Object ID
2014.1.56
Object Name
Postcard
Date
11-7-1938
Files
Download Full Text (3.7 MB)
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