The Holocaust (1933-45) refers to Nazi Germany’s deliberate, progressive persecution and systematic murder of the Jews of Europe. Nazi anti-Semitism superseded traditional Judeo-Christian religious conflict by uniting a racial ideology with social Darwinism: the Jew is seen as subhuman, a disease threatening the body politic, and the cause of Germany’s problems—its economic woes, its defeat in World War I, its cultural degeneracy—and thus must be eradicated. As soon as Hitler came to power in 1933, the Nazis commenced the organized persecution of the Jews. Jewish books were burned and businesses boycotted. Jews were excluded from professions, public life, and from the arts. The Nuremberg laws of 1935 identified and defined a Jew based on immutable racial characteristics and lineage, less so his religion. Jews were stripped of their civil rights as German citizens. More than 120 decrees and ordinances were enacted subsequent to the Nuremberg laws. In 1938, Kristallnacht occurred, the planned pogrom that led to the destruction of synagogues, mass arrests, and the looting of Jewish businesses. Jews were murdered, and many more were interned in concentration camps that had been established for political prisoners. Jewish property was registered, confiscated, and ultimately arianized. Life in Nazi Germany was sufficiently intolerable that more than to 200,000 Jews emigrated. Hitler’s goal of making Germany “Judenrein” was proving successful.
With the Nazi’s ascension to power, other groups were imperiled as well, vulnerable to discriminatory treatment, persecution and death; for example, the Roma and Sinti, the developmentally and physically disabled, homosexuals, and political and social "undesirables". Slavic people were considered Untermenschen, fit only for servitude in the new and expanded Reich. During this period of time, in direct contravention of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was also secretly building its military and preparing for an eventual war. Yet it was the Nazi’s growing confidence and skill in pruning the Aryan tree of its undesirables that allowed it to perfect the technical apparatus for carrying out mass murder on an industrial scale, with its ultimate goal the “final solution to the Jewish question”.
This collection features numerous examples of identification documents for Jews used during the Third Reich; a selection of mail covers and Francotyp cards which record the mail history of Jewish-owned companies or corporate entities both before and subsequent to arianization during the era of the Third Reich; Julius Streicher anti-Semitic literature, posters from der Sturmer; and a general selection of anti-Semitic literature and postcards--Michael D. Bulmash, K1966
Browse the Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection.
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Der Schulingsbrief [The Training Letter]
2015.2.177a
Tan cover with brown ink. Stylized Nazi eagle and Swastika in upper left. Brown printed text to the right of it. Title in brown and alternating to white on brown background. Middle shows two swords with a flaming Swastika between them. More brown text on bottom.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Example of a primer on German history, race and so forth published by Robert Ley circa 1934-36. This edition is an example of the official monthly educational publication of the Nazi Party.
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Letter from Joseph Goebbels
2012.1.383
Typewritten letter on "Der Reichsminister für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda" stationery. Includes signature on back.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) was the Nazi minister of propaganda. He worked with Hitler from the earliest days of the Reich, a master of manipulation of the masses who took the lives of his wife and family members in the last days of the war. In this letter, Goebbels, as minister of propaganada, wrote to all Gauleiters. The letter reads, in part: "This year, major events have frequently coccurred on the same day or that important public ceremonies could not be carried out because all available dates had already been filled. To avoid this in the future, I would like to have an overview now of the important events in 1937. To that end, in consultation with the Fuhrer's deputy and with reference to the Fuhrer's and Reich Chancellor's decree - RK 13096 B - of Nov. 13, 1936, I am asking you to communicate to me whether there are plans for events of the following nature... 1. Events in which participants are able to be drawn from a cirlce that extends beyond a single political district [gau] of the NSDAP and in which it is projected that more than 3,000 persons will take part. 2. Events which are planned to invite members of the Reich leadership of the NSDAP or members fo the Reich government as guests of honor... would be grateful if I could get your reports by December 31, 1936..."
