Object ID
2014.1.229
Object Name
Envelope
Date
10-30-1941
Files
Download Full Text (1.3 MB)
Description
Front: A tan envelope with writing in blue ink. Includes a blue postage stamp, two black hand stamps, and markings in orange.Back: Includes a black hand stamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: This cover, postmarked Madona, October 30, 1941, bears a Russian stamp that was not recognized by the Latvian postal authorities, since it was no longer valid for postage. Latvia had been an independent republic from the end of World War I until 1940, when it was occupied by the Soviet Union. However, following Operation Barbarosa in June 1941, it was occupied by Germany and included in the Reichkommissariat Ostland, along with Lithuania, Estonia, and Belorussia. Einsatzgruppen units were aggressively active within days of the invasion of Latvia. The murder of Jews commenced in late June 1941, and Jews were killed in a number of towns with the assistance of Latvian and Lithuanian auxiliaries, including the infamous Arajs Kommandos, who were mainly university students. Ghettos were established in the larger cities of Riga, Dvinsk and Liepaja. Mass shootings of Jews from the Riga Ghetto occurred in December, 1941 in the Rumbula Forest. Additionally, Jews from Austria and Germany were deported to the Riga Ghetto where most were murdered. In Liepaja, 700 Jews were killed in July alone. By the end of the war, only a few hundred Jews were left in all of Latvia.
Dimensions
4.5 x 6.5"
Keywords
Russian, Latvia, stamp
Recommended Citation
"Envelope from Madona to Riga, Latvia with Unrecognized Russian stamp" (1941). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2014.1.229.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/490
![Envelope from Madona to Riga, Latvia with Unrecognized Russian stamp](https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/1489/thumbnail.jpg)