As the Einsatzgruppen continued to blaze a trail of murder through the Baltic states, Ukraine and the Soviet Union, Reinhard Heydrich officiated at the Wannsee Conference in January, 1942, where plans were discussed for the systematic extermination of all the Jews of Europe in all of the countries conquered by Germany. Entire Jewish communities were to be liquidated. Concentration camps, initially used to incarcerate political prisoners, became extermination centers for mass murder in gas chambers, especially after Heydrich’s assassination. While there were many concentration camps, the major extermination centers were Auschwitz, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, Bergen-Belsen and Treblinka. Thus Jews were to be methodically killed with poison gas, or utilized as slave labor to be worked to death in war- related industries for the Reich.
This collection includes many examples of concentration and internment camp mail (including Romanian and Croatian camps as well as French internment camps) used during the Third Reich; several Auschwitz Briefaktion Postcards; and a program of the Bermuda Conference with a copy of a letter written by Rabbi Stephen Wise.
--Michael D. Bulmash, K1966
Browse the Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection.
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HASAG Flossberg Pin for Polish Forced Laborer
Circular, silver with red text 'HASAG, FLOSSBERG, 2832', some red has chipped off
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: MS. Kopala's HASAG pin (SEE 2016.1.05) Ms. Kopala's ID is stamped with 'P' for Pole, and she is shown in the picture with prominent 'P' on her uniform. HASAG, or Hugo Schneider AG, was an established metal goods manufacturer in Germany. From its beginnings as a manufacturer of lamps, it evolved into an infamous Nazi arms manufacturer with many factories across Europe using slave-labor from concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Buchenwald, as well as numerous ghettos in Poland. Many thousands of Jews and other prisoners perished working for HASAG under the most execrable conditions.
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Advertisement from Topf and Sons
Front: Blue printed German text with Topf logo in top left; Back: More printed text with Topf logo at bottom.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Topf and Sons designed, built and perfected the crematoria at the Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Belzec, Dachau, Mauthausen and Gusen camps. The leaflet lists their slogan (“Performance decides”) and various product lines: smokestacks, furnaces, etc. Verso is a company description. Topf speaks glowingly about their new leadership and spirit since 1933, the Third Reich’s first year.
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Propaganda from Vichy, France
305: Document titled “Paroles Françaises Paroles d’Espoir” with two images of men on the left side, blue and red border.
306: Document titled “MESSAGE DU MARÉCHAL PÉTAIN” in bold, blue print with image of Pétain in center.
307: Document titled “COLLABORATION”, with three frames of illustrations, final panel includes large question mark.
308: Document includes “Que deviant la FRANCE dans toute cette histoire?” underlined in top left corner, “MAURICE DELAUNAY” underlined at bottom of page.
309: Document titled “RESTE EN FRANCE!” at top of page, includes central image of ruins and three round images on right side.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:Post-1940 Vichy propaganda supporting puppet French leader, Marshal Philippe Petain and his collaborationist Vichy French government:
2019.2.305: “Paroles Francaises Paroles d’Espoir”, a leaflet praising Petain and introducing Darlan, Weygand, Pierre laval, and other supporters
2019.2.306: a message from Petain to French veterans, essentially blaming the previous administration for French loss and promising revolutionary changes in governmental and social administration
2019.2.307: a flier headed “COLLABORATION” and showing what was hoped for France versus what characters intended to represent Jews are actually doing to destroy the process
2019.2.308: an advertisement for a pro-Petain Vichy publication
2019.2.309: two-sided flier showing American bomber destruction of French cities and satirically advising: “French workers! Do not go to Germany…wait here for the bombs of ‘your friends’ the Anglo-Americans”.