VONNEGUT KURT Typed Letter Signed Kay with holograph date an

Sale 2641 - Lot 100

Price Realized: $ 8,125

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000

SURVIVOR OF DRESDEN BOMBING WARNS OF EXTINCTION OF HUMANITY VONNEGUT, KURT. Typed Letter Signed, "Kay," with holograph date and underlines, to brother Bernard Vonnegut and his wife ("Dear Bernard and Bow"), urging them to demand of President Truman that he lead in the creation of an effective world government or risk nuclear annihilation. 1 page, 4to; faint toning affecting upper margin, folds. Np, [30 May] 1946

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Written in all caps: "THIS IS AN URGENT FLASH: IF YOU GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOURSELVES AND YOUR SON, THEN YOU MUST WRITE PRESIDENT TRUMAN AT ONCE AND DEMAND THAT THE UNITED STATES MAKE A DEFINITE ATTEMPT TO ORGANIZE A REAL WORLD FEDERATION. THE UNITED NATIONS IS AN ENFEEBLED FIASCO. IF SOMETHING IS NOT DONE WE SHALL ALL BE KILLED. IT IS AS SIMPLE AS THAT--CLEAN CUT, A CHOICE: LIFE OR DEATH. IT WOULD TAKE FIFTEEN HIROSHIMA BOMBS TO WIPE OUT GREAT BRITAIN. THE U.S. STOCKPILE IS ESTIMATED AT FIFTEEN-HUNDRED. . . .
". . . WRITE TRUMAN EVERY DAY; PLEAD, SCREAM, TEAR YOUR HAIR, KICK, BITE AND SCRATCH. THIS IS IT. THIS IS WHERE WE MUST DECIDE: SHOULD HUMANITY GO ON OR END IN OUR TIME? IT MAY END NEXT YEAR OR NEXT MONTH.
"I'LL NOT FORGET DRESDEN. VICTORY: OVER ONE-HUNDRED THOUSAND HUMAN BEINGS VERY MUCH LIKE YOU TWO AND YOUR SON BURNED, CRUSHED AND SUFFOCATED IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS. THAT WAS TNT. IF THERE IS ANOTHER WAR AND IF WE 'WIN' IT, LIFE WILL NOT BE WORTH LIVING. AND ONE DAY SOME SMALL COUNTRY WILL SPRINKLE US WITH INFANTILE PARALYSIS GERMS AND THAT WILL BE THE END OF THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH."