During this period emigration of Jews from Germany and Austria was closed down even as anti-Semitism became more extreme. With the advent of World War II on September 1, 1939, Jews fell increasingly under Nazi control as more European territory was conquered. Jews were placed in ghettos under brutal and appalling living conditions: slave labor, starvation and disease were rife, and many Jews perished, or were eventually sent to killing centers. Major ghettos included Warsaw, Lodz, and Lublin, but there were as many as 1000 ghettos in all. The Gestapo and the SS became organs of terror. Opponents of the Nazis were sent to concentration camps, and many never emerged. The Nazis utilized the Einsatzgruppen, mobile killing units following the Wehrmacht into the Soviet Union, murdering Jews and other groups targeted for elimination. The Einsatzgruppen, along with their local minions, ultimately murdered 1,500,000 Jews.
--Michael D. Bulmash, K1966
This collection features: correspondence and representative covers from many ghettos—including smaller ones-- established under the Nazis; a rare stamp from the ghetto of Czestochowa (Tschenstochau) in Poland; ghetto scrip; a selection of undercover mail covers; and the passport of a woman who had been a passenger on the St.Louis in 1939.
Browse the Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection.
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Resident Registration Form for Jews
Form with black printed text and information filled in with black ink. Titled, "Anmeldung zur polizeilichen Einwohnererfassung." Includes a red "Jude" stamp at top with two Stars of David. Back consists of printed text.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: An Anmeldung was a resident registration form. This document was used to register Jews and their possessions in occupied Poland. Handstamped "Jude" by Nazi police and flanked by two Mogen Davids. A bilingual form was created enabling Nazis to register Jews and their belongings. Questions six and seven related to religion and ethnicity; question eleven asked for details of any business owned; question twelve pertained to home ownership. After blitzkrieg against Poland, Himmler ordered the registration of all Jews and other declared enemies of the state.
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"Fremdenpass" (Alien Passport) for Bernard Fenster
Grey cover with Nazi eagled titled, "Deutsches Reich Fremdenpass. Interior includes a black and white photograph of, and various biographical information about Bernard Fenster.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Nazi issued alien passport to a Jew named Bernard Fenster. Issued in Vienna in July of 1939 and good for one year. With heavy black stripe on cover to make this more noticeable by the SS. Has his picture in which his left ear is prominently shown as this was part of the Nazi propaganda that Jews could be distinguished by their left ear. With various handstamps, one Swedish adhesive revenue and finally entry into the US in early 1940.
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Censored Postcard Litzmannstadt Ghetto with "INHALT UNZULASSIG" Cachet and Erased Content from Israel Beidermann
Tan postcard with printed purple postcard lines with handwritten address to Kurt Schaffer from Israel Biedrmann with handwritten message including one censored portion.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Postcard returned not posted due to inadmissible contents
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Litzmannstadt Ghetto Postcard Returned Due to Inadmissible Contents
Tan postcard with printed purple postcard lines. Includes handwritten address to J. Rosenblum from Shw. Berek and handwritten message.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Censored postcard from Litzmannstadt Ghetto prisoner to Jewish resident of Warsaw with red lined censor markings and hand-stamped "INHALT UNZULASSIG" meaning the some of the contents were inadmissible. Hence postcard not sent. Dear Parents and Grandparents,We received your letter dear father and the card -- On the first Is hall give you an answer to the card that you sent. I am sorry that I cannot take care of the package that Regine sent. I have some debts now since I took shoes to the shoemaker. That is the way it is where you have limited funds. However that is not all of it. Regine wrote to me that she will receive money from you. I understand how difficult it is to pay for that and it concerns me -- You wrote how much Regine demands. I do not know if that is too much or not. Here people pay the price if they can afford it. My dear ones, please do not be angry with me but I will do my best to take care of it. Dear Father, you asked if I wear the hat that was sent to me. Of courseI wear it. I pray to God that I can return it to mother some time. I laughed where I saw the furs. I am not that crazy yet that I should wear a coat like that. I need a wide one and had to make it but I cannot write why. It is very cold now and it will keep me warmer. [Something stated here is not legible or understandable.] I can imagine how cold it is where you are. In my home it is as cold indoors as outside. We have a lot of frost -- The little wife has not visited us since last winter. I shall write another card to her now. Mina.
