Envelope from Madona to Riga, Latvia with Unrecognized Russian stamp

Authors

Object ID

2014.1.229

Object Name

Envelope

Date

10-30-1941

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 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Madona, October 30, 1941, bears a Russian stamp that was not recognized by the Latvian postal authorities, since it was no longer valid for postage.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