Ed Victor Papers, 1933-1972 | Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust

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Collection Overview

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

Abstract

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.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Ed Victor Papers comprises 58 collections, sub-collections. The latters include a great deal of folders and folder-level collections. All in all this record groups contains around 1800 documents.

Collection Historical Note

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 20^th 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.

Biographical Note

Subject/Index Terms

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

Box and Folder Listing

Sub-Collection 24: RG-72.24, Correspondence from and to prisoner of war camps, 1939 -- 1945

This collection contains correspondences sent to and from prisoner of war camps in the course of the Second World War

Subject/Index Terms:: Prisoners of war, Allied; Prisoner of war, German; Prisoners of war, Jewish; Correspondence to and from prisoner of war camps; Prisoner of war camps, German; Prisoner of war camps, Allied; Search for prisoners of war; POW camps for prisoners of war and interned people, the Second World War; Stalag VIII-B , German POW camp in Lamsdorf; Jewish Palestinian prisoners of war in German POW camps, Stalag VIII B, 1942; Jona Richfield, Jewish Palestinian prisoner of war in German POW camp, Stalag VIII B, 1942; Chasso Sofia Grusalemme POW cam in Italy for allied prisoners of war, WWII; British prisoners of war camps (POW) in East Africa, the Second World War; Correspondence from an Italian prisoner of war in a British POW camp in East Africa to Italy; British prisoner of war camps in Eritrea, East Africa, for Italian POWs; Ferramonti di Tarsia, Italy, Calabria, internment camp 1940-1943.; Correspondence between the Refugee Center in Bari to Ferramonti di Tarsia internment camp, Italy; Internment camps for Jews in Italy, the Second World War; Chiasso Sofia Gerusalemme communication line for correspondence to and from Italian internees, WWII; Bakar, Italian concentration camp in the town of Bakar, Croatia for civil population, WWII; Concentration camps, Italian; Internment camps, Italian; Bolzano transit camp, German, German-occupied northern Italy, 1944, 1945

Creators:: prisoner of war, German (1939 -- 1950); prisoners of war, allied (1939 -- 1945); prisoners of war camps, German (1939 -- 1945); prisoner of war camps, Allied (1939 -- 1950); Italian interment and prisoner of war camps in the Second World War (1940 -- 1945)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 01: RG-72.24.01, Letter sent from a father, Dr. Goldstaub, in London to his son Werner Goldstaub in care of the Prisoners of War Information Bureau in Melbourne, Australia, ca. 1940

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.

Subject/Index Terms:: Australia; Melbourne (Australia); Hay Internment camp (Hay, N.S.W., Australia); Correspondence to and from Hay Internment camp; internment and POW camps, Australia; Prisoners of War Information Bureau (Melbourne, Australia); London (England); England (1938-1945); Great Britain (1939--1945); Edinburgh (Scotland); United States (1939 -- 1945); Huyton Alien Internment camp (Liverpool, UK); Search for prisoners of war

