By staff
Title: Ed Victor Papers, 1933-1972
Predominant Dates:1939 -- 1946
ID: RG-72/RG-72
Primary Creator: Victor, Ed (1960s -- 1990s)
Extent: 1800.0 Items
Arrangement: The arrangement scheme for the record group was imposed during processing in the absence of an original order. Materials are arranged by subjects, themes and creators.
Subjects: Auschwitz complex of Nazi - German extermination and concentration camps, Buchenwald, German-Nazi concentration camp, Concentration camps, German, Flossenburg, German Concentration camp, German Labor Service, labor in Germany, 1940 -- 1945, Gross Rosen, German concentration camp, Gusen German concentration camp, Hamburg-Neuengamme, German concentration camp, Holocaust, Jewish (1939 -- 1945), Identification documents, German issued, 1933 -- 1945, Jasenovac, Croatian Concentration camp, Jewish ghettos in German-occupied and controlled Europe, Judenrat, Jewish council in ghettos, Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944, Majdanek, German concentration camp, Mauthausen, German Concentration camp, Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen, German Concentration Camp, Postcards, political images, German, prisoner correspondence, 1933 -- 1945, Proofs of incarcerations under German-Nazi and Axis regimes, Ravensbrueck, German concentration camp, Red Cross, International, 1933 -- 1946, Stutthof, German Concentration camp, Synagogues, religious temples
Languages: German, Czech, Polish, Yiddish, Ukrainian, Russian, French, Spanish;Castilian, Portuguese, Slovak, English, Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian, Romanian, Greek,Modern(1453-), Hebrew
In October 2011, Mr. Edward Victor, former lawyer and philanthropist, donated to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust his Collection of the Second World War era documents and artifacts. Owing to this generous donation, our Archive acquired highly valuable historic materials. Being multivectorial by content and form, these documents and artifacts mirror various facets of the Holocaust and in a broader sense, they emanate from the war realities.
Mr. Victor’s Papers also include a special collection of postcards and photographs depicting largely bygone synagogues of Europe, Northern Africa and Middle East.
Mr. Victor started his collection guided primarily by philatelic interest. He collected letters, envelopes, postcards and other documents bearing a postal stamp or institutional stamps of the respective authorities and agencies. At a certain point, he realizes that the fate of the people, reflected in the short narratives, is of eternal historic value and shall not be measured only in a philatelic dimension. The content of various wartime correspondences reveals a historic enormity of victimization, dehumanization and personal tragedies on one side and a cold blood calmness of perpetrators on the other.
Reading correspondences sent from concentration camps, prisons, ghettos and German labor service open up a microcosm of tragic stories. Other groups of documents, such as official correspondences of National Socialist authorities, inquiries submitted by the relatives of incarcerated people, antisemitic and propaganda materials, rationing coupons also broaden our understanding of the Holocaust and about the structure of the Nazi regime. Ed Victor Papers, as a corpus of wartime documents, historicize the Holocaust in the context of the 20th century History. They shed light on the earlier, lesser known and often under researched pages of the Holocaust Experience, especially when it comes to the fate of individuals. At a certain point, multiple micro-histories become qualitatively intrinsic to the macro-history of the Holocaust.
Auschwitz complex of Nazi - German extermination and concentration camps
Buchenwald, German-Nazi concentration camp
Concentration camps, German
Flossenburg, German Concentration camp
German Labor Service, labor in Germany, 1940 -- 1945
Gross Rosen, German concentration camp
Gusen German concentration camp
Hamburg-Neuengamme, German concentration camp
Holocaust, Jewish (1939 -- 1945)
Identification documents, German issued, 1933 -- 1945
Jasenovac, Croatian Concentration camp
Jewish ghettos in German-occupied and controlled Europe
Judenrat, Jewish council in ghettos
Lodz ghetto, 1940 -- 1944
Majdanek, German concentration camp
Mauthausen, German Concentration camp
Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen, German Concentration Camp
Postcards, political images, German
prisoner correspondence, 1933 -- 1945
Proofs of incarcerations under German-Nazi and Axis regimes
Ravensbrueck, German concentration camp
Red Cross, International, 1933 -- 1946
Stutthof, German Concentration camp
Synagogues, religious temples
postcard depicting the synagogue in Oran, Algeria, ca 1930
Print in French
A postcard depicting a watercolor from an illustrated address presented by the Victorian Jewish Community to Sir Benjamin Benjamin, Lord Mayor of Melbourne in 1889. On the watercolor, ther is Ballarat Synagogue, Australia.
The synagogue belonged to the Ballarat Hebrew Congregation 'Shearith Yisroel', Remnant of Israel.
The first service took place in 1853. The synagogue was dedicated in March 1861.
This watercolor was part of the illuminated address presented by the Victorian Jewish Community to Benjamin Benjamin, Mayor of Melbourne in honor of his knighthood in 1889.
The original address is deposited in the Jewish Museum of Australia of the Australian Jewish Historical Society
A postcard depicting the synagogue in Geelong, Australia. This synagogue was founded by the Congregatin 'Shearith Yisroel', Remnant of Israel. First sirvice took place in 1849. The synagogue was dedicated in December 1861.
This postcard is a print from the illustrated address presented by the Victorian Jewish Community to Sir Benjamin Benjamin, Lord Mayor of Melbourne in honor of his knighthood in 1889.
This ilustrated address is deposited in the Jewish Museum of Australia of the Australian Jewish Historical Society (Victoria).
East Melbourne synagogue was founded by 'Mickvah Yisroel', Hope of Israel congregation in 1857. The synagogue was dedicated in September 1877.
This postcard is a watercolor from an illustrated address presented by the Victorian Jewish Community to Sir Bejamin Benjamin, Lord Mayor of Melbourne in honor of his knighthood in 1889.
The illustrated addres is deposited in the Jewish Museum of Australis.
Postcard depicting Bourke Street West Synagogue established by 'Shearith Yisroel', Remnant of Israel congregation in Melbourne in 1841. The synagogue was dedicated in March 1855.
This poscard is a watercolor print from the illustrated address presented by the Victorian Jewish Community to Sir Benjamin Benjamin, Lord Mayor of Melbourne in honor of his knighthood in 1889
The illustrated address is deposited in the Jewish Museum of Australia
This collection coprises the following sub-collections of correspondence from and to Nazi concentration camps:
RG-72.03.01, Dutka Collection, Ravensbrueck concentrtion camp; RG-72.03.02, Dachau 3K Camp; RG-72.03.03, Hamburg-Neuengamme concentration camp; RG-72.03.04, Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp; RG-72.03.06, Auschwitz concentration camps; RG-72.03.07, Buchenwald concentration camp; RG-72.03.09, Ravensbrueck concentration camp; RG-72.03.10, Gross Rosen concentration camp; RG-72.03.11, Majdanek concentration camp; RG-72.03.12, Flossenbuerg Concentration camp; RG-72.03.13, Stutthof Concentration camp; RG-72.03.14, Jasenovac Concentration camp; RG-72.03.15, Mauthausen Concentration camp
Letters, largely, are written in German and contains only allowed by the camp authorities content. Inmates were allowed inquiries about the family affairs, request for parcels and could not write about the life in the camp. Any complaints or details about the life in the camp had been striken out by censors.
From Jan Tomasek to Anezka Tomaskova. He writes to his wife and children and lets them know that he did not write in a while because he is only allowed two letters a month. He is thinking about his wife all the time and he is happy to hear that everybody is healthy. He says his son shall always be kind and when he gets back he will buy him a horse. He hopes for his on to become a farmer in the future. He wants his wife to inform him on when she will get surgery.
Jan received the packages and especially liked the cake and the yoghurt. He asks for a new package with shoes and clothing and food. He sends his best regards to the whole family. Written in German.
Note covers half of the letter saying: the inmate may receive: clothing, but no food, pictures or letters. All packages that do not meet the requirements will be returned.
Letter: Thank you for your letters. I hope that grandfather’s sickness is not severe. I am healthy. Can Mother please write a letter by herself?
Written in German.
From inmate in protective custody to Jan Jaegermann in Krakow, 13 January 1945
The inmate writes with permission of the Lagerkommandant. He is healthy and received the last package. He also received a letter from Stockholm but cannot answer, so he asks Jan to answer the letter for him.
Written in German.
Note: all letters must include name and surname, birthday and inmate and block number; if any of these is missing, the letter will be returned
Letter:He received the letter and 50 RM. He is healthy and asks them to write more about daily life.
This collection comprises letters from prisoners of Gusen concentration camp to various locations in German-occupied Europe. There is also correspondence to Gusen concentration camp.
Correspondence complies with the rules establishd by the authorities of German-Nazi concentration camps
Correspondence is in German language
This Collections comprises correspondence from Jewish and non Jewish prisoners of the Auschwitz complex of concentration camps to various locations of German-occupied Europe.
There also responses sent to the prisoners in the camps.
Letters are writtien in compliance with the concentration camp provisions avoiding any factual information with exception of general inquiries and appreciation.
Letters are written in German language
To the parents: Adam is healthy but did not get an answer since weeks ago. He wants information on daily life of hois family.
To Helenko: He did not hear of her in a long time and wants to be with her in the future. He sends greetings.
Written in German
From Else Lustig to Singer and Rajninec in Slovakia, Note saying that any letters to Slovakia have to be sent through the Jewish Central Office in Pressburg
All the others received letters from home, she did not. She is healthy and satisfied with work. She can slowly forget everything that happened and dreams to be home soon.
This is a collection of letters sent from Buchenwald concentration camp by Jewish, German, Polish and Czech prisoners. The content of correspondence is in compliance with the camp provisions and regulations. Letters are written in German language.
There are correspondence from the German-occupied countries and Germany proper addressed to the prisoners in Buchenwald concentration camp.
This collection comprises letters from prisoners of Gross Rosen concentration camp.
Letters are written in German and comply with the camp's provisions and regulations with regard to the correspondence from the camp
Sophie writes: Please tell me if the husband of my daughter is in Gross-Rosen and if it is allowed to send him packages with clothing and food and money
Remark says: not in this camp
Envelope only.
The camp is Flossenburg.
Confirmation of death sent to Leokadja Moscicki in Lublin, February 3, 1944; CC Mauthausen
We hereby confirm that your husband died on February 2, 1944 from myocardial insufficiency. The corpse has been cremated on February 3 1944; You can purchase a death certificate for .72 RM. The estate will not be sent.
Message from Bucharest, Romania to Tel Aviv, Palestine, written from Meirceo Podeanu to Avram Tavaler, 23 March 1943. The message is written in french and says:
Didn't get anything for a long time. Be calm, everybody is doing fine. I would really like to see you again. I wait impatiently. Hugs 8 March 1942
British Red Cross Message from London to Dusseldorf, Germany, written from Kurt Frankenschwerth to Otto Braunschweig, 30 September 1943. The message says:
My dears. I have not heard from you since the message regarding Henry. Please write to me. We are doing fine. All the best for you all.
The reply on the back says:
Henny Osten adress and message impossible. Maybe easier through the Red Cross there. All doing fine, also Felx. Best regards, Otto
British Red Cross Message from London to Berlin, Germany, written from Kurt Frankenschwerth to Clara Frankenschwerth, 1 January 1940. They send greetings and let Clara know that they are healthy. The reply on the back says:
My dears, we are very happy to hear from you and reply instantly. We are doing fine and healthy. Love, Mamma and Henny. 25 January 1940
British Red Cross Message from London to Berlin, Germany, written from Kurt Frankenschwerth to Clara Frankenschwerth, 3 May 1941. The message says:
My dears, we are still doing fine, hopefully so are you. Happy birthday to Mama and all the best, Kurt, Erri. 3 May 1941
The reply on the back says:
Very happy to hear from you, sending our greetings back. We are doing okay. All the best for you Mama/ Henny 29 July 1941
British Red Cross Message from London to Berlin, Germany, written from Kurt Frankenschwerth to Clara Frankenschwerth, 1 May 1942. The message says:
We are doing fine and are happy about your message from February. Best birthday wishes fro you dear Mama and you dear Henny. Erri/ Kurt
The reply says: Vary happy and grateful for your message. All the best for you, love, Mama/ Henny. 22 June 1942
P.O.W. Parcels Department, Red Cross House, German Colony, Jerusalem, dated 2 July 1942. The document lists sent items:
3 towels, 1 pkt. razor blades, 1 biscuits, 1 chocolate, sweets, 1 pkt. tobacco, 1 cigarettes, 1 soap, 2 hankerchiefs, 1 toothpowder, 1 grapefruit, [...]
Also has a stamp saying 'Prisoners of war parcel dept.'
Message from Erwin Galewski in Palestine to Ruth Weichmann in Germany, dated 18 December 1940. The message is on the back as a reply, but there is no message on the front page. It says:
December '40. Erna and I are well. We live lonely but bearable, enough food. Old adress. Please message Paul. Getting here is impossible. More via friends. Ruth
British Red Cross message from Alli Bick in Palestine to Paula Reiners in Belgium, dated 28 May 1941. Alli is happy to have heard from Paula. He is fine but does not hear anything from Hermann. The reply on the back says:
Dear Alli, I am happy about your message, all siblings and I are healthy, happy birthday. Haven't heard from Hermann. Kisses, Paula.
Message sent from Tel Aviv, Palestine through International Red Cross, dated 16 June 1940. The message is written in German and Polish. It says: The International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva is asking for information on your condition. Please aswer on the back and send this form back to the adress above.
The answer on the back is written in Polish.
British Red Cross message from Erwin Jacobowitz to Martin Jacobowitz in Berlin, dated 12 February 1942. Erwin asks why Martin never writes about himself. He also asks about the father's work and mother's surgery. The reply on the back says:
Happy about another message. Happy stomach trouble stopped. Mutti is doing better. Vati's work is satisfying. Are you still in your old job? Love, Mutti, Vati
British Red Cross Postal Message sent from Kurt Frankenschwerth to Clara Frankenschwerth, Berlin, 23 February 1942. The message is: My dears, we received your answer via the Red Cross from July and we wish you only the best. We are doing fine and are busy. Love, Kurt, Erri
On the back is another message: We are very happy to hear from you for the first time and send our greetings back. We wrote to you every month. All the best for you two. Berlin, 20 February 1942.
Document from the Jewish Agency, Palestine to the Red Cross, Geneva, requesting to deliver a message to Salomon Muehlbaum and his family, 19 October 1943. The message is written in French. It says: You are registered in the fourth list of Zionist veterans. Your number is m/438/43/d/268.
There is a handwritten illegible note on the back taht says something about Geneva.
In 1939, Lodz was Poland’s second largest city after Warsaw. One-third of its residents, more than 233,000 people were Jews.
Before the end of 1939, 70,000 of the city’s Jews had been deported to labor camps in the General Government or had fled to the Soviet Union. By May 1, 1940, the remaining Jews were forced into a sealed ghetto to face starvation, uncertainty and misery.
The phenomenon of Lodz ghetto can be viewed as a multifactorial discourse. Multiple phenomena, such as of Nazi-German inconsistency in the pursuing of the Final Solution, of Chaim Mordechaj Rumkowski as an authoritarian leader of the ghetto and of the industrial mobility of Jewish population in Lodz, all in all induced and maintained an extraordinary existence of the hierarchically ruled and secluded from outside world ghetto.
The social structure in the Lodz Ghetto had the form of a pyramid that narrowed very swiftly in the direction of its apex. At the very pinnacle stood the Eldest of the Jews, Chaim Mordechaj Rumkowski.
The system of personal rule of the Jewish Eldest was established in the ghetto from the very beginning. The entire internal ghetto regime with its division into different groups and segments was narrowly linked with this person and with the Nazi policy that he realized in the ghetto. His personal defects and qualities, his convictions and ideas and his character and temperament had a decisive influence on the formation of the inner conditions in the ghetto.
Rumkowski surely considered the danger connected with his office. In the first weeks, he experienced on his own body the quality of Nazi brutality, when he came to intervene on behalf of the Jewish community secretary Sh. Nadler who had been seized for forced labor. The lust to rule, however, overcame him, particularly since he was by nature not a coward and showed courage and self-control when he stood face to face with a death threat.
In the areas of ghetto life, where the German supervisory authority over the ghetto left the Jews free hands, Rumkowski’s powers were like those of an absolute ruler. He truly became the master of life and death for over 150,000 Jews within the ghetto.
September 1, 1939 – May 1, 1940
On January 19, 1940, the German chief of police in Lodz, Schäffer, issued a warning to non-Jews not to enter the Jewish quarter because it had become a nest of infectious diseases (a common practice of the Nazis in all occupied territories). On February 8, 1940, the establishment of the ghetto was ordered. On March 1, 1940, the Eldest of the Jews, Chaim Rumkowski, issued his Announcement No. 1, the Jews who live in the “Jewish quarter” are to remain there or face reprisals for living illegally. In Announcement No. 4 (March 1940) he further informed “the Jewish population of Lodsch” that he had been instructed by the authorities to “regulate the transfer of Jews to the new quarter.” In April 1940, the ghetto area was enclosed with a wire fence, and on April 19, 1940, Rumkowski was ordered by the German police to have the Ordungsdienst (the Jewish police) guard the fence inside the ghetto. On April 30, 1940, Schäffer ordered the closing of the ghetto. On May 1, 1940, the ghetto was sealed off from the outside world.
May 1, 1940 – January 5, 1942
This period is characterized by the consolidation of Rumkowski’s power over the ghetto and the development of the internal ghetto administration. Rumkowski’s tasks and prerogatives as the Eldest of the ghetto were outlined in a letter from the Oberbürgmeister (signed by city commissioner Schiffer) on April 30, 1940. Rumkowski was to organize and maintain “orderly community life” with respect to economy, provisioning, labor, health and welfare; to submit to the German administration weekly statistics of all ghetto inhabitants; to list and secure all Jewish assets for the purpose of confiscation except for vitally needed clothes, food and dwellings. In return, he was authorized to organize his own police, to confiscate and distribute all food and to enforce work without pay. All ghetto contacts with the German authorities were to be maintained exclusively by Rumkowski or his deputy.
The ghetto, which Rumkowski took over, was confined to an area of 4.3 square kilometers (in February 1941, after the Germans cut off several blocks of the ghetto, the diminished area equaled 3.8 square kilometers). The ghetto was located in the poorest neighborhood of prewar Lodz, the Baluty and Old Town (Stare Miasto), where basic accommodations were generally lacking and sanitary conditions were dismal. In this enclosed and tightly guarded place there lived 160,423 Jews according to a census taken on June 6, 1940. In the overcrowded dwellings there were an average of 3.5 persons per room. Most of the ghetto inhabitants lost all or most of their property when they left their city homes in panic. The economy was nonexistent. The community welfare system, heavily burdened even before the creation of the ghetto, was in shambles.
Rumkowski entered the ghetto with an ideology of survival, which entailed making the ghetto productive and thus useful to the Nazis, especially to the German war industry. On April 5, 1940, he submitted to the Oberbürgmeister a plan to organize industries in the ghetto that would serve the economic needs of the Nazis. Later he would allude in his speeches to this plan as giving the Nazis a virtual “gold mine” – meaning thousands of cheap Jewish laborers. The first tailoring workshop with 300 workers opened on April 20 and on May 13 Rumkowski reported to the Oberbürgmeister that 14,850 tailors and seamstresses registered for work, and he asked for production orders. From these beginning, an industrial complex developed in the ghetto with 117 enterprises and 73,782 workers by the end of 1943.
Meanwhile, a ruthless campaign to confiscate work tools and raw materials was conducted in order to open other workshops and force people to work in ghetto industries rather than on their own. In time, private enterprise in the ghetto was completely eradicated, and Rumkowski became the sole employer for the entire ghetto population.
The system of food rationing (except for the bread) was introduced in the ghetto on June 2, 1940 and from this day ration cards regulated life in the ghetto. In 1940, the population tried to resist. Hunger demonstration and disturbances marked the first year of the ghetto. Demonstrators took the streets on August 10 and 11 and again during the first week of October. The last known disturbance occurred on January 11 and 12, 1941. They were put down by the Jewish Ordungsdienst and German police.
Trying to stabilize the situation in the ghetto, Rumkowski appealed to the German administration, and on September 19 received a loan on 2,000,000 Reichsmarks. He used the loan for relief payments to over 70,000 destitute ghetto inmates. At the same time he was moving fast towards the total rationing of provisions. This was announced on December 15, 1940, with rationing of bread as well. On December 27, 1940, Rumkowski announced the takeover of all private food stores, restaurants and home kitchens and assigned the distribution of food to his own stores. By 1941, the rationing system was firmly in place, and provisioning was fully regulated.
In 1940 and in 1941, the ghetto communal, cultural and social institutions and organizations were still active. The school system was fully operative, childcare was provided by a network of children’s homes, orphanages, summer camps and a free meals program, religion and religious institutions enjoyed a temporary reprieve from Nazi persecutions. There were important social programs for ghetto youth such as haksharas and kibbutzim in Marysin. Theater performances, literary and musical events were arranged in the Culture House and in halls and kitchens maintained by various political groups.
For a while the Nazis seemed content with this situation and interfered little in the ghetto’s internal affairs. Reckless killing did not stop altogether, to be sure and many took place at the ghetto fence where the Schutzolizei (Protective Police) guards would open fire at anyone who came to close. An insane asylum in the ghetto was liquidated and over one hundred of its patients were killed. A sedative, Scopolamin, was administered to them before execution.
The general situation in the ghetto changed radically in the fall of 1941, when a mass of almost 20,000 Jews from Bohemia, Moravia, Austria, Germany and Luxemburg (including the district of Leslau-Leszno in the Wartheland) – generally called “Western Jews” – was deported and resettled in the ghetto.
In order to accommodate them, Rumkowski ordered the closing of ghetto schools and the conversion of school building into reception centers. The schools were never to open again. For the deportees the reality of the Lodz ghetto was a shattering experience from which most never recovered. They felt foreign among the Lodz Jews, they could not adapt to the horrid living conditions and could not comprehend the purpose of this resettlement. Many of them readily went to their final deportation in 1942 to the death camp in Chelmno, convinced that nothing worse than their life in the ghetto could happen to them.
On December 7, 1941, the first Nazi death camp located in Chelmno, some seventy kilometers from Lodz, began its experimental run. Several Jewish communities from the neighboring towns were annihilated there between December 7 and January 14, 1942 – altogether some 6,400 people. The killing vans in which the victims were suffocated by means of exhaust fumes replaced the execution squads of the Einsatzgruppen as both more efficient and less “disturbing”. Even when supplanted by the gas chambers of other death camps, the vans remained in use until July 1944. Over 250,000 Jews from Wartheland were annihilated in Chelmno. Of this number over 70,000 came from the Lodz ghetto.
January 5, 1941 – September 12, 1942
Deportation to and from the Lodz ghetto in 1942 were in step with the Nazi policy of disposing of all unproductive groups including children and old people. The Lodz ghetto was to become a labor camp where nothing mattered but work. Those few survivors of the destroyed communities who were deported to the Lodz ghetto in 1942 had been spared because they were skilled workers.
The first hint of impeding deportation came in a speech by Rumkowski on December 20, 1941, when he announced that a contingent of 10,000 persons had been requested by the Germans for deportation. He further stated that this contingent would be filled with criminal elements, welfare recipients who did not participate in the public works program and black marketeers. On December 30, 1941, an announcement was issued that until further notice all ghetto residents were strictly forbidden to shelter strangers or relatives not registered as members of the household. Finally, on January 5, 1942, the Resettlement Commission nominated by Rumkowski began compiling lists of deportees.
The first transport left Lodz for Chelmno on January 16, 1942. From this day the ghetto was obliged to deliver a contingent of 1,000 persons daily until the quota set by the Nazis was filled. The deportations were halted on January 29 after 10,103 people had left the ghetto.
The process resumed with an even greater intensity on February 22, 1942 and lasted until April 2, 1942. During this phase of deportations, 34,073 lives were extinguished.
Finally, on May 4 the deportation of the “Western” Jews was announced, notwithstanding the fact that they had come to the ghetto only six months earlier. Excluded from this deportation were the former recipients of German or Austrian military awards earned during the First World War and a number of professionals employed in the ghetto administration. By May 15, 1942, 10,161 persons had been deported from the ghetto.
The total number of deportees between January and May 1942 was 54,990 persons, more than one-third of the ghetto population.
To force deportees to come to the transport point the Nazis used the weapon of hunger, curtailing deliveries of food to the ghetto and at the same time providing meals for those who came to the train. This tactic was repeated in all subsequent deportations.
In the middle of it all Rumkowski urged prospective deportees time and again to sell furniture and other property to his “purchasing agencies,” to deposit their belonging until they returned. Nor did he forget to demand that the families of the deported surrender their ration cards.
The next wave of deportation from Lodz was directed against children, the aged and the infirm. This time the ghetto Jews had information of what was to happen and an attempt was made to hide some of the children among the ghetto work force in the summer months of 1942. By July 20 there were about 13,000 children and adolescents employed in the workshops and factories. However, younger children and old people left defenseless.
The deportation began on September 1, 1942 with the removal of the sick from five ghetto hospitals and two preventoriums. On this day, 374 adult and 320 children were deported to the death camp.
On September 5, 1942, a general curfew (Gesperre in German, sphere in Yiddish) was announced until further notice. The residents of old age homes and orphanages were the first to be taken to the train. After that, the Ordnungsienst (Jewish police) had to make house searches in order to find children and take them away from their parents. The results of the first day’s searches were so meager that the German ghetto administration and the Gestapo decided to take matters into their own hands, and the ghetto became the scene of a vicious manhunt. By September 12, it was all over. There were 600 dead in ghetto streets and homes. 15,859 victims had been taken to transports.
On September 12, 1942, the curfew was lifted. Rumkowski announced the opening of all kitchens on September 13 and promised an improvement in the food situation.
September 13, 1942 – June 14, 1944
After the deportation of 1942 there were almost two years of relative stability in the Lodz ghetto. At a time when there were no more ghettos in the Wartheland and all the ghettos in the General Government were being liquidated one after another, the Lodz ghetto continued to exist as a giant labor camp. During 1942 and 1943 its usefulness to the Nazi war machine was beyond doubt, so much so that all attempts by Himmler and the SS to liquidate the ghetto were successfully frustrated by the manpower-starved Nazi armament authorities. Himmler’s plan to convert the ghetto into a concentration camp (which would bring it under the control of the SS) and transfer its much diminished population to the Lublin district, where they would become part of the slave labor complex under Odilo Globocnik, was never materialized.
This situation inside the ghetto was different from previous years. By 1943 there were 87,000 Jews in the ghetto, and eighty-five percent of this total number were working in the ghetto plants of offices. Many communal services were discontinued. There were no schools, orphanages or summer camps. Relief activities were discontinued. The Rabbinate and all religious institutions were liquidated. The Sabbath and religious holidays were abolished. There were few children and almost no old people in the ghetto.
Nazi supervision of the ghetto was now even more evident than ever. Many of Rumkowski’s prerogatives were gradually taken from him. The most important instrument of his power, the distribution of food, was personally taken over by Hans Biebow, the chief of the German ghetto administration, in October 1943. The administration offices were reduced or altogether liquidated and their employees transferred to the ghetto plants. The Sonderkommando – a special unit of the Ordnungsdienst that was in charge of expropriations, operations against the black market and political espionage – now gained strength because of their close ties to the Germans. Rumkowski now had to share much of his power with the managers of labor workshops and plants, whose role in the ghetto increased immensely.
June 15, 1944 – January 19, 1945
On June 10, 1944, Himmler ordered the Nazi chief of the Wartheland, Arthur Greiser to begin liquidation of the ghetto without further delay. In view of the Allies’ continuing military offensives and victories, the usefulness of this labor force became debatable and thus the fate of the ghetto was sealed. On June 15, the Gestapo chief in Lodz, Bradfisch, informed Rumkowski that workers were needed inside Germany to repair the damages inflicted by the Allied bombings. He demanded a weekly contingent of 3,000 persons. The next day Rumkowski announced the new deportations and appealed for voluntary sign-ups. The Inter-Division Commission, which included top ghetto officials, was to draft the deportation lists. The deportees were allowed to take along 15 kg of luggage and were to receive food rations for three days.
The first transport in this wave of deportations left ghetto on June 23, 1944. By July 15, 1944, 7,196 people were deported. The destination was, as before, Chelmno.
On July 15, the deportations were suddenly halted. At that time, the Soviet Red Army was already advancing through ethnic Polish territories in an offensive, which eventually brought it the banks of Vistula. The Nazis had decided to liquidate the death camp in Chelmno and obliterated its traces.
After two weeks the deportations from the ghetto were resumed. This much time had been needed to re-direct the transport traffic to Auschwitz where the remaining Jewish population of Lodz was to perish during the month of August. The Soviet offensive was halted some 130 km east of Lodz and was not resumed until January 1945.
On August 2, 1944, Rumkowski made public, in Announcement No. 417, that “on the instructions of the Mayor of Litzmannstadt” the ghetto would be evacuated to an undisclosed location. “The plant crews will go together as units and the families of workers will join them.” Five thousand ghetto residents were to show up daily at the processing centers.
During this month of the Lodz ghetto, Rumkowski wrote a total of twenty-six announcements and warnings in order to ensure an orderly deportation. As his appeals for voluntary submission fell on deaf ears, he resorted to threats of reprisal, should the Germans “take the course of the deportation into their own hands.” After a week of almost futile efforts of persuading the ghetto Jews to come to the trains, several German police units entered the ghetto on August 8, 1944 and began to drag people to the railroad station. On August 9, 1944, all plants in the ghetto were ordered closed. That same day the western part of the ghetto was closed off and all residents were ordered to move to the eastern part. Such a reduction of the ghetto area was an effective method to speed the deportation, because residents lost their homes and food rations. They were thus an easy target for police once they entered the smaller ghetto. By August 24, 1944, after two reductions, the area of the ghetto had been diminished to four streets and eighty-three houses.
By the end of August 1944 over 68,500 Jews from the Lodz ghetto had been deported to Auschwitz. Rumkowski and his family boarded the train on August 28, 1944. The Lodz ghetto ceased to exist. When the Soviet and Polish army units entered Lodz on January 19, 1945, they found only 877 Jews who had been left in the former ghetto by the Nazis to carry out clean-up operations.
This Collection comprises various type of correspondences and documents emerged in 1941 -1944. It includes personal inquires sent to and from the ghetto, documens issued by the Judenrat, German official documents and correspondences between Judenrat of Lodz and Judenrate of the other cities and towns in Poland, Germany and German-occupied and controlled territories
Postcard from Busko-Zdrój, Poland to the Judenrat in Lodz, written from council of elders of the Jewish population, 13 April 1940.
Translation: Re: Winczynsky, Beno
Concerning our letter from April 4, 1940 we kindly ask you to send us two copies of the birth certificate for Winczynsky, Beno COD. It is very urgent. Signature.
Letter to Lodz from Paris, written to Ch. Rumkovski from H. Fromanger, 12 March 1942
Translation:
Dear Mr. Rumkowski,
I received the first message from my parents, Jakob Reismann (Jakuba 10/1) after their arrival from Vienna in December of last year. Since then I did not receive answers to my numerous letters and postcards neither did I get a confirmation of receipt for the money being send through the Devisenstelle. In desperation I am asking you to tell me how my parents are doing.
I thank you for your kindness with all my heart. Your obedient servant H.Fromanger
Postcard from Urbisaglia (Macerata), Italy to the Judenrat in Lodz, written from Salomon Joles to Ch. Rumkovski, 14 March 1942
Translation:
Dear mother!
I still am without a word of you. Your last postcard was from December 15, so three months ago that I last received a sign of life from you. I cannot put into words how I feel about that. I am so desperate and do not know what to do anymore. Please do everything in your power to send me a message. I still have not heard a word from the children. How are you doing? I am healthy. I expect a quick response. Many kisses, signature
Postcard, Inquiry from Vienna to the Judenrat of Lodz, Written from Bruno Guttmann in regards to Elsa Sara Einohrl, 5 December 1941
Translation:
I kindly ask for information on my sister Mrs. Elsa Sara Einoehrl, from Vienna V. Koestlergasse 11; she was on transport no.5 on November 2. I would like to know if she is in Litzmannstadt, what her address is and if it is possible to send her some money.
Your obedient servant Bruno Israel Guttmann
Postcard from Chmielnik, Poland to the Judenrat of Lodz, inquiry written by J. Plozycki, 15 July 1941.
Translation:
I, Ida Layv Plszycki, ask you to inform me about my mother [name] and sister [name] and my husband with two kids who lived on [street]. For 13 weeks I have not heard of them. I have not heard of my brother Ichezkiel Chaim with his wife and two children for about 20 weeks. I thank you in advance. With regards, signature
Remarks (green) in Polish
Postcard from Węgrów, Poland to the Judenrat of Lodz, Inquiry about Sara Beier from Hochberg, 22 September 1941
Translation:
I have not received any messages from my wife Sara Bejer (Zydowska 11) in a long time. I kindly ask you to find out if she is alive, where she lives and from what she is living. Thank you, Hochberg
Postcard from the Jewish Social Self-help Council in Lagow to the Jewish council in Litzmannstadt, postmarked 29 October 1941.
Writer requesting information about brother-in-law and his son because he has not heard of them in a long time.
Postcard from Manie Fajirtueu in Unterschleissheim to the Jewish council leader in Litzmannstadt, postmarked 3 September 1942
Translation:
I kindly ask you to tell me if my aunt Fajge Kitaj, Holstr.37/5 is living in Litzmannstadt because I have not received any message from her so far. Thank you in advance. Signature. Asking for quick response.
Postcard from Rachela Fraenkel in Krakow to the Jewish Committee in Litzmannstadt, postmarked 5 July 1941
Translation: I am honored to ask you for information about my brother Symcho Binem Majerane, living on Limanowski 26/23. I wrote to him many times and sadly never received an answer. With respect and hope that my wish will be fulfilled. Signature
Postcard from Ruver Fiszel in Zdunska Wola to the Jewish council leader in Litzmannstadt, dated 10 June 1941
Translation;
I kindly ask you to inform me, Fiszel Rubek, about mr. Mordechai Helfgott. Please let me know if he is healthy, if he still lives in Riemengasse No.1, if he is alive. I have not heard of him in a long time. Lately he was in hospital. Please respond soon. Fiszel Rubek, Szadek Ghetto, Wachtelstr. No1.
Remarks (green) in Polish
Postcard from the Judenrat in Dzialoszyce to the Jewish council leader in Litzmannstadt, dated 18 February 1941.
Translation;
We kindly ask you to inform us about the health of the children, Balderman Laga, Malka, Gitla and Moniek. Please respond soon. Signature
Remarks (green) in Polish
Postcard from the Judenrat in Staszow to the Jewish council leader in Litzmannstadt, dated 20 June 1941
Translation:
On request of E.J.Rotenberg, Koscielna Str.3, we kindly ask you to inform us about the whereabouts of Hinda Rotenberg, who since the war did not respond to any messages and who lived on Lipowa 44 before the war.
Thank you in advance, signature
Remarks (green) in Polish
Postcard from the Judenrat in Hrubieszow to the Jewish council leader in Litzmannstadt, dated 19 June 1941.
Translation:
I hereby ask you for information on Ickowicz, Masza living in Litzmannstadt Ghetto on Gruzinskastr.46/5x. The person asking is the son Wierzbowski, Heniek living on Hrubiesow Ludnastr.24. He has not received letters from his mother in 7 months. Signature.
Postcard from a Tarnowska in Konskie to the Jewish council leader in Litzmannstadt, postmarked 16 July 1941
Translation:
To the Jewish Community!
I am very concerned because I did not receive any answer to my several postcards that I sent to my brother M. Tarnowski in Litzmannstadt. So I would like to ask the community if he is healthy and what he is doing in general. I am hoping that the Jewish Community fulfills my wish. I thank you in advance.
Signature
Postcard from the council of Jewish elders in Kaminsk to the Jewish council leader in Litzmannstadt, postmarked 22 July 1941
Translation:
We are referring to your request concerning Abram Szuhmaister. Before the war he lived Piescidskiegoi 7 (?), his son in law Vaurens Halpern works for the Jewish Community at the moment. In case it is the one living on (illegible) 17, we ask him to to pay out this amount. A second amount will be transferred to the same account by Kindman to Szuhmaister, so we ask to pay out this amount as well. David Mintz. For the correctness
Postcard from Nacha Bauda in Germany to the Jewish Committee in Litzmannstadt, postmarked 9 September 1941
Translation:
To the Jewish Committee Litzmannstadt,
I am kindly asking you to inform me if my husband Meusche Bauda is one of the sick workers who have been brought from Posen to Litzmannstadt on August 1. He was in the hospital of Posen and it was said that all sick men should be deported together.
I did not hear from my husband, so I kindly ask the Jewish Committee to find out if my husband is in Litzmannstadt and where he is.
Thank you for your help. Nacha Bauda
Postcard from Ch. Rumkowski in Litzmannstadt to Dawid Goralski in Sao Paulo, Brazil, postmarked 16 December 1940
Translation:
Dear Dawid!
I received your letter to the Chairman of the Jewish Council from November 14 and I am telling you the following: Your brother-in-law works for the parish and he and his family are doing fine. He sent letters to you several times and is surprised that you did not receive any of them. Me and my family are doing fine and we would be happy to receive a letter from you. My address is: Hohensteinerstrasse 30b.
Warmest regards to you and your family, signature.
Green remarks in old German handwriting; need to be translated
Postcard from Boruch Garfinkel in Kreis Skierniewice to the Jewish council leader in Litzmannstadt, undated.
Translation:
To the Chairman of the Jewish Council in Litzmannstadt
I kindly request the address of my mother Sima Garfinkel. She used to live at Zagajnikowa 89/91. I do not know where she lives right now and how she is doing. I would like to write to her that I live here now and that I am doing fine. Therefore I kindly request the address of my mother. Devoted, signature.
Postcard from Regina Perlmutter in Tarnopol, Galicia to the Judenrat in Lodz, dated 16 October 1941
Translation:
To the Jewish Council Lodz!!
I kindly ask you to help me find at least one of the following acquaintances:
…. Names several acquaintances with old addresses.
Postcard from Jakob Grynszpan in Sternberg to the forced labor leader in Litzmannstadt, postmarked 28 July 1941
Translation:
The law says that wife and children of the worker get half of the 48 Reichsmark salary. It is the same with me. But my wife as well as my mother are severely sick. That is why money is rare during these times. Herr Leiter you know, that for sick people being in the Ghetto the amount of money is not enough. Mrs. Frailich (Franzstr.8) gets her 6 RM a week plus an extra of 6 RM/week and the mother gets her part. In the end they get 48 RM/month and the mother gets 24 RM. I beg you, my wife has a lung disease and needs extra care, so does my mother. So I beg you please pay 48 RM to my wife and 24 RM to my mother. I hope that my request is heard. Thank you in advance. Please reply. Jakob Grynszpan
Postcard from Abram Cegla in Posen-Stadion to the forced labor department in Litzmannstadt, postmarked 2 October 1941
Translation:
To Labor Planning Department, c/o Mister Fuchs
I, Abram Cegla, resident in Litzmannstadt, with my brother Zalman Cegla, Talwegstrasse 10, apartment 67, have gone to work onl March 1. I am currently working in Posen as Hochmeister at Jewish Labor Camp No.9. I have arranged that my salary will be paid to my brother Zalman Cegla. Unfortunately, I received a letter from my parents today that informed me about my brother’s death. This news was devastating for me. I therefore kindly ask you to pay the money for my work to my sister-in-law Brandla Cegla, Talwegstrasse 10. This is the wife of my late brother.
Thank you so much in advance, Mister Fuks. I am awaiting your answer. I also sent a letter to my sister in law Brandla Cegla that I arranged the money to be paid to her. I hope that you can fulfill my kind request. Your obedient servant, A. Cegla.
Expulsion document excluding the Szlegel family from a transport, dated 9 June 1942
Confirmation that the family Szlegel is not going to be deported with transport XLII 45-49. Dated June 9, 1942; Litzmannstadt-Ghetto
Postcard to Lodz from Ferramonti di Tarsia-Cosenza, Italy, written to Robert Benda from Giov. Benda, 4 March 1942
Translation:
The good news first: our dear boy telegraphed to Robert. He received it on February 21. He is healthy and everything is all right. You can imagine how happy I was, because I did not expect to receive a message from him after all this time, frankly spoken. What a wonderful surprise! And I am about to tell you about it so that you can be happy as well. If only you would receive my messages; if only I would be sure that I am not writing without any sense and that you can be relieved that everything is good over here and that I have enough to eat etc. Unfortunately I do not receive any messages from you. The uncle did not receive anything either, I got his letter just yesterday. Vally received a confirmation of moneytransfer with father’s signature but that was all we got for months! All the fear and concern that goes through our minds, you can imagine how that must feel! The confirmation was sent to Cologne by the way, they mixed it up with Kolin. That is why it was delayed. We received a package of Dyna with cookies yesterday. How polite of the people, right? I hope you, my beloved ones, are healthy and able to write soon. With all my love for you I pray for your sanity and send you plenty of kisses. Your son, signature.
Postcard from Copenhagen, Denmark to Lodz, written to Zelly Gottlieb from M. Levy, 31 March 1942
Translation:
My beloved aunt Zelly!
Unfortunaley over a week has passed since I wrote to you for the last time, beloved aunt Zelly. The days pass so fast and we had to work a lot to have everything done before Easter. In my last letter I wrote that the winter is over but it started snowing and freezing again and it is still freezing. But the sun is shining and she will win in the end. I wish you all the best and stay forever your living niece Marie [?] My thoughts are with you very often. I will visit Ruth after Easter.
Postcard from Fanny Lewin in Lodz to Paul Kinsberg in Bronx, New York, postmarked 23 October 1939
Translation:
My dear Paul!
I hope you are receiving this letter. I am happy to tell you that all our family is healthy and doing fine. Answer soon and also write to Jozio to his address Zeromskiego 29. We all kiss you. Fanny. Jenny.
Postcard from F. Lewin in Lodsch to Mr. Paul Kinsberg in Bronx, New York, postmarked 20 February 1940
Translation:
My dear Paul!
You cannot imagine how happy we were to finally receive your first postcard from November 10. We wrote to you several times, hopefully you will get this postcard. We all are healthy but we miss you. If you would have the possibility to send us packages with food we would be so thankful. We gave your address to aunt Sonia, please also write to her to Tallinn. Joseph and his family are in Warsaw. Warm regards to all the relatives. I kiss and hug you! Signature
My dear Paul I kiss and hug you! Love you, Jenny
Postcard from B. Freidreich in Litzmannstadt to M. Freidenreich in Wierzbnik Bei Starchowice, dated 19 December 1941
Translation:
My beloved ones!
I received your nice letter. You wrote that you got 30RM from Tridman [?], I need to know what I shall give. I assume you know the address of Szyja, so if you write to him please send him a little bit more and tell me about it. There are no news here. We are thankful and healthy. We are waiting for your letter. Write more often and more detailed what you got for the winter. Please do not wait until you receive letters from us although we would like to write a postcard once a week. We only received one letter from Renia. I replied immediately but until today she did not get back to us. We send you kindest regards. Signature.
Postcard from Sylvia Loewy in Stockholm to Fritz Loewy in Zbaraz, postmarked 9 January 1943
Translation:
My dear Fritz!
I like Stockholm very much. I hope you are well. Probably I might receive a letter from you someday. Best wishes and kisses from your loving Sylvia.
Postcard from Otto Topf in Moscow to Moritz Topf in Litzmannstadt, postmarked 26 November 1942
Translation:
Content: Dear Aunt & Uncle!
This is the third postcard answering your first postcard from November 8, 1941. I hope that you get at least one of them and that you are healthy. As I told you already I need a confirmation from the Ortscomissionat in order to transfer Reichsmark; I need to hand in the confirmation at the National Bank. The confirmation has to include information on the residence of my Uncle and on the fact that he needs support.
Please answer.
Best regards, Otto.
Postcard from a Cepelinski in Litzmannstadt to C. Frajtag in Miedzyrzec Podlaski, dated 25 November 1941
Translation: Dear Father!
We have not written in a long time but there are not any news here, we are all healthy and I work as a chef of the bakery and Kumwinisch is (?). Marylka has grown to be a big and beautiful girl and often asks about her granddad Neumark. So far no more news. So write about what is new for you and about your health and how you get along with your diet. We all send greetings, especially Constanze (?) and the whole family. Marylka sends regards and kisses her granddad.
Sala and family send warm greetings.
Note: Hebrew and Jiddish language are forbidden
Postcard from H. Fisch in Litzmannstadt to Fajga Erlitz in Poniatowskiego, dated 9 and 10 December, year unknown
Translation:
Dearest children!
We received your postcard as well as the 10 RM. We are so thankful because my salary at Arbeitsressort is so low that it brought us much mizbar (sic!). Many weeks ago Sonia wrote that she would send us money, so when I was at work, the parents said it came from Sonia. Can you imagine father’s joy? Probably, Mother says that your effort is better as Sonia’s effort because with you it is all about the will not the money. Dear Fella, today I am a bit more patient because I worked less, only until 4 in the afternoon and so this is already my second postcard. I don’t write to Sonia because I do not have the patience since she does not want to understand me (illegible). You only need to be happy that we are healthy because last year the father was so weak that he could only stay in bed.
Best wishes. Write to us what Wolf is doing. All his belongings are with us.
Postcard from Friedrich Loebl in Litzmannstadt to Hans Gruenwald in Prague, postmarked 24 December 1941
Translation:
Dear Doctor!
As I wrote to you on November 8 (?) Aunt Nela was brought to hospital suffering from (illegible). She is being treated by Dr. (?) a very reliable doctor and acquaintance of Karl Guetig (?). An acquaintance is in the same hospital, she cares for Nela. Hans and I go there every day to fulfill all the wishes that has been communicated to us in written form. Unfortunately personal visits are not allowed. Although we kindly asked Aunt Nela to do so she did not eat and did not buy herself many things, (illegible), that was why she was not resistant enough. Nevertheless we hope that she will be better soon, her doctor gave good prospects. I will write again soon.
Best Regards. Fritz Loebl
Postcard from Bertha Greid in Stockholm to Lina Nieswiski in Litzmannstadt, postmarked 24 February 1942
Translation:
Dear Lina!
How are all of you doing? Since January we have had sent two Koli to you from Lissabon with the help of a Jewish organization in Stockholm. Did you receive the packages? They say that since a few months ago a half-sister of my husband is in Litzmannstadt at the moment. But we have not received answers to any of our letters. Her address is: Mrs. Feicze (Fanni) Fischer (address Zawadski) Kraeutergasse I5. Could you find out how she is doing? She is all alone and needs sympathy. We also sent her a package every 2 weeks but we never received a note on whether she has received those packages. I hope you receive this postcard. We kindly send our regards and hope to hear from you soon. Your servant Bertha (Asch) Greid, Nybrogatan 39, Stockholm, Sweden.
Postcard from Abraham Eibueschuetz in Litzmannstadt to Z. Engel in Warsaw, postmarked 25 December 1941
Translation:
Dear sister ? !
I have received your postcards from December 11 and I thank you from all my heart. I have not received an answer from cousin Borenstein. Please visit him and find out if he has done this. I have not received the money from November 21 so far, as I have already told you (?). I ask you to think of us as often as possible and write often. We are healthy and no other news. I write to you every week. Why does Tolcia not write a few words on his well-being. I am expecting your answer on what you all are doing. How are you? The warmest regards from me and my entire family to you all. Your brother Abraham
Postcard from F. Ajzenfeld in Litzmannstadt to Szyja Ajzenfeld in Pinezaw ueber Busko, dated 21 November 1941
Translation:
Dear father and siblings. I received a postcard from you. Thank God I am healthy but I have not received 50RM so far and I do not know why. I received a letter from Warsaw but the family would not write with caution. Please write to me how granny is doing.
Postcard from Siegni Fryde in Litzmannstadt to Herman Fryde in Bendsburg, dated 9 December 1941
Translation:
Dear Herman!
As an answer to your postcard I am confirming the receipt of 5 RM and I am thanking you for this. What you are writing makes me angry, you always (?) even in good times. I do not feel very well, but I have to be okay because I can not and may not write as freely as you because many things are forbidden here. It hurts me that my dear Leonie is not well because she has such a good heart and has done so many good things and still does if she has the possibility. The worst thing is that I do not hear from my son Ludwik because he would have helped me. I need at least 15 RM per month, and I have no one to ask that of but you. You want me to keep all my money together but how, I am all alone hier and sick, do you understand that? Farewell and do not forget me. Yours, Siegmund
Regards to Ania.
Postcard from Hedwig Kohn in Litzmannstadt to Ignac Kohn in Protectorate B. Budweis, dated 9 December 1941. It is marked with a stamp that says 'Forbidden content'
Translation:
Dearest parents!
I have read your kind report and I can tell you that we are healthy and that Tzedy (?) has been employed at the fur-sole factory. We are talking about you every day. We would welcome to receive money. I am cooking in a kitchen using gas. The children are hungry and eat everything. It is sad that we are not allowed to send packages. (Note there: open criticism! That may be why the letter has not been approved) We are allowed to send money. Write to H.Heroldammer’s (?) old address in Prague; send him our current address, he will pass on the news to my acquaintances. Stay healthy and write letters with a lot of information, they will always reach us. Many kisses to Massareks, many dear kisses to you dearest parents thankful Signature.\
Envelope sent to Franciszka Karpinska, 22 June 1944. A handwritten not eon the envelope says 'If the prisoner is not in the women prison anymore please send to Ravensbrueck concentration camp'
A stamp on the envelope says 'Back to sender, can not be delivered without number of prisoner'
From R Lipszyc to D. Lipszyc in New York, Lodz Ghetto 18 September 1940.
The letter is from a mother to her son. She is saying that she and Szulim are doing fine, the others 'have left'. She is asking her son for help.
Postcard to Helena Klein in Praha from Ernestine Kraus in Litzmannstadt Getto, dated 15 May 1942. The card says that she received the 40RM transferred to her on 15 April 1942.
The card go sent back as the receiver was moved to Theresienstadt as a note on the card says.
Postcard sent from Martha Markus in Lodz to Hamburg, 12 December 1941. There is a stamp on it that says 'Forbidden content'.
She is thanking for 10RM, and is asking why Franziska is not sending any money to Siegfried. Also she is asking for a long letter and that double letters can be sent. She is asking what Mrs Friedheim is doing and are thanking for some stuff like toothpaste and semolina.
German economy widely used foreign labor in industry and agriculture. In the early period of the Second World War, German authorities advertised how advantageous work and life in Germany would be for foreign workers. Later in the war, when German economy experienced a shortage of workforce, German administration in the occupied territories commenced mandatory labor conscriptions. Civilians were called up for labor service in Germany. Forcefully transported to Germany, they would undergo selection process and then distributed to the various industrial enterprises and also private agricultural establishment, as well as for home aid service. At the close of the war, the German labor and economic service under the auspices of the SS, started using prisoners of war and regular prisoners of concentration camps for forced labor in German economy.
This Collection contains correspondences of people who largely volunteered for German labor service, as well as of those who were conscripted to forced labor in Germany. There are also letters sent to laborers from their home countries. Since German labor service was not regarded as incarceration, there was no mandatory German language requirement for this correspondences. There letters written in Polish, Czech, Russian, Ukrainian and other European languages. A number of letters are in German.
From Aldona Brylak (working at Gemeinschaftslager, Augsburg) to Janina Kulkowska (in Milanowek, Poland) 8 December 1944
Written in Polish
From Henryk Maczka (working at Hugo Scheider A-G, Leipzig) to Jan Antoniak (in Skarzysko-Kamienne, Poland) 29 April 1941
Written in Polish
Postcard from Hanisiawa Jamroz in Chemnitz, Germany to Anastazja Jamroz in Krakau, Poland, 12 December, 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard from Nowock Wladyslawa in Chemnitz, Germany to Anastazja Jamroz in Krakau, Poland, 14 December 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Eugen Gluchorski in Furstenberg am Oder to Raduhu, Poland, 29 November 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Eugen Gluchorski in Furstenberg am Oder to Raduhu, Poland, 16 December 1944
\Written in Polish.
Postcard sent from K. Betz in Glausche to Janina Perkowska in Skierniewice, Poland, 18 November 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Raymond Bengand in Stettin, Germany to France, 3 February 1944
Written in French.
Postcard sent from L. Szymanski in Breslau to Rela Szymanska in Pruszkow, 20 November 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Natalja Muszynska in Thorn labor camp-Lager am Viehmarkt to Janina Kulikowska in Milanowek, 18 December 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Andrzej Kulikowski in a labor camp in Augsburg to Janina Kulikowska in Milanowek, 29 October 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Wladyslaw Krzyzanowski to Kazimier Aliechalski in Piastow, Poland, 28 December 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Szyja Prywes in a labor camp near Opole, Silesia to Alfred Schwoebaum in Lousanne, Switzerland, 9 October 1943. It is written in Polish and says that he is in the labor camp in Poniatowa. He met Alfred's cousin (name illegible) there. He has written often and never gotten a reply. He also wants to hear from them.
There is a stamp on the postcard that says 'Reply only with postcards written in German via "Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland Berlin N 65, Iranische Strasze"
Postcard sent from Hanna Stawinska in to in Wildenshausen, Germany to Polnisches Hilfskomite (Polish Rada Glowna Opiekuncza) in Krakow, 2 January 1945
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Dora Kaszuba to Polish Red Cross in Krakow, 29 July 1940
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Konrad Slaski in Burgweide to Jan Listkowski in Krakow, 13 October 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Regina Piesmiak to Polish Main Aid Council in Krakow, 15 January 1945
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Tadeusz Sieniawski in Berlin Feliks Sieniawski in Wegrynow Stary, Poland, 18 November 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Maria Kowalska in Thuringia, Germany to Stanislaw Slima in Praszkow, Poland, 31 December 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Jerzy Sieniawski in Paderborn, Germany to Tadeusz Sieniawski in Berlin, 19 February 1945
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Josef Trejsuar in Sangerhausen, Germany to Bohemia and Moravia, 2 February 1945
Written in German, he is thanking his family for a letter he got. Also he thanks Marika for a parcel. He says when they came to Buchenwald they weighed 63 kilogram. he does not know how much he is weighing now, but assumes it must be about the same weight. About another Josef he heard that he is working in a factory. He says hi to the whole family and signs with 'Your father'.
