1943 saw the gradual collapse of the Nazi regime until its surrender in May, 1944. Despite losing the war in the East, and irrespective of the diversion of necessary resources from the war effort, Hitler continued to relentlessly prosecute the Final Solution of the Jews in the concentration camps and ghettos, murdering as many as 10,000 per day in the Auschwitz gas chambers alone . Many attempted to rescue Jews from Nazi extermination at great risk to their own safety, and over 13,000 have been recognized as “Righteous Gentiles” for their deeds. Rescuers include diplomats Raoul Wallenberg, Carl Lutz, and Hiram Bingham; Oscar Schindler; and Pastor Andre Trochme. The citizens of Denmark hid Jews and ferried them to safety in neutral Sweden, saving most of Denmark’s 8000 Jews. In the fall of 1944, the Nazis began the evacuation of Auschwitz, and as the Allies advanced in 1945, all camps were evacuated under Himmler’s orders, resulting in many thousands of deaths from the so-called “death marches”. At the end of the war more than 200,000 survivors were living in the Allied zones of occupation in DP (Displaced Persons) camps. They could not return home and thus remained until emigration could be arranged to either Palestine or to other countries willing to absorb the refugees.
This collection features passports, visas and other documents of diplomats and others who saved Jews, including Friedrich Born, Frank Foley, Feng Shan Ho, Vlademar Langlet, Carl Lutz, Monsignor Angelo Rota, Andrey Szeptycki, Angel Sanz-Briz, Chiune Sugihara, Raoul Wallenberg,Carl Ivan Danielsson and Jan Zwartendijk. Also noteworthy is an assemblage of ephemera—photos, covers, letters, etc.- from the Bergen-Belsen (D.P. Hohne) Displaced Persons Camp (1946-1948); and covers from organizations such as the AJDC , IRO and UNRRA, established to provide aid and assistance to Jewish refugees.
--Michael D. Bulmash, K1966
Browse the Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection.
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Envelope From the United National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) to the American Joint Distribution Committee
White envelope with decorative red and blue border. Addressed to Mr. Louis Sobel, Joint Distribution Committee, New York, from B. D. Mayer, UNRRA, New York.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: The United National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was active from December 9, 1944-June 30, 1947. This envelope is an early use of the UNRRA designation. Stamped APO 787 (Cairo), November 9, 1944, and censored by the British.
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Protective Pass issued to Hungarian Jew by Papal Nuncio Cardinal Rotta in Budapest
White paper with black printed text and dotted lines, as well as typewritten text. Includes a signature on the bottom right and a blue circular hand stamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Monsignor Angelo Rotta spearheaded diplomatic protests against the Nazi persecution of Jews in Hungary, and issued Vatican passes that saved the lives of thousands of Jews. He appealed to authorities against the deportation of Jews, and at his request a pastoral letter denouncing the deportations was eventually issued by Cardinal Seredi at the end of June 1944, by which time only the Jews of Budapest had not been deported. Cardinal Rotta obtained permission from the fascist Szalasi government to issue Vatican protective passes to Jewish converts to Catholicism. He issued more than 15,000 such passes, asking his staff not to examine the recipients' documents too closely. He was influential in persuading other church leaders to hide Jews in convents and monasteries. He set up safe houses for the recipients of the Vatican passes. For his efforts in saving thousands of Jews from certain death, Cardinal Rotta was honored as one of the Righteous Among Nations by Yad Vashem in 1997.
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Envelope from Dusseldorf, Germany to Gestapo Offices in Frankfort
Green envelope with typewritten address, a purple ink stamp in bottom left and a red stamp in top right.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Envelope from NSDAP office in Dusseldorf to Gestapo headquarters in Frankfort.
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Postcard to Buchenwald Concentration Camp
Front: Split in half by printed purple line. Left side has the addres of the sender, Olga Kozakowa written in cusive black ink. Right side has the address of the camp, number 33541, block 37 at Weimar-Buchenwald. Back: Message handwritten in black cursive.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Censored postcard from Olga Kozakowa Wodzistaw(?) in Radom to O. Ludostaw, Prisoner (Schutzhaftling) #33541 Block 37 in Buchenwald Concentration Camp
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Postcard from Inmate at SS-Sonderlager Bystrice
Front: A white postcard with printed purple postcard lines and stamp. Includes addresses written in blocky pencil, red and black stamps, and a red pencil marking.Back: A message written in blocky pencil.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A postcard from an inmate at SS-Sonderlager (Sonderlager A-1/C Bystrice BEI Beneschau) in the Protectorate of Czechoslovakia for Descendants of Mixed Jewish families and spouses of Jewish women, 1944. This camp was referred to in German as a 'Judenmischlingslager.'
