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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Correspondence from Aron Appelbaum via British Red Cross
2014.1.201abc
A British Red Cross envelope with a form and separate note. Sent in 1941 by Aron Appelbaum in Tel-Aviv in an attempt to communicate with his brother-in-law Beer Eisik in Berlin, utilizing the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John in Palestine.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Aron Appelbaum in Tel-Aviv attempting to communicate with his brother in law Beer Eisik in Berlin in February, 1941, utilizing the British Red Cross and the order of St. John in Palestine.
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Rare Cover: Nuremberg Laws Applied to Lawyers
2012.1.289a
Grey envelope with typewritten address to Mr. Walter Rosenthal. Includes a stamped return address on back flap from Dr. Julius Israel Fliess, as well as censor tape.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A law enacted August 17, 1938 required Jews with non-Jewish forenames to assume the name "Sara" if a woman and "Israel" if a man. These names were to be used on all correspondence -- private or official -- including return addresses on mail. In September 1938, all Jewish attorneys were banned from practicing law. Only a few Jewish attorneys were allowed to continue practicing law under the professional title of "Konsulent" or Legal Consultant, but only with Jewish clients.This envelope was addressed from Berlin to Brookline, Massachusetts. The return address reads: "Dr. Julius Israel Fliess 'Konsulent' Specializing in a accurate Consultations and Representing Jews." Also, since Elise "Sara" Reiss carried the letter to the post office (yet another decree directed at Jews required that foreign mail be hand-delivered to the post office where it would be censored), it was necessary that she list her name and address.
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Medical Statement from Dr. Marianne Tuerk
2015.2.144
Front: White paper with black printed text in German and typewritten information on dotted lines. Includes a purple hand stamp on the left with a black signature beneath.Back: Additional printed text and typewritten information on dotted lines. Includes a purple hand stamp on the left with a black signature beneath. A block of black printed text beneath.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Marianne Tuerk was a medical doctor who had been imprisoned for murdering children at Kinderspital Am Spiegelgrund, the children's clinic in Vienna, as part of the Nazi Euthenasia program known as Aktion T4, headed by Philipp Bouhler. Among with Margarethe Heubsche and Ernst Illing, the head of the "clinic," she claimed that the murders were ordered from Berlin to "purify and improve the physical standards of the German race." These children were designated as "Lebensunwertes Leben"- Life Unworthy of Life- and were thus targeted for "euthanasia." Overdoses of Luminol, Veronal and Morphine were administered to children with mental and physical diseases and disabilities, or were considered "inferior" according to Nazi racial policy. Over seven hundred children perished at Spiegelgrund, one of 30 Nazi institutes where physically and mentally handicapped people were killed as part of the T4 program. In most cases the cause of death was cited as pneumonia, or muscle problems. Brains and other body parts were collected and placed in jars of formaldehyde. Dr. Tuerk was imprisoned for ten years after the war. Illing was hanged. [This document is] Rosenegger sterilization document signed by Tuerk and forwarded to Dr. Jekelius. The document states that Annemarie Rosenegger, currently in the children's hospital (Spiegelgrund) suffers from "hereditary physical deformity" and is informed about sterilization and its consequences in accordance with Reich law. Compulsory, or forced, sterilization was an integral part of the Nazi eugenics program, over and above euthanasia. Over 400,000 individuals were sterilized under Nazi law.
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Censored Envelope from France to Undercover Address in Portugal
2014.1.243
Front: A white envelope with writing in purple ink. Includes a blue postage stamp, a black hand stamp and censor tape, as well as several markings in orange and green.Back: Includes censor tape and black mailing stamps.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: This address in neutral Portugal was operated by Thomas Cook and Son, Ltd., the London travel agency.
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Dr. Ludwig Israel Laszky Cover from Urzedow (Lublin Province) to Dr. V. Kunz in Zurich, Switzerland
2016.1.09
Front: Addressed to 'Dr. (Y) Kuniz', two postage stamps - red '1 ZLOTY' above a green '10'. Back: Handwritten return address of Dr. Lanszky, Censor tape at bottom.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: According to Grazyna Sawa-Adamska, Dr. Ludwig Laszky and his wife Sara moved from Vienna to Urzedow toward the end of 1941 and he was treating Jewish patients. They were two of approximately 300 Jews murdered by Nazis in Urzedow.
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Official Postcard from Arbeitsamt Labor Office to Jewish Woman, Vienna, Austria
2012.1.17
Front: Printed German text with additional pencil and ink writing.Printed postcard lines with writing in black ink and black hand stamp with Nazi seal.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: : An official message from Arbeitsamt forced labor office to a Jewish woman -- with the appended "Sara" -- essentially telling her she must appear.
