Hitler Asked for Time Off to Start Third Reich

A British auction house has obtained what must be the most ill-fated time-off request in history. In the March 1932 letter, Adolf Hitler requests leave from his government job in order to run for president, the New York Daily News reports. The Nazi-led government of the state of Brunswick had appointed the Austrian-born party leader to the job days earlier in order to make him a German citizen able to run for office.

"I hereby request leave of absence to the end of the time for the selection of the next President of the Reich," the letter states. It's signed: "Yours Faithfully, Adolf Hitler." Experts believe the letter, which contains several spelling mistakes, was typed by Hitler himself. "It is an incredibly rare and historic item and hugely important in the rise of Hitler and Nazism," says an auctioneer, who expects the letter to fetch upwards of $8,000. (More auction stories.)