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U.S. Certificate of Naturalization for Gerdy Kaston (formerly Gertrude Katzenstein)
Document with decorative border, titled, "Certficiate of Naturalization" with serial number 6295095. Includes several signatures, as well as printed and typewritten information. Several lines of text on back.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Gertrude Katzenstein, a German citizen who was able to escape Nazi Germany and emigrate to America. Items relating to Gertrude Katzenstein: 2012.1.38ab, 2012.1.39, 2012.1.40, 2012.1.94, 2012.1.95ab, 2012.1.566
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Jews Forced to Wear Star of David
Front: Black and white photo of ten Jewish men, each wearing a yellow Star of David on their chest.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Acme wire photo with attached press release verso: 'Worn and exhausted from their experiences at the hands of the Nazis is this group of Jews liberated from German camps by Red Army troops. Because of a Hitlerite decree they were forced to wear the six-pointed Star of David on their coats." Credit (ACME Radio Photo) 11/29/44.
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Postcard From Belgian Survivor Felice Grossman Describing Her Wartime Experiences
Postcard with red printed postcard lines and message written in black ink. Addressed to the Bronx in New York City.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: 1 Fr. Belgian stationary card written by Felice Grossmann to Herta Schwarzstein, her family member in New York. Felice reveals her whereabouts during the war years: "I am finally allowed to write... I have been hiding, for almost two years, in a Monastery... You can not imagine the horror, fear, misery and persecutions we suffered in the last four years... All we think about is how to reach you [in the United States] and when... We are disgusted with Europe... I always look for Egon whenever I see American soldiers... With heart full of yearning, your Lissy." The letter is written in German and has Belgian & American censor marks at front. Belgium was liberated by US troops in September 1944.
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Theresienstadt Postcard
Tan postcard with black handwritten address to Otto Müeller from Olga Giblian. Includes message written in black ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Translation: "My dear ones: --Due to the new postal regulations we are only permitted to write one time in 8 weeks. Although you are allowed to write one letter per month. We are anxiously awaiting news from you. Always send packages directly to the Theresinstadt. The last package that you sent arrived in good shape. Many thanks.What is with Ruda? Does he write? We are very conerned about him. Greetings to his former Bors and to his friends. Please write again soon and greetings to all.Your Olga Gibian."
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Berlin Finance Office Mail:Jewish Mail Recipient Cannot Be Located
Tan envelope with printed layout titled, "Finanzamt Wilmersdorf-Süd." Includes handwritten address to Hugo Israel Jakob.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: 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. The finance office sent this official cover to Hugo "Israel" Jacob at Badensche Street NN.21, Berlin-Wilmersdorf. Information on left advises to fulfill your national duty by paying your taxes promptly. The tax number of the addressee is given. On the reverse side the mailman writes that the recipient is unknown on aforementioned street and the post office confirms by rubber stamp with red ink that the addressee could not be located. In all probability this is because Mr. Jacob had been deported to Auschwitz in 1943. It is assumed he perished.
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Feldpost from KL Auschwitz II
Envelope: Green with red Hitler postage stamp, writing in purple pencil Back: Writing in purple and red pencil. Letter: One sided, handwritten in purple pencil
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: An SS feldpost from Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp, the infamous extermination center.
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Third Reich "Futches Reich" Propaganda Mini Stamps
Tan paper with four red stamps of a skeletal Adolf Hitler. Titled, "We ein Volk Retten will kann nur Heroisch Denken."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: This 12 Pfennig parody is also known as the Hitler Skull Stamp or Deaths-Head Stamp. The bottom of stamp has been changed from Deutches Reich to "Futches Reich" (lost empire). The originals were produced during the war by the OSS ("Operation Cornflake"), the brainchild of "Wild Bill" Donovan, head of the OSS, the U.S. Espionage agency during WWII and precursor to the CIA. The effort was part of a broad-based propaganda campaign to undermine the morale of the average German citizen.
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The War is Over for Remaining Inmates of Theresienstadt: An Announcement from Leo Baeck and Others
Tan paper with red, double-lined border, black print, titled "Manner und Frauen von Theresienstadt!"