There is a stamp on the postcard that says 'Censored. Letters may only be sent if written in German language'
Postcard to a place of German labor service to Stanislaw Jukl Foeging Inn, Germany, 7 June 1943
Written in Polish
Envelope from R. Heuchamps in German labor service to Francois Heuchamps in Belgium, 29 June 1943
Envelope only
Postcard from a civilian work camp in Pretzsch, Germany to Kielce, Poland, 13 November 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Maria Betz in Germany to Janina Perkowska in Skierniewice, Poland, 12 November 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Jozef Zwirko in Kassel to Marian Dunski in Wojciechow, 8 February 1942
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Maryan Kaminski in Kornwestheim, Germany to the Polish Main Aid Council in Krakow, 10 January 1945
Written in Polish
Postcard from Maria Lwowska in Germany to Polish Main Aid Council in Krakow, 1 January 1945
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Germany to Poland, 24 November 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Albert Unterstab in Bistrita, Bohemia and Moravia to Karl Unterstab in Prague, 4 April 1945. Written in German. It says:
Got the postcard you sent 28th February. Nice. Cold. I suppose you have to go to the basement a lot to get coal? I am sending a dirt parcel ('Schmutzpaket') again. (...) Here again. No zwiback. Parcel: Only what you can do without. Foot cloths ('Fusslappen') genug. Yours, Alfred. Marmelade yes, artificial honey no.
Postcard from Stanislaus Komorowski in Hohenzalza to Anna Komorowska in post Kosow-Lacki government, 24 March 1941. It says:
Dear wife and children! I thank you a lot for the parcel I received 17 March 1941. I am healthy and think so are you. I did not get any message from you and am asking for a reply to this letter. Maybe you can send a parcel for the Easter holidays ('Ostferien') then please. I am sending greetings to friends and my parents, kiss you and the children, your husband and father
Two Postcards from Ivan Milukowa in Laband camp in Germany to Waria Millukowa in Donbass, Ukraine and from her to Ivan Milukow in Laband camp, August 1943
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Alesandre Gorbouline in the I. G. Gemeinschaftslager III in Ludwigshafen to T. Dietrich in Grenoble, April 1942
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Br. Dziedzic in Berlin Grunewald to Drieskicowie in Kielce, 14 November 1944
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Otto Held in Calbe Saale, Magdeburg to Wasili Dawydjk in Ukraina, 9 January 1943
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Janina Banosiak in Tomaszuw to Gozdzik Kazimiera in the labor camp Neheim, 19 March 1943
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Josef Sokotowski from Lager Ida in Waldenburg to R.G.O. <span class="st">(Polish Central Welfare Council) </span>in Krakow, 11 January 1945
Written in Polish
Postcard sent from Ukraine, Kamjanez-Podilskyj to Dmytro Dziumka in labor camp Tiefbau, Waldenburg (Wałbrzych), Poland, 24 July 1943
Written in Ukranian. It says she is quite happy with her situation.
Postcard from Camp 39 in Saar, Germany to Theresienstadt, written to Marta Leiss, 14 March 1945, written in German.
He is hoping for a message from her and about her wellbeing.
Postcard from Brno, Czech to Postelberg IIF Labor camp, Germany, written to Jaroslav Dadak, 6 March 1945
Written in German and Czech.
Postcard from Richard Schwarzkopf in labor camp Sawin to Rudolf Hirsch in Bruenn, postmarked 29 September 1942.
Richard Schwarzkopf sends best wishes to Rudolf Hirsch and reminds him to send a book.
Drukwerk card from the Netherlands, dated 29 October 1943
Confirmation for received package.
Letter from Konstantin Cwiezk in Linz to Sophie Cwiezk in Sosnowitz, postmarked 20 December 1943.
Konstantin sends best wishes to his family for New Year.
Postcard from Ida Rath in Krakau to B. Greenfield in Brooklyn, USA, dated 14 July 1940
Translation: My loved ones! I have to tell you some bad news. My father and the uncle's brother Saul died on June 26. We are very sad because everybody knew our dear father and liked him. But God only let him suffer for 2 days. It is my duty to tell you about these incidents. Best wishes.
Postcard from Maryla Selinger in Krakau to Josefine Beer in Fiume, dated 16 March 1940
Translation: Dear Uncle! I wrote you a letter a few days ago but now I have received questionnaires from the US consulate and I need to know the address of [name]. Me and my fiance have registered seperately so each one of us has to fill in his own questionnaire.
Postcard sent from Krakow to Jewish Relief Committee in Geneva, 17 September 1941
Confirmation of receipt of food parcels.
Postcard from Dresden to Wilmington, DE, US, written to Oscar Ginns from David Wechselberg, 22 June 1939
Translation: My dear Mister Ginns! I am forced to write to you in this particular issue. I have been forced to leave the country on friday June 9. I managed to get a visa for Italy, where I will stay for 5 months before going to Bolivia. I have to prove to the Italian authorities how I sustain my life but i cannot take a job. I can only take 10 RM with me. So I do not know any other way than to write to you and ask you for money. Otherwise I will be deported from Italy. I hope you do not feel annoyed by me and thank you in advance.
This is a postcard sent from Theresienstadt ghetto to Koeniggraetz.
She excuses for her late answer, because the last time she wrote to Jula and Rose in Bruenn. Ervin is a little bit ill, Marie is health and Iva Ledec has a sore throat. She asks to forward greets to Rudolf Ehrmann, Julek Hermann and Karl Kaufmann. Because she can't write to all of them.
Postcard from Iva Ledec from Theresienstadt ghetto to Franz Beran in Koeniggraetz.
Iva Ledec writes to Franz Beran that she received his message yesterday and that she is worried about him if he has to go away for work. She asks him to give her more information about this matter. The postcard also includes inquiry for some lard, cheese, powder and slipers made of felt. For Ervin she needs a sweater and a tracksuit. Iva also aks Franz how her boys are doing.
This certification form gives Margarete Braun the permission to enter a certain building on the 4th of September 1944.
This certification form is only vaild in combination with an identification card and a passage permission.
It is signed by a member of the central office.
This certification form gives Robert Fleischner the permission to enter a certain building on the 3th of August 1943.
This certification form is only vaild in combination with an identification card.
It is signed by a member of the central office.
This document contains some orders of the day.
1) Roster for handing in postcards
2) Roster for handing in laundry
3) Ghetto court (followed by names of convicted persons)
4) Punishments ((followed by names of punished persons)
Postcard from from Theresienstadt, Kleine Festung (small fortress). The sender of the postcard wishes the recipients all the best for the new year. He/She also confirms the reception of a laundry package. Further he/she tells that he is healthy and doing well. In the N.B. (Nota bene) he/she asks for money (100 crowns).
The red stamp on the front side of the postcard says that no groceries will be accepted.
Postcard send from Paul Mayer in Amsterdam to his mother Rosa Mayer in Theresienstadt.
The purple stamp on the front of the postcard says that it was returned because it couldn't be delivered. The reason was that Rosa Mayer had unknowingly departed.
This postcard was sent from Amsterdam to Ignatz Schindler in Theresienstadt.
The sender of the postcard says that he was really happy receiving a postcard. Further the sender writes that he is glad that every family member is doing well.
The red "Zensuriert" stamp indicates that the content of this letter was checked.
This postcard was sent from Margot Berta Rosenblatt from Theresienstadt to Ludwig Hauser in Freiburg.
The message in the letter says that Margot is glad to have to opportunity to send best wishes to them. She is together with Bertel Mueller and other prisoners and Bertel let ask them, if they could write her yet again. Margot mentions that the postal service is working great, all letters and packages were delivered properly. She asks if they got a message from all your beloved ones? They also should show a sign of life soon.
This postcard was sent from Iva Ledec in Theresienstadt to Franz Beran in Koeniggraetz.
It contains the following message:
Dear Franz!
In thoughts I'm all the time with you. I'm doing well, aunt Marie and uncle Ervin too. What are my boys and young Pavlik doing? I'm longing for some lines written by you.
All the best with greets and kisses,
Iva
This is a postcard sent from Theresienstadt to St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is written in German and asking to forward a message to Vanthijus, which is that the writers husband and his family are with her in Theresienstadt.
It is stamped by the Jewish council of Prague, the stamp says any reply must be in German. Also it has a Nazi stamp saying it was examined.
This postcard was sent from Walter Lenz in Hooghalen Oost to Malvine Lenz in Theresienstadt.
It contains following message:
Dear mother!
A postcard from Mrs. Pribil with condolence and greets arrived .Uncle Otto is doing now like you. We are preliminary coming not yet. Here everybody is healthy, hopefully its the same at your place. Aunt Anna received the card.
Dearest kisses to you, greets to Wolfen, Mama Frankenstein
Your Marianne Your Walter
This collections comprises documents related to the Lachman Family history in Germany prior to the emigration. Most of the documents relate to Julisu Lachman. Julius Lachman was born on 21 May 1887 in Sochwersenz (province Pozen). He attended the elementary school in his home-town Bingen am Rhein near Wuerzburg. In 1910 he took the religious and general courses at the Judaic Teachers' Seminary in Berlin. In 1913, he passed the Government Teachers' Examination in Darmstadt.
Between 1910 and 1923, Mr. Lachmann was first the Kantor in the Jewish Community of Bingen am Rhein. Since 1923 Mr. Lachman took the position in the Main Syanagogue of Munich as a Kantor. .
In 1940 Mr. and Mrs. Lachman (Julius Lachmann and Meta Sachs (Lachman) began preparation for emigration ouf of Nazi Germany. The documents of this Collection were collected by the Lachmans mainly for the purpose of emigration, namely for the American Consulate and for the German emigration authorities. The Lachmans left Germany in ca 1940.
Birth certificate issued to Julius Lachmen, born on 21 May 1887 in Schwersenz in the Posen province of Imperial Germany.
The certificate issued by the German civil authority of the province of Posen on 20 February 1901
The Police of Mannheim provided a reference proving that Meta Sachs (Lachman) has no criminal records, she is not public welfare and largely is characterized positely. The reference was issued for the purpose of emigration from Germany.
The date of issuance was 1 August 1940.
The Civil authorities of Bingen am Rhein issed a birth certificate to the son of Julius and Meta Lachman, Hans Sigmanr Lachman. He was born on 10 April 1917 in Bingen am Rhein, Germany.
This is a re-issued certificate on 15 July 1938.
Julius Lachman attended the Jewish Talmud - Torah School in Hoechberg, Germany in 1902 for two courses (semesters).
This document is a school transcript that lists all subjects and course tought and studied. The number of hours and grades are also povided.
Julius Lachman studied in 1902. The transcript was issued on 20 April 1903.
There were Jewish religious courses and general courses in the curriculum. The following religious courses were tought: Pentateuch, Pentateuch by Rashi, Prophets, Jewish History, Mischna, Talmud, Rituals, Hebrew Grammar. The general course included, German Language, Arithmetic, Geography, History, Natural Studies, Calligraphy, Gymnastic. Behaviour or the character was also subject of evaluation.
The Kocherhalter family collection contains multiple correspondences between the family members in Germany, France, Cuba and USA. Some family members continued living in germany as late as 1941, while the other were interned in the French internment camps Gurs and Les Milles. Eventually most ot the Kocherthalers eimigrated to the United States.
Correspondences are written in German, French and English. The time period of the correspondence lies between 1936 and 1946.
An official postcar sent from G. Kocherthaler in Paris to Fred Kocherthaler in the internment camp Les Milles, France.
A sender could fill only the provisioned rubric in the postcard.
Postcard from Ostermarie, Denmark to J. Kocherthaler in Berlin-Charlottenburg. The sender writes:
Dear parents!
Today it's very warm again. Thank you very much for your postcard.
I wrote to Ella yesterday. Today I had my first strength training. It was very difficult but fun. Probably I don't need more reply coupons, because I'm writing only every second day. Because I've reported you almost everything now, I don't know what to write further.
The front side of the postcard says:
How is Kurt doing? The water is now nice and warm.
Postcard from Ellen Motulsky in Berlin-Charlottenburg, Germany to Hanne Kocherthaler in Paris, France.
Ellen writes: Dear Hanne, I'm sending you this card so you can get the stamp from the mobile post office. Here everything is faboulus decorated. At the Adolf-Hitler--Place there is an tower with the italian and the german flag. Also the Linden, the Charlottenburgerk, the Bismarck Street and the Kaiserdamm are marvellous decorated. This afternoon we are going to the train station where he arrives. On Sunday we have been the last time in Lindow. It was beautiful because we had good weather. Mrs. Wisch gave one piece of selfmade apple cake to everybody of us. "To keep her in memory". All the best wishes from my entire family to your entire family.
Yours,
Ellen
Postcard from Messina, Italy to Julius Kocherthaler in Rome, 21 April 1936.
It contains the following message:
Dear Mr. Kocherthaler!
We are not sure if this postcard will reach your address, but we would like to thank you for the two postcards. We also would like to wish you good weather and recreation. It is is very beautiful here and there are lots of wonderful excursions. Before we'll meet you in Yenna, we will spend one or two days at a relatives place in Luvara (which is on the way on our trip to Yenna). Your telegram will be sent on immediately. If your departure should be delayed, what we think to purport from your postcard, it would be nice to inform us so we could wait here instead of in Luvara.
Goodbye and best wishes, <span style="font-size: 12px;">Ruth and Walter Wolfelele</span>
Postcard from Shanghai to Siegfried Kocherthaler in Paris.
