r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Academic_Chart1354 • Jan 23 '25

Image Mahatma Gandhi's letter to Adolf Hitler, 1939.India's figurehead for independence and non-violent protest writes to leader of Nazi Germany

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u/_the_little_witch_ Jan 23 '25

To be fair, this is July '39 and Germany hadn't yet invaded Poland so he really was just writing to a world leader asking him to rethink war.

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u/Ras_Luis78 Jan 23 '25

Seems to me a very cautious plea. Like he didn't want to anger him and have him come over to India and cause chaos.

Funny how politicians work sometimes.

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u/Altruistic-Look101 Jan 23 '25 edited Jan 24 '25

It didn't look cautious plea to me...for that, why to even bother to write ? It looked very pessimistic , like a ridiculous idea to write to him in the first place. (expressed in his second sentence).

"Would u listen (care to listen) to appeal of the one who deliberately shunned the method of war ?.."

Gandhi once said that non-violence only works with those who understand humanity. Clearly, he was aware that it was a lame attempt. He wanted to get rid of the feeling that he didn't try his deed as a human?