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German Anti-Soviet Propaganda Stamp
2015.2.150
Maroon stamp on white serrated paper depicting the King of England on the left and Joseph Stalin on the right with the British crown between them. Includes the Soverign's Orb, hammer and sickle, Stars of David and a black hand stamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Both the Allies and Axis powers produced forgeries of their enemies' postage stamps. Among these were postal forgeries, which were intended to cause economic disruption by defrauding the adversaries' postal services, and propaganda forgeries, clandestinely distributed to increase dissent and weaken the morale of the enemy population. Propaganda forgeries created by the Nazis included stamps with anti-Semitic messages. Notable forgeries include spoofs of Great Britain's 1935 Silver Jubilee stamp, with the slogan "This War is a Jewish War," and the 1937 Coronation issue, noting the alliance between Stalin's U.S.S.R. and Great Britain. Equating Stalinism with Judaism and claiming Nazism was a bulwark aginst Communism was a major theme of Nazi ideology. The Nazis also issued a set with overprints proclaiming the liquidation of the British Empire. The OSS (Office of Strategic Services), the forerunner of the C.I.A., ran a mission from Switzerland called "Operation Cornflakes" which involved bombing German mail trains and air-dropping bags of false, but properly addressed mail, containing Allied propaganda, including propaganda forgeries. The intent was that the false mail would be mixed in with the real mail and delivered by the German postal service. The most striking O.S.S. forgeries mock German Hitler-head stamps, and picture Hitler's face as a partly exposed skull. (from Stampselector)
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Hitler Stamp
2015.2.151
Purple stamp on white serrated paper depicting Adolf Hitler in profile facing right.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Both the Allies and Axis powers produced forgeries of their enemies' postage stamps. Among these were postal forgeries, which were intended to cause economic disruption by defrauding the adversaries' postal services, and propaganda forgeries, clandestinely distributed to increase dissent and weaken the morale of the enemy population. Propaganda forgeries created by the Nazis included stamps with anti-Semitic messages. Notable forgeries include spoofs of Great Britain's 1935 Silver Jubilee stamp, with the slogan "This War is a Jewish War," and the 1937 Coronation issue, noting the alliance between Stalin's U.S.S.R. and Great Britain. Equating Stalinism with Judaism and claiming Nazism was a bulwark against Communism was a major theme of Nazi ideology. The Nazis also issued a set with overprints proclaiming the liquidation of the British Empire. The OSS (Office of Strategic Services), the forerunner of the C.I.A., ran a mission from Switzerland called "Operation Cornflakes" which involved bombing German mail trains and air-dropping bags of false, but properly addressed mail, containing Allied propaganda, including propaganda forgeries. The intent was that the false mail would be mixed in with the real mail and delivered by the German postal service. The most striking O.S.S. forgeries mock German Hitler-head stamps, and picture Hitler's face as a partly exposed skull. (from Stampselector)
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American Anti-Hitler Propaganda Stamp
2015.2.152
Red stamp on white serrated paper depicting a skeletal Hitler in profile facing right. .
