Envelope from German Occupied Bila Tserkva, Ukraine

Authors

Object ID

2014.1.213

Object Name

Envelope

Date

1942

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: A yellowish envelope with writing in black cursive ink. Includes a large X in blue pencil across the envelope, as well as three blue postage stamps of Adolf Hitler, two black and two purple hand stamps and a box written in orange pencil.Back: Includes writing in black cursive ink and two pieces of white tape.

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Registered cover from German-occupied Bila Tserkva, 1942. Soon after the German occupation of Bila Tserkva in August 1941, General Walther von Reichenau, commander of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht, ordered his men to assist the Einzatzgruppen and the Ukrainian auxiliaries in murdering the Jews. Over the next few days most of the adult Jews of Bila Tserkva were liquidated. The difficult task of killing the remaining children fell to the Ukrainians as the Germans found the job too emotionally taxing. Despite attempts on the part of several chaplains to free the frightened and hungry children, von Reichenau insisted that the executions proceed. According to the report of one SS man present at the scene of the murders, even the Ukrainians were trembling at the prospect of shooting children over the pit that had been prepared for them. "The wailing was indescribable. I shall never forget the scene throughout my life. I find it hard to bear." The chaplains did not protest the murder of the adults.

Dimensions

3 7/8 x 6"

Keywords

Ukraine, Occupied

Subcollection

Bullets

Recommended Citation

"Envelope from German Occupied Bila Tserkva, Ukraine" (1942). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2014.1.213.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/477