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Illustrating the Persecution of Civilians in Poland
2012.1.399
Black and white photograph of a man shaving the beard of a man as men in uniform surround them. Back includes pasted news clipping.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Soldiers enjoy a Jew's beard being shaved.
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Postcard from Croatia, Zagreb with USTASE Insignia
2015.2.36
Front: Tan postcard with message written in black ink with a small signature in bottom right corner. Back: Teal printed postcard lines, with printed stamp and border on the right side. Black hand stamp running across the length of the top. Address written in black ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Postcard from Croatia, Zagreb (1941) with Ustase insignia. The Independent State of Croatia was a fascist puppet state ruled by the Ustase under the leadership of Ante Pavelic, subsequent to the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Nazis in April, 1941. Actions against Jews commenced immediately. Leaders of the Catholic Church joined in the anti-Semitic propaganda campaign. In August 1941 concentration camps were established, including Jasenovac and Stara Gradiska, for women and children. Jews, Roma, Croats and Serbs were murdered in these camps.
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NSDAP Day in Generalgouvernment Commemorative Postcard
2012.1.450
Image of man in uniform wearing a helmet and green shirt, holding a gun across his shoulder. Red background."Tag der NSDAP im Generalgouvernement" at bottom. Back: Purple stamp showing a statue in a piazza. Black circular handstamp 'Krakau, 15-17.8.41'
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Commemorative postcard NSDAP Day in the General Government with black circular commemorative cancel and stamp verso.
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"Israel" and "Sara" Envelope
2012.1.298
Grey envelope with typewritten address to Rolph A. Baum, with return address above to Peter Israel Hirschfeld. Includes brown censor tape on back.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A law enacted August 17, 1938 required Jews with non-Jewish forenames to assume the name "Sara" if a woman and "Israel" if a man. This law became effective January 1, 1939. These names were to be used on all correspondence -- private or official -- including return addresses on mail. This is a combined "Israel/Sara" registered envelope.
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Envelope from Gestapo Office
2014.1.6
A tan envelope with typewritten address and illegible postmark.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Envelope from Gestapo Office to a Frau Helene Morkes.
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Official Document with W. Filderman Signature Stamp Regarding Forced Labor Camps
2012.1.69
Typewritten documents on onionskin paper in Romanian.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A document regarding the chairman's rules for all Romanian Jews, following the implementation of forced labour camps. He describes how every Jewish association should relocate funds, what efforts must be made by everyone from local communities, and what helping activities must begin as soon as possible.Signed (in part) by Dr. Wilhelm Filderman, a prominent lawyer and Jewish leader in Romania who endeavored to save Jewish lives in an horrifically anti-semitic Romania.
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Envelope Addressed to Marshal Petain
2014.1.184
Front: Tan envelope with writing in purple ink. Includes black and purple hand stamps, and a white and red sticker.Back: Line of purple writing.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Marshal Petain was Chief of State of Vichy France from 1940-1944.
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Envelope from "Israel"
2015.2.89
Brown envelope. Address written in blue cursive ink. Two pasted stamps on upper right: one orange with silver profile of a man facing left, one green with profile of man facing left. Black circular handstamp over them. Mit Luftpost blue pasted stamp on lower left. Back: Return address written in blue on top flap. Red Nazi eagle hand stamp on lower flap. White censor tape with black circular Nazi insignia on bottom portion.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A Nazi-censored "Israel" airmail cover sent to Akron, Ohio from Leipzig, Germany.
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"Sara" Postcard
2012.1.302
Tan postcard with black printed postcard lines. Addressed to Meirna Bernsheimer from Clara Sara Westerfield. Handwritten message in black ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A law enacted August 17, 1938 required Jews with non-Jewish forenames to assume the name "Sara" if a woman and "Israel" if a man. This law became effective January 1, 1939. These names were to be used on all correspondence -- private or official -- including return addresses on mail. This is a "Sara" postcard sent from Bonn to Tours, France.
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Postcard from Tartu to Rakvere, Estonia
2014.1.246
Front: An illustration of white flowers, a candle, several pieces of paper, and a teacup with a printed caption.Back: An off-white postcard with black printed postcard lines, as well as a message and address written in black ink. Includes two green postage stamps, as well as one black hand stamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Estonia was included in the Reich Commissariat Ostland along with Lithuania, Latvia and western Belorussia. Before the end of the year most of the Jews who had not been able to escape into Russia were murdered by the Einsatzgruppe A, led by Walter Stahlecker, with the assistance of police units and Estonian collaborators. There were no ghettos created during the German occupation in Estonia.
