Postcard From Distraught Jewish Woman Alone in Vienna after Kristallnacht

Authors

Object ID

2014.1.56

Object Name

Postcard

Date

11-7-1938

Files

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

Front: Handwritten message in black ink.Back: Red printed postcard lines, black handwritten address and message, and red stamp.

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:

Mailed by a Jewess named Schprinze, addressed to her family in Jerusalem, Palestine. German handwritten message addressed to Josef Pollak, a family member who managed to leave Nazi Germany in good time while Ms. Schprinze remained alone in Vienna. The text indicates her state of mind: her confusion, fear, and separation from reality. "One can only imagine the horrors these days: the sounds of broken glass everywhere, all the raging mobs looting shops, sights of wild fires burning old sacred synagogues. Above all the feeling that life is completely turned over..." She begins the card with family matters, asking for Morris's address which she has lost, then complains she has no luck (mazal). She continues, "Morris is not writing to me... I am worried for my life... I have no time to think... Please help me..." Signed in Hebrew letters "Schprinze." She mailed the card with surface rather than air mail and neglected to write her address. As no family name appears on the card, we know nothing of her fate.

Dimensions

4 1/4 x 5 15/16"

Keywords

Kristallnacht, Josef Pollak

Subcollection

Early, Personal, Polenaktion

Recommended Citation

"Postcard From Distraught Jewish Woman Alone in Vienna after Kristallnacht" (1938). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2014.1.56.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/366