Creators:: multiple senders (1939 -- 1945); Relatives of prisoners of war (1939-1945)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 02: RG-72.24.02, Postcard sent from Corporal Jona Richfield from Stalag VIII B in Silesia (Germany) to Margit Richfield in Tel Aviv, Palestine, 11 February 1942 Stalag VIII-B Lamsdorf was a notorious German Army prisoner of war camp, later renumbered Stalag-344, located near the small town of Lamsdorf (now called Łambinowice) in Silesia. It was opened in 1939 to house Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive. Later approximately 100,000 prisoners from Australia, Belgium, British India, British Palestine, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, the United States and Yugoslavia passed through this camp. In 1941 a separate camp, Stalag VIII-F was set up close by to house the Soviet prisoners. In 1943, the Lamsdorf camp was split up, and many of the prisoners (and Arbeitskommando) were transferred to two new base camps Stalag VIII-C Sagan (modern Żagań and Stalag VIII-D Teschen (modern Český Těšín). The base camp at Lamsdorf was renumbered Stalag 344. The Soviet Army reached the camp on 17 March 1945. Later the Lamsdorf camp was used by the Soviets to house Germans, both prisoners of war and civilians. Polish army personnel being repatriated from POW camps were also processed through Lamsdorf and sometimes held there as prisoners for several months. Some were later released, others sent to Gulags in Siberia. By 1943, the famous camp for Allied flight personnel in Sagan - Stalag Luft III - had become so overcrowded that about 1,000, mostly non-commissioned flight personnel, were transferred to Lamsdorf. A part of Stalag VIII-B was separated by building new barbed-wire fences, designated Stalag Luft VIII-B. Thus a camp within a camp was created. However all food was provided from kitchens operated by army personnel in the camp proper. In January 1945, as the Soviet armies resumed their offensive and advanced into Germany, many of the prisoners were marched westward in groups of 200 to 300 in the so-called Death March. Many of them died from the bitter cold and exhaustion. The lucky ones got far enough to the west to be liberated by the American army. The unlucky ones got liberated by the Soviets, who instead of turning them over quickly to the western allies, held them as virtual hostages for several more months. Many of them were finally repatriated towards the end of 1945 through the port of Odessa on the Black Sea., 11 February, 1942

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.

Subject/Index Terms:: Correspondence to and from prisoner of war camps; Prisoner of war camps, German; Stalag VIII-B, Nazi POW camp, Silesia; Search for prisoners of war; Tel-Aviv (Palestine, 1939-1945); Palestine, British Mandate Territory (1918--1948); prisoners of war in Germany; Sosnowiec; Sosnowitz (Upper Silesia, Poland); Correspondence by postcards; postcards; Jona Richfield, Jewish Palestinian prisoner of war in German POW camp, Stalag VIII B, 1942; Stalag VIII-B , German POW camp in Lamsdorf; Prisoners of war, British military personnel of Jewish nationality, the Second World War; Narratives in German language; Documents in German language; Documents in English language

Creators:: multiple senders (1939 -- 1945); Relatives of prisoners of war (1939-1945); Jona Richfield, British Army serviceman of Jewish origin from Palestine, POW in Stalag VIII B (1942)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 03: RG-72.24.03, Letter from London to Prisoners of War Information Bureau in Melbourne, Australia, from Goldstaub (father) to Werner Goldstaub (son), 14 September, 1940, 14 September, 1940

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 04: RG-72.24.04, A letterfor airmail through Chiasso-Sofia-Gerusalemme line of communication to Italina prisoners of war, British camp. No. 30, Block 8, 1942, 1 May, 1942

Cover letter originated from Taviano, Italy, sent to a prisoner of war camp located in South Africa. The words 'Chiasso-Sofia-Jerusalem' represents the mail route to a prisoner of war camp, specifically in Africa. The cover letter includes British and Italian censure approval stamps, dated 1 May, 1942.

Subject/Index Terms:: Jerusalem (Palestine); Taviano (Italy); Prisoners of War; South Africa; Zonderwater P.O.W. camp (South Africa); Prisoners of war, Italian; Correspondence to and from prisoner of war camps; Prisoner of war camps, German; Search for prisoners of war; Warfare in northern Africa, 1942 -- 1943; Italy (1940 -- 1945); Chiasso Sofia Gerusalemme communication line for correspondence to and from Italian internees, WWII; Prisoner of war camps, British, the Second World War; Internment camps, British, the Second World War; Internees, Italian, the Second World War; British prisoner of war and internment camps for Italian military personnel and officials; Documents in Italian language

Creators:: multiple senders (1939 -- 1945); Relatives of prisoners of war (1939-1945); Relatives and friends of Italian prisoners of war and internees in the allied camps (1940 -- 1945)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 05: RG-72.24.05, A letter to a British prisoner of war camp for Italian military personnel in the Union of South Africa. 1942, 7 July, 1942

This document is a cover letter originating from Padule, Italy, and sent via Sofia-Jerusalem trade route, and the letter arrived at an British prisoner of war camp for Italian military personnel in South Africa, dated 7 July, 1942.

