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J.R.R. Tolkien’s reply to the Nazis is a burn that has stood the test of time

J.R.R. Tolkien’s legacy, the Middle-earth novels including The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is in no danger of being eclipsed at any point, but of everything he wrote it is a letter that may contain the most powerful words. In 1938, with the Nazi star – albeit a dark one – still on the rise, their propagandist Joseph Goebbels was trying to control access to works by Jewish artists in all fields.

His department wrote to Tolkien, prior to the publication of a German translation of the Hobbit, to find out if he was Jewish – because of his German name. In reply, Tolkien wrote this letter:

In case you missed any of that – and you shouldn’t, this is what it says.

“25 July 1938 20 Northmoor Road, Oxford

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for your letter. I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.

My great-great-grandfather came to England in the eighteenth century from Germany: the main part of my descent is therefore purely English, and I am an English subject — which should be sufficient.

I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war, in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this sort are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride.

Your enquiry is doubtless made in order to comply with the laws of your own country, but that this should be held to apply to the subjects of another state would be improper, even if it had (as it has not) any bearing whatsoever on the merits of my work or its sustainability for publication, of which you appear to have satisfied yourselves without reference to my Abstammung.

I trust you will find this reply satisfactory, and

remain yours faithfully,

J. R. R. Tolkien”

Now, that’s how you deal with Nazis.

Source: Good