The content says: Our loved ones, we are really worried because there's no sign of life from you. Even the airmail did not arrive. Please send us postcards more regularly, since one never knows if all of them arrive. Leastwise we got messages from Berlins, since the 20th of October everything was fine there. Hanne also had no post from you. How are you doing, why are you not sending any message? Thank god the Western front was preliminiary unaffected, perhaps the negotiations will show an effect. Although we are worried about our existence our thoughts are always by mother, Else, Hannchen, etc. What more will be happen? Nobody knows what the destiny has in store for us. Also from Fritz we don't have a message for months. Could you make it possible to send us some money? Please write us often and extensive, we are now here for more than 7 months. Although of our modest life the money is getting less. We ceded our apartment building because there are no more emigrants coming. Soma played in the american women club in a chamber music evening, the only joy till yet. I'll write more as soon as I get a message from you. Can't you imagine how we are waiting everyday for an message in the worst way? How are all your beloved doing?
Imittiation of Jewish money featuring the host desecration by Jews in Sternberg, Germany 1492.
Therer are three different bills, which are numbered and have with different titles.
Bill #1: "Priest Peter Daene is selling consecrated hosts to Jews 1492"
Bill #2: "The host desecration by Jews in Sternberg 20 July 1492"
Bill #3: "The fire death of the host desecrators in Sternberg 24 July 1492"
Easter greeting sent from a Jewish-Hungarian military serviceman to his home town, Szekesfehervar, Hungary.
The message is written on a military field postcard printed by the Hungarian Royal State Press in 1943.
It has the purple stamp of the Jewish Forced Labor Service, or in Hungarian: Zsido Kozerdeku Munkaszolgalat, ZS.K.M.SZ.
Content: Easter greetings.
A postcard sent by Laszlo Bruchsteiner, Jewish-Hungarian labor serviceman, No. II/2, stationed in Velykyi Bereznyi, today's Ukraine.
Sent to Oszkarne Wertheimer in Budapest.
It has the purple stamp of the Jewish Forced Labor Service, or in Hungarian: Zsido Kozerdeku Munkaszolgalat, ZS.K.M.SZ.
Content: general updates: “We are doing very well. (…) I will need a new Gilette razor, the old one is broken.”
Postcard sent from Zoltan Lekovits in Nagydobrony (Velikaya Dobron', Ukraine) to Katoka Friedman in Budapest, 7 December 1940, Hungarian.
The postcard was printed by the Hungarian Royal State Press in 1940. It is a regular postcard and is not cencored.
Content, English: "Dear Katoka! As you see, I arrived home in one piece and, of course, my dear mother is looking at his son surprised that he’s home, which she cannot believe to be true. I am going to do a round trip, I would like to meet with all my siblings. The weather is quite pleasant. I just miss you so much, it’s so boring alone, I have no one to entertain me. I’ll be back on Sunday, write me until then. And not like you usually do. Greetings until we see each other again, Zoli”
Content, Hungarian: “Draga Katoka! Amint latod szerencsesen hazaerkeztem es termeszetesen a draga Anyukam meglepodve nezi a k[is]fiat hogy ot[t]hon van amit nem akar elhin[n]i hogy az is letezik. Most termeszetesen egy korutat fogok teni az os[s]zes testverem[m]el szeretnek talalkozni most eleg kel[l]emes az ido es szankan fogom bejarni csak te hinayzol mert nagyon unalmas egyedul nincs ki szorakoztas[s]on vasarnap vis[s]za utazom ad[d]ig irjal. Es nem ugy mint szokasod szerint a viszont latasig csokol Zoli”
Postcard from Hungarian Serviceman in Nagykata (Hungary) to Budapest. Recipient is the mother of sender.
The postcard was printed by the Hungarian Royal State Press in 1940. It is a regular postcard and is not censored.
Content, English: Sender is “leaving for Russia tomorrow night”. He writes that he was assigned and sent to a Jewish Forced Labor Camp.
Content, Hunagrian: “Draga jo Anyam! Holnap ejjel […] es szerdan […] indulunk Oroszorszagba. De ne felj mert sajnos Zsido munkaszazadhoz osztottak be. Holnap (kedden) feladom a postat, ajanlott levelben pedig a […], mert nem kellett. Sokszor csokol Gabi Befejezem mert mar viszik el, hogy megkapjad holnap.”
Postcard from Simon Schvarcz in Kaposvar, Hungary to Laszlo Schvarcz in Labor Service in Uzsok, Hungary/Uzhok, Ukraine. Labor company No. IV/2, 25 April 1944.
The content of the message is of personal nature. The postcard was printed by the Hungarian Royal State Press in 1943.
It is censored, purple stamp: "ELLENORIZVE".
Content, English: "My dear Lacikam! We got your card today and I’m replying right away. You can’t complain about not getting any cards from home – I write quite often. Here at home we are all doing well and working. Don’t worry, just take care of yourself. I cannot write you anything special. Bela is still home. Annus is sick. The family is doing well. We are all sending you our love, Anya, Apa and Iren.
Content, Hungarian: “Kedves Lacikam! Lapodat ma megkaptuk es maris irok ra valaszt. Nem panaszkodhatsz, hogy hazulrol ritkan kapsz lapot hisz eleg gyakran irok. Itthon mindnyajan jol vagyunk es dolgozunk. Ne aggodj csak te vigyazz magadra. Kulonosebbet irni nem tudok. Bela meg itthon van. Annus beteg. A rokonsag egyebkent mind jol van. Csokolunk mindnyajan. Anya Apa es Iren.”
Envelope addressed to Schvarcz Laszlo in Fenyvesvolgy, Ung County – today’s Slovakia and Ukraine. Labor company No. VI/2.
The envelope is addressed with handwriting and is censored, hence the purple stamp: "ELLENORIZVE", or "Checked".
Postcard sent from Gyorgy Pal T. in Labor Service to Katoka Friedman in Budapest. Labor service No. 208/17. Date: 19 October 1940. Language: Hungarian.
The postcard was printed by the Hungarian Royal State Press in 1940. It is a regular postcard. It is not censored and is stamped with a regular stamp.
Content, English: "Dear Kato! I find it ununderstandable that I haven’t gotten any answer for 2 weeks already to the several postcards I have sent you. Even though I wrote you time and again. There isn’t a problem, is there? Currently, I am a bit weak and I’m using the time to write. I caught a bad cold, but my leg is healed by now and soon I’ll be in a fit condition. How are you doing back home, dear Kato? And what’s going on with Teri that she’s not writing to Sanyi either? Did you forget us? I hope this didn’t happen. I barely ever meet Sanyi these days because his housing is elsewhere now, but when we get together he says right away: “You didn’t get a card either, did you?” So, I really hope you’ll write us soon. On Sunday, there is a “happy afternoon” taking place, I’ll be performing too. I’m practicing my role. Koltai is the director. I ask you once again to write me as soon as you get this. Greetings to you mother until then. And kisses to you. Give my best to Teri. Gyuri"
Content, Hungarian: “Draga Kato! Erthetetlennek talalom hogy Maganak kuldott lapjaimra idestova 2 hete nem kapok valaszt. Pedig ismetelten irtam egy parszor. Csak nincs valami baj? Epp gyengelkedo vagyok es kihasznalom az idot, hogy irjak. Erosen megfaztam a labam mar elmult es lassan ujra fit kondicioban leszek. Hogy vannak otthon draga Kato? Es mi van Terivel hogy o sem ir Sanyinak. Vagy elfelejtettek minket? Remelem hogy ez nem tortent meg. Sanyival most ritkan talalkozok mert mashol van elszallasolva, de mikor osszejovunk azzal fogad: Te sem kaptal levelet? Hat ezekutan remelem csak irnak nekunk? Vasarnap lesz egy vidam delutan amin en is fellepek. Tanulom a szerepemet. A Koltai a rendezo. Megegyszer kerem hogy lehetoleg postafordultaval irjon. Addig is Edesanyjanak kezcsok. Maganak pedig csokolom. Terit udvozlom. Gyuri.”
Postcard sent from Zoltan Lekovits, Hungarian Labor Serviceman in Sashalom to Kato Friedman in Budapest, 26 August 1943.
The postcard was printed by the Hungarian Royal State Press in 1943 and is not censored. It also does not contain any information about any labor company numbers. However, based on the content, the writer of the postcard was stationed in a Labor Camp in Sashalom, near Budapest, Hungary, and was sent to Kecskemet, Hungary.
The sender, Zoltan Lekovits, was identified based on his handwriting on a previous postcard (RG-72.18.03).
Content, English: "Dear Mother and Kato! I’m sending this card from Sashalom and I’m not sure when we’ll get to Kecskemet. We’re already sitting on the train and waiting for our departure. We’re hoping to get there within 5 days. For her birthday, I wish dear Mother happy and long years and if God willing I get home once, we will celebrate it – I hope I won’t be in as long anymore as I’ve already been here. Dear Katoka I just would like to ask you to write my dear Mother that we went to Kecskemet and I’ll write her from there, she shouldn’t be impatient. It’s a good place and that’s what’s most important to us Thank you in advance and I hope you’ll write. I cannot send you an address yet, I’ll only know where you can write me once I’m there. Greetings to Mother and and kisses to you, Zoli"
Content, Hungarian: “Draga Anyus es Kato! Lapomat meg Sashalomrol irom es nem tudom mikor erunk Kecskemetre. Mar a vagonokba ulunk es varjuk mikor fogunk indulni. Remeljuk hogy 5 nap alat csak oda erunk. Draga Anyusnak kivanok szuletesi alkalmaul hosszu es boldog eveket ha Isten segit haza kerulok megunnepeljuk remelem hogy mar nem leszek bent annyi ideig mint eddig voltam. Draga Katoka teged csak arra kerlek hogy irjal Edes Anyamnak hogy Kecskemetre mentunk es onnan fogok irni ne turelmetlenkedjen jo hely es ami a lekfontosabb nekunk elore is koszonom es remelem hogy irni foksz. Cimet meg nem tudok csak ott fogom megtudni hogy hova irjatok. Nagyon sokszor csokolom Anyut, teged kulon csokol Zoli”
Postcard sent from Gyorgy Pal T. in Forced Labor Camp in Pomaz, Hungary to Kato Friedman in Budapest, Labor company No. 208/14.
The postcard is a non-military postcard, printed by the Hungarian Royal State Press in 1940. It is not censored and is stamped with a regular stamp.
Date: 25 September 1940.
Content, English: "Dear Kato! These may be the last few words I am sending you from Pomaz because there’s a word about us going to an unidentified place within the next 1-2 days. Besides I can’t promise that I would come in on Wednesday because from tomorrow on we will be pepared to leave any time. If there’s a chance, I’ll run away. In any case, I ask you to wait with patience and to think of me sometimes while I’m away. I’m on guard duty at the moment and that’s where I write you these lines from. Sanyi, my “brother-in-law”, is also here and he’s send you both his greetings. Goodbye now and sending you my kisses until I’m away, Gyorgy Pal T. // Dear […] and […] I am also writing a few lines, I’m doing well and we may go […] Jeno already left and now we’re leaving too so bye for now […] greetings, your Sanyi"
Content, Hungarian: "Kedves Kato! Lehet, hogy ez volt az utolso sor amit Pomazrol irhattam Maganak mert szo van arrol, hogy 1-2 napon belul ismeretlen helyre tavozunk. Nem tudom azonkivul biztosra igerni azt, hogy szerdan bejovok, mert holnaptol kezdve menetkeszen allunk. Ha egy mod van ugy meglogok. Mindenestete kerem, hogy az alatt az ido alatt mig nem vagyok a kozelbe varjon turelemmel es neha gondoljon ram. Most epp a foorsegen vagyok es onnan irom ezeket a sorokat. A “sogorom” a Sanyi is itt van es csokolja Magukat. Bucsuzom es a viszontlatasig csokolja kezcsokkal, T. Gyorgy Pal [ ]
// Draga […] es […] en is irok egy par sort jol vagyok lehet hogy a […] megyunk a Jeno mar most elment mi is megyunk zarom soraim […] csokol Sanyitok”
Postcard sent from from Arwin Weinberger in Jewish Forced Labor Camp in Sarvar, Hungary to Laszlo Bakacs, 25 June 1944.
The postcard was printed by the Hungarian Royal State Press in 1944 and is censored: "Ellenorizve", or "Checked" (two stamps with blue and black ink). It does not contain any information about any labor company numbers.
Content, English: "My Dear Laci! I left home two weeks ago and I’m in Sarvar. Thank goodness I’m doing fine. It hurts me a bit that I don’t get any mail from Erzsike. I’m not sure, are they still home? I got a card from Mother last week. How are you doing my dear Laci? Write to me address. If you know anthing about Erzsike, please, let me know. Take care of yourself. God will help us and soon there […] […] altogether. I wish You all the best my dear Laci. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine and I don’t lack anything at all. With love, Arwin"
Content, Hungarian: “Kedves Lacikam! Ket hettel ezelott eljottem otthonrol es itt vagyok Sarvaron. Hala Istennek jol vagyok. Bant, hogy Erzsikemtol nem kapok semi fele postat. Nem tudom otthon vannak e meg? Anyukamtol a mult heten kaptam egy lapot. Hogy vagy Lacikam? Irjal a cimemre. Ha tudsz valamit Erzsikerol ird meg. Vigyazz Magadra. A jo Isten meg fog segiteni bennunket s hamarosan ott […] […] mindnyajan egyutt. Minden jot kivanok Neked Lacikam. Miattam ne aggodj. Jol vagyok es nem szenvedek semmiben sem hianyt. Sokszol csokol szeretettel, Arwin”
Postcard sent from Dr. med M. Mosenkis in Ipolyszalka (Salka, Slovakia) to Bela Finkelstein in Tel-Aviv, 26 June 1940.
The postcard was written in Polish. It has several censoral stamps and markings.
Postcard sent from Ervin Deutsch in Jolsva (Jelsava, Slovakia) to Andor Deutsch in Garany, Hungary (Hran, Slovakia), Labor company No. VII/3, 21 January 1943.