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Litzmannstadt Ghetto Postcard
Tan postcard with green printed postcard lines. Includes handwritten address in blue to Rev. Leon Rosenberg with return address from Hermann Pfamensh Rosenberg. Includes a message written in blue ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Litmannstadt Ghetto postcard sent from one brother Hermann Rosenberg to another, Rev.Leon Rosenberg, possibly converts to Christianity. in U.S.A. Purple hand stamp of Rumkowski and Judenrat (Jewish Elders), German censor markings. "Dear Brother:Again the Lord has brought us great joy that we received your letter for which we thank you very much. We are very happy to hear that the Lord helped you and gave you the strength for the Mission Work "Bethel" and gives you the vision to carry the burden. We have already started with the Love Service since last August however to a very limited extent. We were only able to continue that Service until Christmas. Since December we have been without the help of the American Express Co. We renewed our connections with the Bank and hope the help will be reinstated. When the Lord gives us the work to do, he also gives the necessary means to do it with. In as much as the Lord has helped us so far, we believe that he will continue it. At the present time we count 136 souls. To this count also belongs "Kamiohher"?? who on the last evening of the year developed this faith in the Lord announced. He wrote a card to you. We meet regular at home and further our fellowship like we did for times ago and experience the goodness of our lord and savior Jesus Christ also his presence.As far dividing packages for the children is concerned it would be better to address them as "Haros." Last July I received a wire package from Maria for my birthday. It was a great help and joy for us. Greetings to Aunt Lisa.Greetings to all yours(not legible)."
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Litzmannstadt Ghetto Postcard Returned
Tan postcard with purple printed postcard lines with handwritten address to S. Hirowska and return address from S. Hajskopf with message written in ink. Message has red markings over it.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Postcard addressed to S. Hirowska in Warsaw, return address from S. Hajskopf in Lidzmannstadt Ghetto with message written in ink. Postcard returned unsent. The notations "unclean", "Yiddish and Jewish language forbidden" and "Returned" were applied by German censor. Return address: S. Hajskopf, Litzmannstadt Ghetto , "Litzmannstadt Ghetto, Dec 25. Translation: "Dear Aunt, Uncle, and Emek,Grandmother and I received your card and it made us very happy -- we are satisfied to know that you have work and that Emek is in Moridzeszyn. I am cetain that you know that I live with grandmother. The 10 Reuten Mark that you gave Mrs. Blass has been received by grandmother. She thanks you very much beceause she was in great need of it. Today she received the second Reuten Mark. We are pretty well and I am working. Grandmother sends all of you greetings and kisses - Greetings and kisses from me and all our friends. Over Felek. At another time I will send greetings together with Mama. -- Ewa Goldberg."
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Litzmannstadt Ghetto Postcard Returned Not Sent
Tan postcard with purple printed postcard lines. Handwritten address to Mina Baum from Amalia Fisch. Includes message written in black ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Litzmannstadt Ghetto postcard addressed to Mina Baum in Lublin from Amalia Fisch in Litzmannstadt. Postcard returned by German censor, never mailed. A card from Litzmanndstadt to Lublin, Poland. Returned by censor for apparent violations-"INHALT UNZULASSIG" ("CONTENTS INADMISSIBLE") by mentioning: "Life is extremely difficult." "As long as we have a little money we can exist." "What lies ahead only our dear God knows." "My dying would be more peaceful and I will be reunited with my son." "Money can be sent, writing is not possible."A full translation: "Dear Mrs. Baum - I recieved your dear letter dated on the 12th and 22nd. You cannot possibly imagine how happy it made me. We are glad that our Sabine writes to you. We are without any information for the past two months. Dear Mrs. Baum, what shall I write? Life is extremely difficult here. As long as we have a little money we can exist. What lies ahead only our dear God knows. AS long as I know that my Bertili is with Grete and Josef my dying would be more peaceful and I will be reuinted with my son. Dear Mrs. Baum, money can be sent, writing is not possible [this is underlined in red]. We live with one other family in one room. How are you and your sister? How are my brothers and sisters? And Mrs. Leiduer? My husband and I send greetings to you and your sister.Hearty good wishes,A. Fisch
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Testimony Signed by Karl Hermann Frank
White paper with printed and handwritten German. Includes three signatures on the bottom right including one from Karl Hermann Frank.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Karl Hermann Frank (1898-1946) was SS Obergruppenfuhrer and a prominent Sudeten German Nazi official in Czechoslovakia serving under Reich protector Reinhard Heydrich until the latter's assassination. Frank was instrumental in implementing Hitler's orders of revenge, which included the destruction of the Czech villages of Lidice and Lezaky, the murder of their male inhabitants, and the deportation of women and young adults to concentration camps. Frank was executed in 1946. Document signed twice by Frank, adding his title as deputy Gauleiter and his SS number, in which he swears: "I am German, of Aryan lineage..." he attests that he is not a Freemason nor member of any secret society, and vows his allegiance to the state.
