explains.
Andersson himself claims to have been a member of the famous hacker group "Sm0ked Crew", who during the early 2000s hacked companies such as Intel, Compaq, the New York Times and Hewlett-Packard. It is not clear whether or not he is a suspect in these crime cases.
Jonathan Andersson's forum posts are characterized by a poorly concealed anti-Semitism:
The German civilian population who was the victim of repeated fire-bombs are "holocaust" victims a hundred times more than the Jews who were just sent to concentration camps (safe-keeping), where they learned how to work, how to be somewhat decent.
There was no "jewish holocaust", no "gas chambers" and no "systematic extermination". (…)
To hell with the "holocaust" lies and those who try to uphold them.
Albrecht Kolthoff believes that it is important to expose persons such as Jonathan Andersson: "The public has a right to find out about what kind of actors claim to 'just be searching for the truth.'
"They use very nasty and dishonest methods to spread their ideas. If any one of them has done something illegal, we should be able to hand over these lunatics to the law enforcement."
Expo has tried and failed to get a comment from Jonathan Andersson himself.
http://holocaustcontroversies.blogspot.co.il/2007/03/so-much-for-k0nsl.html
Posted by: mirel | Feb 23, 2013 8:20:47 AM
Hitler did not reply to Gandhi's letters.
Posted by: Georg | Feb 23, 2013 7:36:44 PM
But seriously... gandhi wrote in english??? And made a typo to boot "forgiveneas"!?
Posted by: jefinc | Feb 24, 2013 8:12:04 AM
I respect Hinduism, which introduced non-violence, tolerance..etc
Posted by: ronnie | Feb 24, 2013 8:24:25 AM
@jefinc
But seriously... Hitler didn't have people to translate the diplomatic correspondence arriving from non-German speaking countries?
What about your own typo? Gandhi takes a capital.
Posted by: Georg | Feb 24, 2013 8:51:51 AM
Really? Gandhi wrote the letter in english?
Sorry for my incredulity, but it is not common for a hindu to write a German in that language _ Lita M.
But seriously... gandhi wrote in english??? And made a typo to boot "forgiveneas"!? _ jefinc
Wow, just wow! I have rarely seen anything as ignorant as these two comments on 3 QD. Gandhi trained as a lawyer in London and practiced law in South Africa. One would think that he was pretty adept at writing letters in English.
How incredulous are these two commenters that so many "Hindus" (and Muslims for that matter) as also others whose mother tongue is not English, write in English all over the place, including right here on 3 QD?
Posted by: Ruchira | Feb 24, 2013 10:19:36 PM
Right on Ruchira!
Posted by: Elatia Harris | Feb 25, 2013 12:31:15 AM
Gandhi was completely capable of writing a letter in English, as are most Indians. Of the twenty some languages spoken in India English is second only to Hindi. And as far as stereotyping Hitler as simply German.. Hitler was Bavarian, raised in Austria and spoke German with an accent, he also spoke rudimentary French and English. At that point in time England had already conquered over one fifth of the world at one point or another and English was an easily translatable and very familiar language anywhere on the planet. So no it's not to ridiculous that man educated in England would be able to write a letter an English all things considered.
Posted by: Teej | Jun 6, 2013 9:17:26 PM
I don't understand why so much fuss to prove that Gandhi was fluent in English, the language of the colonists, when it would have been to his credit if he did not know English at all. No wonder the people of the subcontinent are confused and submissive as compared to say Arabs, Persians, Afghans, Turks, people who were not colonized for centuries on and take pride in their own language and culture.
Posted by: Raza Husain | Jun 7, 2013 2:03:21 AM
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