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Both the Allies and Axis powers produced forgeries of their enemies' postage stamps. Among these were postal forgeries, which were intended to cause economic disruption by defrauding the adversaries' postal services, and propaganda forgeries, clandestinely distributed to increase dissent and weaken the morale of the enemy population. Propaganda forgeries created by the Nazis included stamps with anti-Semitic messages. Notable forgeries include spoofs of Great Britain's 1935 Silver Jubilee stamp, with the slogan "This War is a Jewish War," and the 1937 Coronation issue, noting the alliance between Stalin's U.S.S.R. and Great Britain. Equating Stalinism with Judaism and claiming Nazism was a bulwark against Communism was a major theme of Nazi ideology. The Nazis also issued a set with overprints proclaiming the liquidation of the British Empire. The OSS (Office of Strategic Services), the forerunner of the C.I.A., ran a mission from Switzerland called "Operation Cornflakes" which involved bombing German mail trains and air-dropping bags of false, but properly addressed mail, containing Allied propaganda, including propaganda forgeries. The intent was that the false mail would be mixed in with the real mail and delivered by the German postal service. The most striking O.S.S. forgeries mock German Hitler-head stamps, and picture Hitler's face as a partly exposed skull. (from Stampselector)
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German Anti-British Propaganda Stamp: King George With Crown Surmounted by Star of David p
2015.2.153
Blue stamp on white serrated paper depicting King George of England in profile facing left with a crown hovering above his head.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Both the Allies and Axis powers produced forgeries of their enemies' postage stamps. Among these were postal forgeries, which were intended to cause economic disruption by defrauding the adversaries' postal services, and propaganda forgeries, clandestinely distributed to increase dissent and weaken the morale of the enemy population. Propaganda forgeries created by the Nazis included stamps with anti-Semitic messages. Notable forgeries include spoofs of Great Britain's 1935 Silver Jubilee stamp, with the slogan "This War is a Jewish War," and the 1937 Coronation issue, noting the alliance between Stalin's U.S.S.R. and Great Britain. Equating Stalinism with Judaism and claiming Nazism was a bulwark against Communism was a major theme of Nazi ideology. The Nazis also issued a set with overprints proclaiming the liquidation of the British Empire. The OSS (Office of Strategic Services), the forerunner of the C.I.A., ran a mission from Switzerland called "Operation Cornflakes" which involved bombing German mail trains and air-dropping bags of false, but properly addressed mail, containing Allied propaganda, including propaganda forgeries. The intent was that the false mail would be mixed in with the real mail and delivered by the German postal service. The most striking O.S.S. forgeries mock German Hitler-head stamps, and picture Hitler's face as a partly exposed skull. (from Stampselector)
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German Anti-British Propaganda Stamp: King George With Crown Surmounted by Star of David
2015.2.154
Purple stamp on white serrated paper depicting King George of England in profile facing left with a crown hovering above his head, with a purple hand stamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Both the Allies and Axis powers produced forgeries of their enemies' postage stamps. Among these were postal forgeries, which were intended to cause economic disruption by defrauding the adversaries' postal services, and propaganda forgeries, clandestinely distributed to increase dissent and weaken the morale of the enemy population. Propaganda forgeries created by the Nazis included stamps with anti-Semitic messages. Notable forgeries include spoofs of Great Britain's 1935 Silver Jubilee stamp, with the slogan "This War is a Jewish War," and the 1937 Coronation issue, noting the alliance between Stalin's U.S.S.R. and Great Britain. Equating Stalinism with Judaism and claiming Nazism was a bulwark against Communism was a major theme of Nazi ideology. The Nazis also issued a set with overprints proclaiming the liquidation of the British Empire. The OSS (Office of Strategic Services), the forerunner of the C.I.A., ran a mission from Switzerland called "Operation Cornflakes" which involved bombing German mail trains and air-dropping bags of false, but properly addressed mail, containing Allied propaganda, including propaganda forgeries. The intent was that the false mail would be mixed in with the real mail and delivered by the German postal service. The most striking O.S.S. forgeries mock German Hitler-head stamps, and picture Hitler's face as a partly exposed skull. (from Stampselector)
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German Anti-British Propaganda Stamp
2015.2.155