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Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski
Black and white photograph of a man in glasses in Nazi uniform.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski was highly regarded by Hitler for his brutality and improvisational skills. As SS general and general of the Waffen-SS assigned to the Russian front, Bach-Zelewski was a leader of the Einsatzgruppen, and was thus responsible for many atrocities on the eastern front in which he took a personal part. In October 1941, after 35,000 people had been executed in Riga, he proudly wrote "there is not a Jew left in Estonia." He actively participated in massacres of Jews in Minsk and Mogilev in Russia. Bach-Zelewski claimed to have told Himmler that the firing squads were having a deleterious effects on the assassins, after which Himmler consulted about other methods to murder Jews, leading to the focus on gas as a more industrial solution to the Jewish problem.
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Poland Occupation Coupons
Blue coupons on serated paper, each titled, "Generalgouvernement." Each has an illustration of farmwork or livestock.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Coupons from occupied Poland, the General Government, which served as money for forced labor in the General Gouvernment.
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Oranienburg Lagergeld Money
Piece of paer money with black background. Includes two illustrations of German officers and Nazi insignia. Titled, "Lagergeld des Konzentrationslagers Oranienburg" and worth 50 pfg.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A fifty pfennig banknote issued by and used at the German concentration camp, Oranienburg, later commonly called Sachsenhausen. The note measures 5'' x 3 1/2'' and on both sides pictures the German eagle and Swastika device, two armed German soldiers facing center, and a strand of barbed wire. Sachsenhausen was used primarily for political prisoners and was the scene of a huge counterfeiting effort to undermine the British Pound (operation Bernhard).
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Message from Female Prisoner on FKL Auschwitz Stationery
Front: ‘F.K.L. Auschwitz’ printed in bold at top left; Back: handwritten message in pencil.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Frauen Konzentrationslager (FKL) Auschwitz/ Women’s Concentration Camp Auschwitz prisoner mail on camp stationery card. FKL Auschwitz was established as a subcamp of Frauen-Konzentrationslager Ravensbrueck housed at Auschwitz before becoming integrated with the Auschwitz camp proper at Birkenau (Auschwitz II). Stamp has been removed (censors did this to check for hidden messages) and another, uncanceled Mohemia Moravia applied. FKL imprinted covers are extremely scarce.
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Government Notice of Typhus in Radom, Poland Poster
Tan poster with text in German and Polish. The German side is titled, "Anordnung" and the Polish side is titled, "Zarządzenie."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Poster order in Radom District forbidding beggars to go house to house due to the danger of Typhus, with severe penalties for anyone violating the order. From the General Government in Poland.
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Litzmannstadt Ghetto Metal Department Pass
First line is handwritten "Cukier Mondka" in green followed by black Hebrew print. Handwritten green "66:" in top right corner. Purple stamp in center of the page read “Der Aelteste der Juden in Litzmannstadt Arbeits-Ressort Metall-Abteilung HOHENSTEINERSTR N 56.”
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:This small pass, issued to Mandka Cukier, with text written in Hebrew, is stamped by the Judenrat in the ghetto.
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Litzmannstadt Ghetto Ration Card for Bread "Brot-Karte"
Blue sheet with German on the right side with "Der Aelteste Der Juden" on the top, printed in black. In purple, stamped on the right is "Gestorben" (Deceased). On the left side of the page are numbers ascending 1 though 60, from left to right and bottom to top, with squares 1 and 2 cut out at the top left corner of the page.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:Chaim Rumkowski printed signature and Judenrat (Der Aelteste der Juden) stamp at bottom.
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Ukraine Nazi Occupation 1942-1945 Banknote 50 Karbovanets
Green banknote marked with "50 Fünfzig" red number "40-006583" in bottom right on front.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: These notes were in circulation for three years during the Nazi occupation of the Ukraine. The Reichskommissariat Ukraine issued notes in Karbovanets, pegged to the German Reichsmark, thus replacing the Russian ruble. This note would have been equivalent to 5 Reichsmarks. It depicts a miner.
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Mauritius Jewish Internment Camp Cover from Adolph Meir Felmann to New York Physician
Blue Mauritius postage stamp in upper right corner, “Written in English” in black print in upper left corner, underlined with dashes, “PASSED BY CENSOR MAURITIUS” in triangle shaped stamp in purple ink. Back labelled “OPENED BY CENSOR” in large red print, and includes “Exp.: Adolf Meir Feldmenn” in black print near top.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Britain’s refusal to permit desperate Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe to emigrate to Palestine meant establishing internment camps within the Empire. In December 1940 they opened up an internment camp in a dismal Napoleonic era prison on the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa. Ultimately 1,500 refugees, “illegal immigrants” were denied entry to Palestine, were deported here.
Cover shows a purple triangular Mauritius censor as well as a Union of South Africa censor. All camp mail went through Postbox 1000, which was also the return address. It is believed that Mr. Feldmann eventually was allowed to become a citizen of Israel.