Subject/Index Terms:: Correspondence to and from prisoner of war camps; Prisoner of war camps, German; Prisoners of war, Italian; South Africa; Warfare in northern Africa, 1942 -- 1943; Search for prisoners of war; Italy (1940 -- 1945); Padule (Italy); postcards; Correspondence by postcards; Zonderwater P.O.W. camp (South Africa); Internees, Italian, the Second World War; Prisoner of war camps, British, the Second World War; Chiasso Sofia Gerusalemme communication line for correspondence to and from Italian internees, WWII; Letters from relatives and friends in Italy to Italian prisoners of war in British camps, WWII; Documents in Italian language

Creators:: multiple senders (1939 -- 1945); Relatives and friends of Italian prisoners of war and internees in the allied camps (1940 -- 1945)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 08: RG-72.24.08, A correspondence from Italy to an Italian internee in a British Prisoner of War Camp in Eritrea, East Africa send trough Chasso Gerusalemme line, ca. 1942

This document is a cover letter, written in Italian and sent from a friend or family member to an Italian prisoner of war. The sender's address, (Alessandria, Valenza), a commune in Italy. Five Italian post stamps adorn the envelope, the stamps depict a photo of Italian leader Benito Mussolini. The Chiasso-Jerusalem mail route written on the cover letter indicates the mail is being sent to Africa, specifically the Italian east African colony of Eritrea. During the North Africa campaign, the British overran the Italian-controlled African colony of Eritrea, thus, the Italian P.O.W. being written to in this letter indicates that he was captured during the British invasion of Eritrea, circa 1942.

Subject/Index Terms:: Duce or Benito Mussolini, the fascist Prime Minister and the leader of Italy in 1922 – 1943; Italy (1940 -- 1945); stamps, Italian; Jerusalem (Israel); Search for prisoners of war; Correspondence to and from prisoner of war camps; Prisoner of war camps, Allied; Warfare in northern Africa, 1942 -- 1943; Prisoners of war, Italian; Documents in Italian language; Italian, language; African war theater; Prisoner of war camps, in Africa; Eritrea (East Africa)

Creators:: multiple senders (1939 -- 1945); Relatives of prisoners of war (1939-1945); Administrations of Italian internment and POWs camps, 1938 -- 1945 (1941 -- 1945)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 06: RG 72.24.06, Correspondence to an Italian prisonoer of war in a British POW camp in East Africa, 1942, 3 September, 1942

This document is a cover letter written in Italian and from Italy, and is addressed to an Italian prisoner of war interned in East Africa. A stamp indicates that the mail originated in Caltanissetta, Sicily, Itay. The Chiasso-Jerusalem mail route written indicates the mail comes from Europe and is being sent to a P.O.W. interned in Africa, dated 3 September, 1942.

Subject/Index Terms:: Italy (1940 -- 1945); Jerusalem (Israel); Chiasso (Switzerland); Warfare in northern Africa, 1942 -- 1943; Search for prisoners of war; Correspondence to and from prisoner of war camps; Prisoner of war camps, Allied; Prisoners of war, Italian; Prisoner of war camps, in Africa; Prisoners of War; Sicily (Italy); Caltannissetta (Sicily, Italy); Documents in Italian language; Italian, language

Creators:: multiple senders (1939 -- 1945); Relatives of prisoners of war (1939-1945); Prisoner of War Parcel Department

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 07: RG-72.24.07, From an Italian prisoner of war camp, from Captain Basil Howard Broster to South Africa, November 7, 1942, 7 November, 1942

This postcard is written by an British P.O.W. named Captain Basil Howard Broster. Captain Broster was interned in POW Camp PG 47 PM 3200, which is an Italian prisoner of war camp located in Modena. The Sofia-Istanbul mail route indicates the sending of the postcard to Africa. In the postcard, Broster addresses a Mr. Collins in East London, South Africa. Broster writes that he is "...still in the land of the living," and to "note new address," which insinuates that Broster was recently interned in the Modena camp, dated 7 November, 1942.