Orange stamp depicting King George of England in profile facing left with a crown hovering above his head, with a black rectangular stamp promising the liquidation of empire, and a purple hand stamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Both the Allies and Axis powers produced forgeries of their enemies' postage stamps. Among these were postal forgeries, which were intended to cause economic disruption by defrauding the adversaries' postal services, and propaganda forgeries, clandestinely distributed to increase dissent and weaken the morale of the enemy population. Propaganda forgeries created by the Nazis included stamps with anti-Semitic messages. Notable forgeries include spoofs of Great Britain's 1935 Silver Jubilee stamp, with the slogan "This War is a Jewish War," and the 1937 Coronation issue, noting the alliance between Stalin's U.S.S.R. and Great Britain. Equating Stalinism with Judaism and claiming Nazism was a bulwark against Communism was a major theme of Nazi ideology. The Nazis also issued a set with overprints proclaiming the liquidation of the British Empire. The OSS (Office of Strategic Services), the forerunner of the C.I.A., ran a mission from Switzerland called "Operation Cornflakes" which involved bombing German mail trains and air-dropping bags of false, but properly addressed mail, containing Allied propaganda, including propaganda forgeries. The intent was that the false mail would be mixed in with the real mail and delivered by the German postal service. The most striking O.S.S. forgeries mock German Hitler-head stamps, and picture Hitler's face as a partly exposed skull. (from Stampselector)
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German Anti-British Propaganda Stamp: King George With Crown Surmounted by Star of David
2015.2.156
Orange stamp depicting King George of England in profile facing left with a crown hovering above his head, with a black rectangular stamp promising the liquidation of empire. Forged stamps like these were common during the war, with enemies hoping to defraud their opponents' postal service, and to increase dissent and weaken the morale of the enemy population.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Both the Allies and Axis powers produced forgeries of their enemies' postage stamps. Among these were postal forgeries, which were intended to cause conomic disruption by defrauding the adversaries' postal services, and propaganda forgeries, clandestinely distrubted to increase dissent and weaken the morale of the enemy population. Propaganda forgeries created by the Nazis included stamps with anti-Semitic messages. Notable forgeries include spoofs of Great Britain's 1935 Silver Jubilee stamp, with the slogan "This War is a Jewish War," and the 1937 Coronation issue, noting the alliance between Stalin's U.S.S.R. and Great Britain. Equating Stalinism with Judaism and claiming Nazism was a bulwark aginst Communism was a major theme of Nazi ideology. The Nazis also issued a set with overprints proclaiming the liquidation of the British Empire. The OSS (Office of Strategic Services), the forerunner of the C.I.A., ran a mission from Switerland called "Operation Cornflakes" which involved bombing German mail trains and air-dropping bags of false, but properly addressed mail, containing Allied propaganda, including propaganda forgeries. The intent was that the false mail would be mixed in with the real mail and delivered by the German postal service. The most striking O.S.S. forgeries mock German Hitler-head stamps, and picture Hitler's face as a partly exposed skull. (from Stampselector)
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Haavara Agreement Germany Entrance Document
2014.1.101
Typewritten document with blue stamp and signature in lower right corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Haavara was a company established in 1933 as the result of an agreement between the Jewish Agency (the official Jewish executive in Palestine) and the Nazi regime. The Trust and Transfer Office Haavara Ltd. was established in Tel Aviv to facilitate Jewish emigration to Palestine. Though the Nazis had ordered Jewish emigrants to surrender most of their property before leaving Germany, the Haavara agreement let them retain some of their assets by transferring them to Palestine as German export goods. Approximately 50,000 Jews emigrated to Palestine under this arrangement.
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Rabbi Leo Baeck Newsletter
2012.1.491
Tan page with brown text titled, "Zentralausschuss für Hilfe und Aufbau bei der Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Official publication of the Central Committee for Aid and Structure by the Reich Agency of Jews in Germany. This manifesto is signed (printed signature) by Rabbi Leo Baeck, "The Teacher of Theresienstadt." He reports that "the current situation requires cooperation... we must handle unknown new paths... in order to build our future. Immigration to Palestine and other countries... Economic support to acquire new trades... Principal general education, professional retraining... Loans... Aid for the youth... For families, for the health of institutions, schools and adult education..." Rabbi Baeck chose his words carefully, aware of the current danger from the Nazi regime. He delivered a calm yet urgent message to his flock. "We have here an historic role... To understand the current situation in Germany and to safely survive..." Dated 5697 (1937).
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Abraham Lincoln Battalion
2014.1.450
Front: Artistic rendition of a green mounted gun on wheels. Above and below is text in pink. Back: Ten punchable coupons. Each for a different product. Geometric design with several different fonts. The corners of each are pink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Provided: (green Maxim Gun with red 3-pointed star). This poster was issued by the only largely U.S. battalion in the International Brigade. Its members came from the U.S., Canada, the Irish Free State, Chileans who were part of the Chilean Workers Club of New York and others. The Connolly Column was composed of Irish Republican Army members and fought as part of the Lincoln Brigade.
