The Berlin-based publishing house sent Tolkien a letter asking for proof of his Aryan descent. Tolkien was incensed by the request and gave his publisher two responses, one in which he sidestepped the question, another in which he clapped back ‘30s-style with pure class.
His publisher sent the classy clap-back.
In the letter sent to Rütten & Loening, Tolkien notes that Aryans are of Indo-Iranian “extraction,” correcting the incorrect Nazi aumption that Aryans come from northern Europe. He cuts to the chase by saying that he is not Jewish but holds them in high regard. “I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people,” Tolkien wrote.
Tolkien also takes a shot at the race policies of Nazi Germany by saying he’s beginning to regret his German surname. “The time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride,” he writes.
Oh, and about that white superiority stuff …
And another thing …
Curmudgeon at Work 