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Postcard from Bremen-Vegesack to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2012.1.354
Tan postcard with black printed postcard lines. Addressed to Kurt Mahnke from Sofie Geier. Includes message written in black ink.
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Envelope from "Sara"
2015.2.95
Blue envelope. Address written in black cursive ink. Pasted Mit Luftpost stamp in bottom left, with writing beneath, and pencil writing at bottom. Two pasted stamps in upper right corner: blue of a man in profile facing left, and pink of a man in profile facing left. A black Berlin circular hand stamp over them. Faded red stamp in bottom right corner. Bacj: Return address written on top flap. White censorship tape upside down with Nazi eagle insignia. Red stamp over tape of alternating red circular stamp with Nazi eagle and horizontal lines.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Sara Cover
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German Ancestry Questionnaire
2012.1.498
Tan questionnaire with title, "Fragebogen." Includes typewritten and handwritten information, red checkmarks, and a signature on back.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A questionnaire, or Fragebogen, in which Franz Fischer attested -in 1941- that he was from German offspring. Fischer listed his parents and grandparents, and confirmed that he was not of Jewish offspring. Signed by Franz Fischer and stamped with blue hand stamp of the State office of Racial Matters.
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Letter from Werner Blankenburg
2012.1.386
Typewritten letter on "Kanzlei des Führers der NSDAP" letterhead with embossed eagle. Includes signature in black.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Werner Blankenburg (1905-1957) was the head of section 2A in Hitler's chancellery ( Kanzlei des Fuhrers) In Nazi Germany. He was one of the main persons responsible for the National Socialist "euthanasia" program- Aktion T4-the program for killing the physically and mentally disabled which involved Hitler's physician Karl Brandt, Philip Bouhler, and Viktor Brack as administrators. Blankenburg was Brack's deputy. Blankenburg was also participated in the annihilation of the Polish Jews in the Aktion Reinhard, and experiments with castration utilizing x-radiation in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
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The Hanging of Masha Bruskina
2014.1.187
Image taken from behind Masha Bruskina as authorities tie a noose around her neck. Further information: Bruskina was a 17-year-old Jewish member of the Minski Resistance, and a volunteer nurse at the Polytechnic Institute Hospital. She was arrested by Lithuanian authorities, and hung as an example to other would-be rebels.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Maria "Masha" Bruskina was a 17-year-old Jewish member of the Minsk Resistance during World War II. A volunteer nurse at a hospital, she cared for wounded Russian soldiers and helped them escape by smuggling clothing and false documents. Betrayed by a patient, she was arrested by the Wehrmacht and Lithuanian auxiliary troops (Schutzmannshaft). German authorities, wishing to make an example of her, decided on a public hanging along with two other members of the resistance to occur on October 26, 1941. Masha was paraded through the streets with a plaque around her neck labelling her as a partisan before being executed. A monument to her has been erected in Israel.
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Envelope from Madona to Riga, Latvia with Unrecognized Russian stamp
2014.1.229
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.
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Envelope from "Israel"
2015.2.90
Blue envelope. Address written in black cursive ink on left side. Three pasted stamps in upper right (from lefto to right): Purple, dark green light green. All depict a man's face in profile facing left. Writing on left side in pencil. Lower left has two pasted stamps: rectangular R stamp, and blue Mit Luftpust. Edges of brown censor tape on bottom each side. Back: Return address written in black cursive ink on flap. Many New York circular hand stamps, and a Nazi circular stamp. Brown censor tape at bottom.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Censored air mail "Israel" cover from Vienna to New York
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"Sara" Envelope
2012.1.303
Blueish envelope with handwritten address to Miss Edith Bell with return address to Sara Bell on back flap.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A law enacted August 17, 1938 required Jews with non-Jewish forenames to assume the name "Sara" if a woman and "Israel" if a man. This law became effective January 1, 1939. These names were to be used on all correspondence -- private or official -- including return addresses on mail. This is a "Sara" envelope sent from Vienna to Kew Gardens, Long Island, New York.
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Robert Bittner Attestation Document
2012.1.495
Tan document with title, "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei." Includes printed and typewritten information.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: German National Socialist Workers Party(NSDAP) document attesting to a Robert Bittner being a party member as well as a member of the SA or Sturmabteilung. It further attests that there are no doubts that Bittner will continue to support the movement of Adolf Hitler. This document was signed by Kreisamtsleiter Fliegner.