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Attestation that Woman Does Not Have Jewish Parents or Grandparents
2012.1.61
Half sheet with German text and cross outs, titled "Erklärung!"
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: An attestation declaring that the undersigned does not have Jewish parents or grandparents, nor does her husband.
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Letter from the Kaufthaus Nathan Israel to the Carl Bruns Company, Rathenow
2015.2.19
Front: Tan paper with printed "N.J. Israel" letterhead on upper lefthand corner.Typewritten letter with signature and other ink writing on the bottom right. Back: Printed black lines with pencil handwriting written across the entirety of the page.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: This letter from the Kaufthaus Nathan Israel to the Carl Bruns Company in Rathenow refers to payment not having been received, respectfully requesting that said payment be made. Israel's Department Store was founded by Nathan Israel in 1815. By the 1930s the store employed over 2,000 people and was a member of the stock exchange. It had been boycotted by the German government. Israel's was set ablaze and ransacked during Kristallnacht, after which it was aryanized and re-opened under a different name. Wilfred Israel, who had run the store with his brother, emigrated to England and organized ship transports for Jewish children escaping from occupied Europe. Other members of the Israel family were deported to the Theresienstadt Ghetto where they perished.
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Attestation that Woman does not have Jewish Parents or Grandparents
2012.1.57
Half sheet with printed black text with several pencil cross-outs. Includes several signatures.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: This document was an attestation. This woman attested that she was not the offspring of Jewish parents or grandparents. She scratched out the statement that she was an offspring of Jews. It was signed in Nuremburg.
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Marriage Certificate Approved by Third Reich
2015.2.213
Front: Tan paper with black printed German text and dotted lines. The rest of the page is split into a two-part chart with printed text on left side, and printed dotted lines filled in with blue cursive handwriting on right.Back: Continuation of the chart and black printed text. Includes several signatures beneath, and a purple hand stamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Pre-printed Nazi Racial Department document that declares two German citizens are able to wed as neither had Jewish parents or grandparents.
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Postcard to American Magazine
2012.1.513
Tan postcard with Yiddish message written in purple ink. Includes address to "Forward," 175 East Broadway, New York City, United States.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Postcard with added postage from a Polish Jewess to the editorial board of the American Jewish "Forward" newspaper, NY, hand stamped with her husband's name: "Abraham Wilchfort, Oswiecim," soon to be known as Auschwitz. Message in Yiddish for the renewal of subscription to be paid by her sister in N.J. According to the Central Database of Shoah Victims Names, Abraham perished in Auschwitz in 1942, not far from his hometown.
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Commemorative Adolf Hitler Stamps
2012.1.149
Small sheet of green stamps with illustration of Adolf Hitler. Titled, "Wer Ein Volk Retten Will Kann Nur Heroisch Denken."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Commemorative issue Adolf Hitler stamps.
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Letter to Karl Wolff Signed by Viktor Brack
2015.2.170
White Reich chancellery letterhead with typewritten message. Includes some writing in green, and a signature from Viktor Brack in black, as well as green and purple hand stamps.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Document on Reich chancellery letterhead, 1937 to Karl Wolff, signed by Viktor Brack, concerning assisting one Oberleutenant Behrens. Brack was a Nazi SS officer, a war criminal who organized the T-4 euthanasia program and developed mass sterilization techniques. He was a chief planner of the organization and implementation of mass gassings. Initially the doctors in the T-4 program sterilized those deemed "Life Unworthy of Life"; later at least 15,000 were murdered at facilities such as Hadamar Hospital. He was convicted in the Doctor's Trial in Nuremberg in 1947 and subsequently executed at Landsberg Prison. He proposed to Himmler in 1942 that three million Jews selected for castration by high-dose x-ray to work as slaves for the Reich. Himmler approved the idea and ordered testing to commence at Auschwitz. The T-4 program evolved into Aktion T14f13, or Sonderbehandlung ("special treatment"), the murder of concentration camp inmates deemed unfit to work.
