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Probably the most important and influential of all the party publications produced and printed in Nazi Germany were the monthly issues of an unpretentious 8 x 11-1/2 inch, well illustrated monthly magazine called simply Der Schulungsbrief. The magazine tends to be a mystery to most who encounter it.

Most English speaking collectors, dealers and historians today incorrectly assume that Der Schulungsbrief was some sort of magazine for schools or school children. Nothing could be further from the truth. The title Der Schulungsbrief actually means and should be translated into English as “The Party Directive”.

The content of this issue of Der Schulungsbrief is entirely devoted to features about the founding, growth and organization of the NSDAP.

There are party membership statistics by year, lists of Nazi Party golden membership pins awarded, an overview of Hitler’s extensive Deutschlandflug or electioneering tour of Germany by plane in 1932, statistics by Gau and occupation of Nazi Party membership, photos of all Gauleiters and of the first office of the Nazi Party at Tal 52 in Munich. There is a photo of the first swastika flag, the 1923 German Day badge, the 1927 Reichsparteitag poster and badge, Julius Schreck, Max Amman, Dietrich Eckart, Houston Stuart Chamberlain, the martyr caskets in the Honor Temples in Munich, etc., etc.

The bold cover designed by famous Nazi graphic designer Mjölnir (Hans Herbert Schweitzer) features a woodcut of very determined Nazis over the words Aufbruch und Kampf der Partei (Beginning and Battle of the Party). The back cover has is a picture of the 1938 Reichsparteitag badge as designed by Professor Richard Klein of München.

Der Schulungsbrief issue 8 / 9 of 1938 was exactly that type of special double issue. It measures 8-1/8 x 11 inches and contains 68 pages.

It was published under the direction of the unsung organizational genius of the NSDAP, the Reichsorganisationsleiter himself, Dr. Robert Ley. Ley was the man responsible for all editions of the thick, red, hardcover book Organisationsbuch der NSDAP that was found in EVERY Nazi office and library and was considered a very dangerous Nazi book at the end of World War II and the Allies destroyed every copy they could find! It was the Nazi Party equivalent of “Robert’s Rules of Order” and The Bible. Life in Germany during the Third Reich would have been impossible without either the Organisationsbuch der NSDAP or Der Schulungsbrief.

Anybody within the paramilitary structure of the Nazi Party (SA, SS, NSKK, NSFK, DAF, HJ, Auslandsorganisation, etc.) who was in the know had a copy of the Organisationsbuch der NSDAP and subscribed to Der Schulungsbrief magazine. With a monthly circulation over 4 million, the magazine covered every NSDAP subject from the most serious racial questions to matters like the worldwide geographical distribution of the swastika symbol in antiquity. The extremely anti-Semitic position of Der Schulungsbrief gave away nothing to Julius Streicher’s Der Stürmer.

As happened in some cases, Dr. Robert Ley, publisher of Der Schulungsbrief magazine, brought out a special issue to coincide with Reichsparteitag (Nazi Party Day) in Nürnberg. Such issues were good publicity for the magazine as it would be showcased at the annual gathering of the SS, SA, RAD, HJ, and other military and paramilitary formations of the Nazi Party.

Above, an announcement from the rare Nazi political leadership magazine 'Der Hoheitsträger' about the August-September 1938 issue of 'Der Schulungsbrief' offered for sale on this USMBOOKS web page (for reference only).

A very rare original 86 year old issue of Der Schulungsbrief - Aufbruch und Kampf der Partei is complete and in very nice condition. No writing, no odor.