Object ID
2012.1.348
Object Name
Letter
Date
10-26-1941
Files
Download Full Text (13.3 MB)
Content Warning
The Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection consists of images, documents, and artifacts related to the Holocaust. The collection contains materials that depict a number of topics that may be difficult for viewers to engage with, including: antisemitic descriptions, caricatures, and representation of Jewish people; Nazi imagery and ideology; descriptions and images of German ghettos; graphic images of the violence of the Holocaust; and the creation of the State of Israel. For more information, see our policy page.
Description
Letter in purple ink on Auschwitz lined stationery.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
The first transport to Auschwitz on June 14, 1940 consisted of 728 Polish prisoners, only a few of whom were Jews. They were assigned numbers 31-758. The prisoner- or Schutzhaftling -who wrote this letter, was born in 1917, and had been assigned prisoner number 632. His block number was 10a. His name is difficult to decipher. Only 298 Polish prisoners on the first transport survived the war. Noteworthy on all concentration letter sheets are the printed regulations. While details may have changed over the years of the concentration camp system, these regulations were strictly enforced. While they were an important lifeline for prisoners, they were also formulaic and were not allowed to go into detail about camp life.
The following instructions are to be observed in written communications with prisoners:
1. Each month a prisoner may receive from or send to his relatives two letters or 2 postcards. They are to be legible and written in ink with only 15 lines per side. Envelopes must be unsealed. Only five 12 pfennig stamps may be included per side. Everything else is forbidden and subject to seizure. Postcards can have ten lines. Photographs may not be used as postcards.
2. Sending money is permissible.
3. Name, birth date and prison number must be included on all correspondence, as well as the exact name of sender. Errors in the address will mean the item will be returned to sender or destroyed.
4. Only newspapers ordered through the camp post office are acceptable.
5. Packages may not be sent since items may be purchased in the camp.
6. Dismissal requests sent to the administration are useless.
7. Visits to prisoners is forbidden. The Camp Commander
Auschwitz Camp censor marking hand stamped rectangular box translated Postal censor /Concentration Camp Auschwitz, Examined: initials of examiner.
Dimensions
8 1/4 x 11 1/2"
Keywords
Auschwitz, Mieryslaw, Borrar Mieryolaw
Subcollection
Concentration
Recommended Citation
"Censored Prisoner Letter Sheet for Polish Prisoner on First Transport to Auschwitz" (1941). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2012.1.348.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/1034
Rights Statement