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Certificate Signed by Adolf Hitler
2012.1.388
Certificate with intricate cursive made out to Hans Joachim von Loeschebrand-Horn. Includes Hitler signature in black.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Adolf Hitler , Nazi Party leader and Germany's Führer, signed this document concerning the appointment of Hans Joachim von Loeschebrand-Horn, a propagandist and cartographer, to serve as director of the Reichdienst. Co-signed by William Frick (1877-1948), Nazi Minister of the Interior and author of the Nuremberg Laws.
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Tag Der Deutschen Kunst München 1937 [Day of German Art in Munich] Postcard
2014.1.35
Front: A white postcard with iridescent yellow/green symbol of the Nazi eagle, torch and Greco-Roman head.Back: Handwritten message in black ink with a green Hitler stamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: House of German Art, Munich, official event postcard used September 23, 1937.
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Letter from Hans Frank to Mein Fuhrer (Adolph Hitler)
2014.1.247
Typewritten letter on white stationery with printed header. Includes a signature in black ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Hans Frank (1900-1946) was the Nazi Occupation Governor of the area of Poland known as the "General Government". He was responsible for the ghettoization of Jews in Warsaw, and the genocide perpetrated there. This is a letter addressed to Adolf Hitler written on his personal letterhead, addressed October 26, 1937. Frank thanks Hitler for giving him permission to travel to Paris and would like to give the Führer his impression of the city, of life in France, and especially of the comments of Prime Minister Camille Chautemps. He notes, "... his remarks were in part very interesting and not unimportant to judge the French intentions..."
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Anti-Semitic Exhibition - Munich 1937
2012.1.477
Yellow postcard with an illustration of a stereotyped Jewish man, holding a cane and map with the Communist hammer and sickle in one hand and coins in the other. Includes caption, "Der Ewige Jude" (The Eternal Jew) in type that mirrors Hebrew. Back is addressed to Beita Schniler in blue ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: To further promote Nazi anti-Semitic objectives, a travelling exhibition named “Der Ewige Jude” ("The Eternal Jew") was created in 1937. It appeared in five cities during the following eighteen months. The exhibition depicted Jews—their clothes, facial characteristics, cultural items and art- in every conceivable negative and unfavorable way, and markedly “degenerate” in contrast to the Nazi Aryan ideal. This postcard advertising the exhibition-in this case in Munich- depicts a caricatured, unattractive image of a disheveled Jewish man against a yellow background clutching a knotted whip in his left hand with an inset map of the Soviet Union with red Communist hammer and sickle. In his outstretched right hand are gold coins. His eyes are closed against a secret he is hiding: the composite image represents a putative Jewish conspiracy for world domination. The two special cancellations on the back of the postcard commemorate the event.
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Envelope with Cancel for "The Eternal Jew" Anti-Semitic Exhibition, Munich, 1937
2012.1.482
Envelope with diagonal texture. Addressed in pen to dr. Georfant Miller. Includes two black "Der ewige Jude" hand stamps.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: The Munchen (Munich) Exhibition of "The Eternal Jew" opened November 9, 1937. This cancel applied to the third day of the exhibit.
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Karl Gebhardt (1897-1948) Letter to Rudolf Hess
2019.2.9ab
Two pages, first page includes "Persönlich!" printed in black print and underlined in top center and "2" in bottom right corner of page, next page marked with "2" at top center and includes signature of Ihr Dankbarer
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Gebhart was the personal physician to both Himmler and Hess, as well as president of the German Red Cross, and medical superintendent of the Hohenlychen Sanatorium, a medical facility for treating injured or sick SS personnel. Involved in coordinating surgical experiments on inmates of Ravensbruck and Auschwitz in an effort to justify his surgical approach to treating contaminated wounds as opposed to using antibiotics, he was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Nuremberg Doctors’ Trial and sentenced to death by hanging. In this letter to Hess on his personal Hohenlychen medical letterhead, Gebhardt offers his opinions on an examination of the aunt of Hess’ wife, Ilse.