Subject/Index Terms:: Prisoners of war, Allied; prisoner of war camps, Italian; Prisoners of War; postcards; Correspondence by postcards; Italy (1940 -- 1945); Prisoners of war, British; South Africa; stamps, Italian; Sofia (Capital of Bulgaria); Istanbul (Turkey); Correspondence in English language; Documents in English language; English, language; Italian, language; Correspondence to and from prisoner of war camps

Creators:: multiple senders (1939 -- 1945); Relatives of prisoners of war (1939-1945); Administrations of Italian internment and POWs camps, 1938 -- 1945 (1941 -- 1945); prisoners of war, allied (1939 -- 1945); Prisoner of War Parcel Department

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 09: RG-72.24.09, From prisoner Alexander Gross in an Italian prisoner of war camp Ferramonti-Tarsia to the International Red Cross, Switzerland, ca. 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

Subject/Index Terms:: Ferramonti di Tarsia, Cosenza (Italy); Ferramonti di Tarsia concentration camp, (Cosenza, Italy); Italy (1940 -- 1945); International Committee of the Red Cross; Swiss Red Cross; Geneva (Switzerland); stamps, Italian; Documents in French language; Prisoner letters; correspondence to and from concentration camps; Correspondence to and from internment camps; Search for prisoners of war; Switzerland (1939--1945)

Creators:: Alexander Gross, prisoner at Ferramonti di Tarsia Italian concentration camp (ca. 1942); Administrations of Italian internment and POWs camps, 1938 -- 1945 (1941 -- 1945); multiple senders (1939 -- 1945); Relatives of prisoners of war (1939-1945)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 10: RG-72.24.10, From Jan Hermann in the Refugee Center in Bari, Italy, addressed to Filip Kanner in POW Ferramonti-Tarsia, Italy, 1944, 22 October, 1944

This document is a letter written by a man named Jan Hermann, writing from the Jewish Refugee Center in Bari, Italy. The letter is addressed to a Mr. Filip Kanner, who is an intern at the Ferramonti-Tarsia Italian concentration camp, dated 22 October, 1944.

Subject/Index Terms:: Ferramonti di Tarsia, Cosenza (Italy); Ferramonti di Tarsia concentration camp, (Cosenza, Italy); Italy (1940 -- 1945); Internment camps, Italian, 1938 -- 1945; Bari (Italy); Jewish Refugee Center (Bari, Italy); Documents in German language; German, language; Search for prisoners of war; correspondence to and from concentration camps; Correspondence to and from internment camps; prisoner of war camps, Italian

Creators:: Jan Hermann, refugee at Jewish Refugee Center, Bari, Italy (1944); Administrations of Italian internment and POWs camps, 1938 -- 1945 (1941 -- 1945); Relatives of prisoners of war (1939-1945); multiple senders (1939 -- 1945)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 11: RG-72.24.11, A memo about former internment camp, Ferramonti-Tarsia, Italy. October 24, 1944, 24 October, 1944

This document is a memo written regarding the British-American liberation of an Italian concentration/internment camp called Ferramonti-Tarsia camp, located near Cosenza. The memo reveals problems faced with aiding ex-prisoners of the camp. The letter is addressed to Mr. Merkas Haplitim in Bari, Italy. Bari is the location of a Jewish Refugee Center; dated 24 October, 1944.

Subject/Index Terms:: Ferramonti di Tarsia, Cosenza (Italy); Ferramonti di Tarsia concentration camp, (Cosenza, Italy); Italy (1940 -- 1945); Bari (Italy); Jewish Refugee Center (Bari, Italy); Documents in German language; Jewish Refugee Aid Organization; correspondence to and from concentration camps; Correspondence to and from internment camps; prisoner of war camps, Italian; Search for prisoners of war; Internment camps, Italian, 1938 -- 1945; German, language; Refugee correspondence in the course of the Second World War

Creators:: Administrations of Italian internment and POWs camps, 1938 -- 1945 (1941 -- 1945); multiple senders (1939 -- 1945)