Content, English: personal correspondence. The writer of the message is in a Forced Labor Camp in Jolsva, Hungary (Jelsava, Slovakia) since January 15, 1943.
Content, Hungarian: “Kedves Andikam! Jan 15en hazulrol Jolszvara bevonultam. Tudatlak hogy hala Ist. jol vagyok nincs semmi bajom. Remelem te is jol vagy. Csomag nekem is elkellene habar csak most jottem otthonrol miutan anyuka nem a legjobb egeszsegnek orvendett mikor eljottem ha lehet te is mondj le rola. Vig Sanyi haza ment mint […] Velem van […] Sanyi, Kallai Zoli, […] […] teli ruhaval valahogy elvagyok latva csak hatizsakom nincs rendes. Irjal mielobb hogy leted felol. […] nem tudok Gyularol szinten semmit sem tudok momdani jot sokszor csokol ocsed Ervin”
Postcard, Postcard sent to Andor Deutsch in Garany, Hungary (Hran, Slovakia) from Kalman Braun in Kolozsvar (Cluj-Napoca, Romania), 20 April 1943, Hungarian.
Content, English: the writer of the message thanks Andor Deutsch for his help by lending him 55 pengo [Hungarian currency], which he has returned. He is a soldier or serviceman, as he talks about his “lucky’ situation, as a soldier.
Content, Hungarian: "Kedves Deutsch ur! Koszonettel ma visszaszarmaztattam p55, azaz otvenot p[engo]-t cimere. Amiert is szives koszonetet mondok: katonai helyzetem elonyos szamomra most. M-varhoz tartozom. […] elismertek amit Romaniaban vegeztem a magyarsag erdekeben. Mindenkit szeretettel koszontok es udv. A korhazban azt mondptttak hogy bevonult 9 honapja. Udv Kalman Braun"
Postcard from Horst Gurski in Csorgo (Cerhov, Slovakia) to Andor Deutsch in Garany (Hran, Slovakia), German and Hungarian. Date: 8 September 1943.
This postcard is censored, as it was sent to a forced labor camp in Garany, Hungary.
Content, English: there are three messages from three different people on this postcard. All of them are of personal nature.
Content, German: “Lieber Andor! Soeben sitzen wir abends alle beisammen in meinem Zimmer und denken an Dich. Dabei ergreife ich die Gelegenheit, um Dir so ein paar Zeilen zu schreiben und sollst Du sehen, dass Deine alten Freunde Dich doch noch nicht ganz vergessen haben. Wir sind hier 3 in einem Zimmer, in dem sogenannten Hilfsbuero, Kopfstein Imre, Rudik Lajos und ich. Imre ist gerade gestern aus dem Spital zurueckgekommen, wo er jedoch nur einige Tage zur Konstatierung war. Wie geht es Dir dort? Was machen die alten Bekannten? Ist die alte Clique noch immer zusammen? Mir geht es hier, dem Verhaeltnissen entsprechend, ganz gut. Jedoch hoffe auch ich, dass sich meine Lage jetzt baldigst aendern wird und dass ich in Kuerze in ein polnisches Lager von hier werde uebersetzt werden. Sollte das der Fall sein, so werde ich Dir von dort aus dann kurz einige Zeilen schreiben. Fuer heute schliesse ich mit den besten Gruessen an alle alten Bekannten Horst Gurski”
Content, Hungarian: “Andorkam, orommel hasznalom ki az alkalmat, hogy mas szoban udvozoljelek. Jol vagyok, ma mar nagyon jol. Ma kaptam ugyanis ertesitest, hogy 3 honap szabadsagot kaptam. Kepzelheted oromomet, most varom a hivatalos ertesitest. Udvozlom az ossz’ garanyi ismerosoket. Teged szeretettel udvozol, […]
“Erhetetlen elottem, hogy eddig nem adtal magadrol eletjelet […] hogy ketszer irtam neked. Talan neheztelsz ram, tudtommal nem adhattam ra okot. Teged [not readable from this point on]
Postcard from a Jewish Forced Labor Camp-Munka Tabor in Balatonlelle to Gabriella Glaser in Budapest, Hungarian, 9 July 1943
Content, English: Writer of postcard describes her daily life at the Jewish forced labor camp she is in in Balatonlelle, Hungary. Content is of personal nature.
Content, Hungarian: “Gabikam Edes! Lehet, hogy meg ma irok levelet is, de tudod, hogy van ez itt Lellen [Balatonlelle, Hungary] az ember nem tudja elore, hogy mi lesz! Mindenesetre most beszamolok a helyi esemenyekrol. Dezso a nyaralas kezdeten felvett szokasat folytatja, pendlizik jobbra-balra, neha szoktunk beszelgetni, de errol majd szemelyesen. Palika miutan a […] elutazott most harmincaval fut! Nekunk eddig mindig volt tarsasagunk, egyik nap legalabb 20 fiu volt a grillben /volt koztuk 22 eves is, bizony!/ De ami a fo, hogy kiterveztuk, voltunk vitorlazni a ket fiuval, sot mi tobb meg pokeroztunk is veluk. Ha jol emlekszem Te meg itt voltal mikor megerkeztek? Tegnap azonban mar tovabb alltak es most kereshetunk ujabb, vitorlaval biro embereket. Az ido a megszokott pocsek, ugy hogy ma is kartyazni fogunk a titkarral es egy uj fiuval. […] nem tartott sokaig, mert szerdan mar atkoltoztunk az uj epuletbe ketagyas szobaba. A szokott esti megbeszelesek bizony nagyon hianyoznak. Gabika irjal reszletesen, hogy mi van Veled, hogy szoktal bele a pesti eletbe, mit csinalsz egesz nap. Sokszor csokollak Klari”
Postcard sent from Gyorgy Schvarcz from a Jewish Forced Labor Camp to Gabriella Glaser in Budapest, Hungary, 3 April, Hungarian
Content, English: personal correspondence.
Content, Hungarian: “Draga Gabikam! Leveledet megkaptam amint latod rendszeresen irok neked es ezek utan ha idom engedi mindennap irok neked hogy megnyugtassalak semi kulonoset nem tudok irni minthogy mindeddig jol vagyok es te irtad, hogy a te turelmetlensegedrol nem irsz. Hidd el hogy ami veled van az minden erdekel engem es […]. […][…][…] drukkolok az elkovetkezendo vizsgaidra. Gabikam nagyon koszonom Anyukadek udvozletet es hidd el nagyon jol esett nekem Vigyazz magadra nehogy valami bajod legyen irjal minnel elobb es tobbet mint eddik de kozeledik a takarodo ideje es igy en is takarodot csinalok az irassal. Kezeidet csokolja Gyuri”
Postcard sent from Laszlone Schvarz in Budapest to Laszlo Schvarz in Jewish Forced Labor Vam in Jaszbereny, Hungary, Labor company No. 109/1, 7 July 1942.
Content, English: general greeting.
Content, Hungarian: “Draga Kisapam! Apaval, Anyusekkal egyutt egeszsegesek vagyunk. Remelem es kivanom, hogy te is az legy! Sok-sok csokot kuld a te Buksid”
Postcard sent from Jozsef Farber in Munkacs (Munkachevo/Munkacheve, Ukraine) in Forced Labor Camp (No. 101/309) to Jozsefne Farber in Budapest, 21 August 1944.
Content, English: general grreting, personal correspondence
Content, Hungarian: “Draga egyetlen Szivecskem! Nem tudom, hogy mikor megy el ez a lap mert meg nem szabad elkuldenkunk, de remelem 1-2 napom belul elmegy. Mi hala Istennek, jol vagyunk, a korulmenyekhez kepest jol ellatva. A munka hasonlo mint volt, sportszeruen vegzem. A videk, levego csodas. Mar alig varom, hogy Toletek hirt kapjak, kerlek azonnal lev. lapon irjatok ugy mint eddig. Csak ne tul surun. Mi hir van a […]-rol, Alfredekrol, Jancorrol? Katinka mar boztosan nagy holgy. Alig varoom, hogy megolelhesselek Benneteket. Majd ha szukseges, akkor meleg holmit fogok kerni, ezert keszitsd el azokat. Egyenlore meg nem kellenek. VIII/23. Most kaptam meg az engedelyt az irasra […] udvozlok Teged es Katinkat, millioszor csokol Jozsitok”
Postcard sent from Zoltan Lekovits in Forced Labor Camp in Sashalom, Hungary to Kato Friedman in Budapest, Hungary, 14 August 1943, Hungarian
Content, English: general greetings, personal message
Content, Hungarian: “Kedves Katokam! Lapodat vasarnap kaptam meg es amint latod nem mentem eltavozasra. Bizony aza meg […] az […] ugye? Egy kis izomlaz az egeseges csak egy kicsit joban kel vigyazni az egesegedre en mar egy kicsit magamhoz tertem remelem neked sincs semi komoly bajod. Hogy van Anyu meg hizott e es te hiztal e valamit. Remelem hogy kapok szabadsagot es haza utazom vagy szerdan vagy csutortokon este a nyugatibol indulok. Kb. 8kor. Mi ujsag nalad hogy vagy kulonben? Anyam hogy erzi magat, sokat dolgozgat e ottan bizonyara nem engedted amit jol tettel mert nem azert ment hogy dolgozzon hanem pihenjen. Csokolom Anyut teged sokszor csokol Zoli”
Postcard sent from Vilmos Silberspitz in Forced Labor Camp-Munka Tabor to Vilmosne Silberspitz in Budapest. Labor company No. 217/88. Date: 9 June 1942.
Hand drawn portrait of Geza Glass. Title of portrait: “Somewhere in Russia”.
Postcard to Pal Hajdu in Garany, Hungary (Hran, Slovakia) from Topolya (Backa Topola, Serbia), 30 November 1942.
Content, English: General greetings, personal correspondence.
Content, Hungarian: “Draga Palikam, Ma vasarnap van es Rad gondolok, de nem csak akar, ha nem egesz heten, ha vajon mikor eljon asza ido, hogy mikor leszunk egyutt. Most a szuleid szuleid szorgalmasan irnak, bisztos Te irtal nekik, nekem azis egy vigasz volna ha Teged elintenenek, engem is hazarul fojton aval vigasztalnak hogy rovidesen Te othon leszel. A Gyuri irta egy nagyon egy szep levelet, orulok hogy othon volt ket napig, legalab nem voltak egyedul. Anyit nem pihentem othon mint mast, egesz nap, csak aste vartam alig a postat. A lanyok egesz nap kezimunkalnak es romiznek es is kertem kezimunkat. Mast egyebkent nem irhatok, Schvarc Bela felesege […] hogy bejon es varoom. Csokol neki irjal.”
“Andikam! Nagyon rendes fiu maga csak viselkedjen a […] szembern ugy ahogy megirta es mebeszelte. A Novemberi kuldemenyt elkuldtek […]. Nandi ma itt van es nagyon biztat ugy hogy kezdek remenykedni. Andikam nagyon el vagyok keseredve az leirni nem lehet. Erre csak egy orvossag volna, haza menni. […]
Postcard from Janos Udavors in Jewish Forced Labor Camp (No. 20/7) in Baja, Hungary to Oszkarne Udvaros in Budapest, 21 August 1944.
Content, English: general greeting to writer’s mother.
Content, Hungarian: “Edes Anyokam! Nagyon koszonom a csomagot, a sok finomsagot es a tiszta ruhat. A vasarnapot remek tarsasagban toltottem, kituno hangulatba. Altalaban egyre jobban erzem magam. (Le kell kopogni) Szolgalat sokkal kevesebb mar. Csomo igen szimpatikus uj embert ismertem meg. Kivancsian varom leveledet a sok mondanivaloval. Egyelore csak ennyit. Olel Jancsi”
Postcard and thank you card, OMZSA (Hungarian National Assotiation to Assist Jews) to Erno Szanto, Budapest, 28 September 1944.
Content: This postcard with the OMZSA letterhead was sent out to thank Erno Szanto for his 200 Hungarian pengo (Pengo: Hungarian currency from 1927 until July 1946) donation to the Orszagos Magyar Zsido Segito Akcio – Hungarian National Assotiation to Assist Jews (OMZSA).
Typed thank you letter to Erno Szanto with OMZSA (Hungarian National Assotiation to Assist Jews) letterhead. Date: 29 September 1944.
Content: The writer of the letter expresses his gratitude to Erno Szanto, who, with his donation, helped Kalmanne Kelemen and Jeno Neuhauser. The writer of the letter further asks the donor, Jeno Szanto, to continue with his generous donations.
Typed letter with OMZSA (Hungarian National Association to Assist Jews) letterhead to Erno Szanto, Date: 16 July 1943.
Content: the letter was sent to inform Erno Szanto that his donation of 300 Hunagarian pengo was placed on record. Pengo was a Hungarian currency from 1927 until July 1946.
Postcard from Herbert Stein in Baja, Hungary, Jewish Labor Camp to Lajos Stein in Budapest, 30 September 1944, Labor company No. 101/320, German.
Content, English: the writer of the postcard is in a forced labor camp and he informs his parents about his recent transfer from Szeged, Hungary to Baja, Hungary.
Content, German: “Meine l. Eltern! Ich mochte Euch nur kurz mitteilen, dass wir seit Sonntag nicht mehr in Szeged, sondern in Baja sind. Wir sind gut untergrebracht, Arbeit ist leicht. Nachstes Mal ausfuhrlicher. Mit den herzlichsten Guessen und Kuessen, Herbert”
Postcard from Jozsef Deutsch in Ipolysag, Hungary (Sahy, Slovakia) to Andor Deutsch in Garany (Hran, Slovakia). Date 28 December 1943.
Content, English: the writer of the card is the recipent’s mother and she’s sending general greetings to her son and she’s wishing him “batter year than the previous one”.
Content, Hungarian: ”Kedves Andink! Bizonyara soraink kereszteztek egymast mert en mar irtam te neked. Hogy vagy? Itthon kulonos ujsag nincsen. Gyula most szabadsagot kapott Februar 15-ig. Most el ment Aladarekhoz roved idore. Tibi pedig a szazadjaval vissza jottek Pestre, a szalasuk a Fenyen Arkuszban van. Rakos rendes, ok vasutnal vannak. A szurke selyem ing piros csikkal nem jot vissza te toled, amit unnepre kuldottunk, meg e van? Ervintol 15ki datummal kaptunk nyomtatot lapot. A te kervenyedre kaptal mar valaszt? Ezerszer csokol, Anyad, Apad viszontlatasra. Boldogabb esztendot kivanunk mint ez volt.”
Postcard from Dezso Weinberger in Jewish Forced Labor to D. Weinberger in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, Labor service No. 541, 12 June 1944.
Content, English: writer of letter is in a Jewish forced labor camp and he is writing his postcard to “Iluska” (female) and expresses his joy about the the recipient’s stay in Szekesfehervar (Hungary), instead of her having to move elsewhere. Also, general personal correspondence.
Content, Hungarian: “Kedves Iluskam! Tegnap kaptam meg VI. 2.-I lapodat, nagyon orulok a hirnek, hogy Fehervarott maradtatok. Gondolom sok […] nem fert el az uj lakasban. A konyveim sorsa […][…]. Kuldhetsz nekem […], nem lehet semmit, de nem igen is van szuksegem semmire. Vertesek mar nincsenek Varhelyen [?]. Kozelebbit nem tudok sajnos roluk. Mi van Anyus szerint. Hova lettek be[…]. Mindenkit csokol Dezso. Wohlekat udvozlom.”
Postcard from Gyorgy Bognar in Cegled, Hungary to Istvan Bognar in Jewish Forced Labor Camp, Labor Service No. 521, postmarked 2 May 1944.
Content: postcard is sent by the recipient’s younger sister, she expresses her hopes about her brother’s good health and other general greetings.
Content, Hungarian: “Kedves batyuskam kivanjuk hogy levelunk a legjobb egesegben talaljon teged. Kedves batyuskam it kuldok egy futar ujsagot egy Cegledi ujsagot es 10 darab tabori lapot de ezekrol irjal hogy miket kaptal meg mert akor batrabban kuldunk hogyha irod miket kapsz meg mas ujsagot most nem tudok irni Csokolunk a messze tavolbol ezerszer anyuka apuka Joska es a kicsi Joska es a hugocskad.”
Letter, Medical Exam Certificate from Budapest, Association of Hungarian Jews, patient Lajos Stein, dated 3 August 1944.
Content: This cerftificate is an account of a medical exam determining the non-eligibility of Lajos Klein to work on cleaning up ruins from the streets.
Postcard from Russian POW camp seeking identification documents to permit release for Erno Artur Saltzer from his mother, ozv. Arturne Saltzer in Budapest, 24 November 1947.
Content: The abbreviated prefix “ozv” refers to “ozvegy’ with the meaning of “widowed”. Translation: “You can send the copy of my citizenship attached to the edge of the official reply-postcarsd you’ll use to answer. Regular letter formats don’t arrive. We’re getting ready for the winter. Hoping to see you very soon. Keep hoping. Greetings: your Erno.”
Content, Hungarian: “Allampolgarsagom fotokopiajat valaszlap egy szelere varrva kuldhetitek. Level nem jon meg. Telre keszulunk. A miharabbi viszontlatast allandoan remelve. Ti is bizzatok. Csokol Ernotok.”
Postcard from Russian POW camp from Erno Artur Saltzer in Russian POW camp to Arturne Saltzer in Budapest. Date: 5 July 1947.
Content: “ANSWER ONLY BY USING AN OFFICIAL RED CROSS REPLY POSTCARD! My lovleies! I turned thiry-five as a healthy man. I hope to see you very soon! Send an answer to all my postcards. Sending you my greetings with true love, your always faithful Erno.”
Content, Hungarian: “CSAK VOROSKERESZTES LAPON IRJATOK! Kedveseim! Teljes egeszsegben toltottem be harmincot evem. Remelem nemsokara viszontlathatlak Benneteket! Minden lapomra valaszoljatok. Igaz szeretettel csokol mindig hu Ernotok”
Postcard from Izidor Muller in Jewish Forced Labor Camp (No. 202/55) to Herman Muller in Nemetdioszeg, Hungary (today: Sladkovicovo, Slovakia), 26 April 1942.
Notes: Nemetdioszeg is in today’s Slovakia. Dioszeg. Sladkovicovo, Slovakia.
Content: writer is in Jewish forced labor camp and is sending his greetings to his parents. He asks them to address their answers to him the same way he did on this postcard. He asks them to keep him up to date about their well-being.
Content, Hungarian: “Kedves Szuleim! Ertesitlek benneteket hogy hala jo Teremtonek egeszseges vagyok amit toletek is elvarok hallani. K. Szuleim ha irtok nekem egy legyetek szivesek csak ugy nekem cimezni ahogy en ezen a lapon a feladomat irtam es nem maskep. Tovabba kerlek legyetek szivesek hogyletetekrol mielobb irni. Kulonoset nem irhatok meinden jot kivanok szivelyesen udvozolek es csokolak benneteket hu fiatok Izidor.”
Envelope from Kiss in Budapest to Laszlo Kiss in Forced Labor Camp (No. IX/3) in Vac, Hungary, Budapest, 1944.
It is censored: purple stamp "Ellenorizve", meaning "Checked".
Postcard from Simon Schvarz in Kaposvar, Hungary to Laszlo Schvarz in Forced Labor Camp in Fenyvesvolgy (No. 4/2), Ung County (today Stavne, Ukraine), 8 February 1944.
Content: General greeting to Laszlo Schvarcz in Forced Labor Camp. Sender says he will send him winter clothing as soon as they can afford to buy some.
Content, Hungarian: “Kedves Lacikam! Lapodat megkaptuk. Csomagot meg a heten fel[…]. Semmi kulonos ujsag ninsc mi itthon mindnyajan jol vagyunk. Nagyon furcsanak talalom ezt a hangot ahogy […]-nak irsz mivel […] a kisasszony miket ir ossze, most azt hiszem, hogy az o keresere irsz […]-nak ilyen hangon. Azt hiszem […] nem sertett meg nincs ami neked fajjon. A csomagba majd teszunk egy par meleg hosszu harisnyat is es amire szukseged van. Ruhat majd megprobalunk szerezni es ha tudunk venni ugy azonnal elkuldjuk. Ezt is az onfejusegednek koszonheted. Most jol jonne az a ruha neked is. Vigyazz magadra es irj. Csokolunk […]”
Postcard from Jozsef Deutsch in Ipolysag, Hungary (Sahy, Slovakia) to Andor Deutsch in Forced Labor Camp in Garany (Hran, Slovakia), 1 February 1944.
Content: General greetings and personal message from recipient’s parents.
Content, Hungarian: „Kedves Andink! K.soraidat megkaptuk. Midon a jelzett csomagod megerkezik en azonnal vissza fogom kuldeni a tevesen kuldott oltonyt. Egy szeretnenk, ha rovid idon belul Pestre jonnel, hogy Gyulaval, Tibivel beszelhetnel. Gyula szabadsaga e ho 15en lejar es 2 nappal hamarabb kell neki ithonrol elmenni. Tibi most kapott 4 heti szabadsagot. Gyula e heten Aladarnal van. Tibi is holnap fog haza jonni. Ervinketol tegnap kaptunk nyomtatot lapot I.23-ki datummal. Vig Sanyi itthon volt. Az oreg Kulka bacsi meghalt. Penteken temettek. Irjal nekik. Mink hala Ist. megvagyunk. Viszontlatasra csokol Anyad Apad.“
Hungarian clipping with hammer and sickle image.
Content: “The Hungarian soldier has to die for Hitler’s rule, the country has to starve and suffer for him.”
Content, Hungarian: “A Magyar katonanak Hitler uralmaert kell meghalni, az orszagnak erte kell koplalni, nyomorogni.”
Postcard from Laszlo Leichner in Jewish forced Labor Camp (No. B150) to Samuel and Zsigmond Leichner in Gyongyos, Hungary, 27 June 1944.
Content: the writer writes to his parents in a very sad, melancholic way. He’s fine and hopes that his family is doing fine, as well.
Content, Hungarian: „Draga jo Szuleim es Testvereim! Elszomorito dolgok hallatara nem is tudomhogyan kezdjem soraimat. Draga Szuleim most en kerem dragaimat legyenek erosek es foleg nem szbad elcsuggedni. En jol volnek, bar tudnam hogy szeretett Szuleim is oly jol vannak mint en. Nagyon kerem mindenrol tessek irni marmint elottem ne tessek [...]. Imadott jo szuleim ennekem [...] az elteto erot, otthonrol kapott iras adja, tehat amennyire mod van kerem nagyon legalabb [...] szot es [...]. Zsigaek mit csinalnak edes kis Otto ocsem nagyon szeretnelek lani, vigyazz Te is magadra. Marim miatt rettentoen faj a szivam, bar otthon lett volna inkabb. Rozsiek remelem jol vannak, csokolom oket. Sanyi [nor readable from this pont on.]
Postcard from Janos Hercz in Jewish Forced Labor Camp in Ricse to Pal Feuerstein in Budapest, dated 12 January 1942.
Content: general greetings. Writer is in a Jewish forced labor camp in Ricse, Hungary and he’s writing to a young man, studying. He tells him to “keep studying, so you don’t get to where I got”.
Content, Hungarian: “Draga Palikam, vegtelenul orultem, hogy oriasi elfoglaltsagod kozepette idot tudtal szakitani, hogy nekem egy lapot irjal. Egyaltalan nem haragszom mert tudom jol, hogy egy ilyen elfoglalt fiatalember akit nagyon is elfoglalnak iskolai tanulmanyai nem err a levelezni holmi internalttal. Ez biztos azert van, mert ejjel nappal tanulsz. Tanulj is szorgalmasan nehogy ide kerulj ahol en most vagyok mert ide csak a rossz tanulok kerulnem. Remelem jol vagy es jot tett a karacsonyi pihenes. Itt nagy a ho mas ujsag nincsen. Palikam viselkedj rendesen, ne mergesitsd anyadat. […] udvozlom […].
Postcard from Erno Partos in Jewish Forced Labor Camp (No. M 569) to Gusztavne Drozsa in Budapest, 20 July 1944.
Content: recipeient is the mother of the writer, who writes general updates about his well-being and expressed his hope that his family is also doing well.
Content, Hungarian: “Draga Anyam! Orommel ragadom meg az alkalmat, hogy eletjelt adhassak magamrol. Gyors es kellemes utazas utan beerkeztunk allomashelyunkre. Az itt toltott ido alatt teljes egeszsegben es jo kedelyallapotban lattam el a szolgalatomat. Felszerelesem teljes, semmiben sem szenvedek hianyt. Remelem, hogy most mar 2 hetenkent allandoan irhatok haza es kerek a valaszlapra kimerito valaszt mindenrol pontosan. Kerlek Bozsit is ertesiteni, sokszor udvozlom es csokolom igen sokat gondolok Ra. Remelem hogy nyugodt legkorben es biztonsagban toltotted el az elmult idoket. Ram ne legyen gondod, jol vagyok es teljes biztonsagban erzem magamat. Nagyon szeretnelek mar latni es aggodom ti sorsotok miatt. Vigyazzatok magatokra Bozsivel egyutt, varoom pontos valaszotokat. Mindenkit udvozlok, Teged pedig csokol mindig szereto fiad, Erno”
A postcard written from the Doverstorp refugee camp in Sweden by Mae Lasker to Palestine.
Doverstorp was an internment camp located in Sweden. Below are thumbnails of the front and back of a postcard dated June 21, 1945, from the internment camp at Doverstorp to Palestine. The writer was a forced labor prisoner from Berlin rescued by the Swedish Red Cross. He writes that his whole family is dead, and he is the only survivor of these horrors.
Testimony provided by Wolfgang Sanner, Manager of the A.E.G. Berlin and Secretary of the Labor Drafting Department at Mauthausen Concentration Camp, regarding the organization and drafting of prisoners for forced labor at Mauthausen. This testimony was subscribed and sworn to before Captain A. J. Hackl, investigating officer, U.S. Army on 6 July, 1945.
Sanner's testimony outlines the administrative offices and SS administrators responsible for drafting forced labor in German concentration camps. Further, he describes the types of hard labor to which prisoners were put and how prisoners were selected by Capos for hard labor. He testifies that prisoners were never paid for their labor. Instead, the money paid by private firms for prisoners' labor was kept by SS administrators.
This document is a letter written by a Dr. Goldstaub (who at the time was interred at Huyton Alien Internment camp in Liverpool), to his son, Werner Goldstaub, of which whom was interned at the Hay Internment and Prisoner of War camp, located in Hay, New South Wales, Australia. The letter is written in German, and was sent to the Prisoners of War Information Bureau in Melbourne, Australia, and was then forwarded to Hay Internment camp. The return address is the residing address of Dr. Goldstaub's wife (Werner's mother), and contents of the letter include Dr. Goldstaub's departure from Huyton in Liverpool and back to his residing address in London.
circa 1940.
This is a postcard sent from German POW camp, Stalag VIII-B, by a captured Allied soldier named Corporal Jona Richfield. The card was sent to the address of a Mrs. Magit Richfield, presumably the Corporal's wife, in Tel Aviv, Palestine.
Dated 11 February, 1942.
This document is an undated envelope addressed to the international Red Cross Committee in Geneva, Switzerland. The sender is a man named Alexander Gross, who was interned at a Jewish Internment camp called Ferramont di Tarsia, located near Cosenza in Italy.
circa 1942