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Rabbi Baeck, author of The Essence of Judaism, was an important spokesperson for the Jewish community after the Nazi rise to power in his role as president of the Jewish umbrella organization Reichsvertretung. When the latter was summarily disbanded by the Nazis and replaced with the Reichsvereinigung, Rabbi Baeck remained president. On January 27th, 1943, Rabbi Baeck was deported to Theresienstadt. Here he held a prominent place as honorary head of the Judenrat, which afforded him privileges unattainable by other inmates; yet he continued to serve the ghetto community, and refused to abandon it, opportunities to emigrate to the U.S. notwithstanding. While Rabbi Baeck survived Theresienstadt, three sisters perished. When it was finally liberated, Rabbi Baeck continued to attend to the sick and dying.
On May 5th, 1945, the SS had withdrawn from Theresienstadt. The Commandant, Karl Rahm, was last seen on the morning of May 6th, after which he fled.
In this newsletter published in both German and Czech, from May 6th, 1945, Rabbi Baeck, Dr. Alfred Meissner, Dr. Heinrich Klang, and Dr. Eduard Meijer- all members of the Council of Elders- announce to the “Men and Women of Theresienstadt” that Theresienstadt is now under the protective custody of the International Red Cross, that the war is not yet over and that the remaining inhabitants of the Ghetto are safe as long as the remain in Theresienstadt. Anyone who leaves the camp can be exposed to all the risks of the war. Theresienstadt has taken over the care of “the martyrs” in the small fortress ( Kleine Festung ). The survivors are exhorted to maintain calm and order and help with the work.
This announcement appears in H.G. Adler’s Theresienstadt 1941-1945. A copy appears as well in the Central European University in Hungary.
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Postcard from Serviceman to his Spouse on V-E Day
Postcard with black and white image of a garden, bottom left corner marked “Bad Pyrmont,” bottom right corner marked “Palmengarten.” Back stamped by U.S. Army postal Service with date “May 8 1945.”
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Army Sergeant Charles Witham, 334th Infantry Regiment Stationed in Germany, sends and Army-censored postcard- US Army Postal Service 84- from Bad Pyrmont to his wife in Kansas on V-E Day, May 8, 1945. This postcard is one of a number he sent, obviously in celebration of the end of the war in the European theatre. Interestingly, the postcard carries no message: the date says it all.
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Volkssturm Medical Note for Berthold Allwardt
Note marked “NSDAP” in black print in top left corner, date “6/3/45” written in purple in top right corner, signed “Heil Hitler! Rossmann, Gemeinschaftsleiter der NSDAP.” [Related item: 2019.2.232]
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: The Volkssturm was established in October 1944 as a militia utilizing males between the ages of 16 and 60 who were not otherwise serving in the Wehrmacht or other military units. They were under the control of the Nazi party and its officials (Gauleiters) with Himmler as commander. The Volkssturm was used extensively during the defense of Berlin against an overwhelming Russian army.
Berthold Allwardt was pressed into service as a 37-year-old in Berlin, and in all probability fought in the Battle of Berlin.
This document is a form from the local Nazi party group in Wiesbaden, signed by the Nazi party community leader Rossmann two months before the end of the war, which states that the Volkssturmmann’s (name illegible) successful medical exam allows him to serve in his unit.
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Auschwitz Narrative of Katharina Lorbeer
"PROTOKOLL" in black print and underlined in upper left corner, eight pages, two holes punched in left side, "NR. 13. VII. 1945" in black print and underlined in upper right corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Copy of a post WWII narrative given in German by a Slovakian woman Katharina Lorbeer to the Hungarian National Committee for Attending Deportees, describing her deportation to Auschwitz, and her experiences there. She is transported to Auschwitz by railcar in April 1942. Beaten by SS guards as the prisoners exit the train, Lorbeer and fellow prisoners are marched across the men’s section of the camp to the women’s barracks. All belongings are confiscated save one dress and underwear. Along with other women from Slovakia, she is tattooed, her hair is shorn, and her remaining clothes confiscated. She receives lice-ridden uniforms taken from executed Russian soldiers along with wooden shoes. They are taken out to the central yard for roll call, which lasts until past midnight. Lorbeer and her fellow inmates are put to work loading sand onto railcars. She does this for six months, guarded by Jewish “kapos” from the Ravensbruck concentration camp. Rumors persist that they will soon be sent to brothels at the front for German soldiers. In December, they are tasked with carrying bricks for the construction of a new crematorium. She describes a visit by SS chief Heinrich Himmler in December of 1942, in whose honor 50 randomly selected male prisoners are hanged. Lorbeer states that while the camp commander had allowed the prisoners to wear shoes to protect against the bitter cold, Himmler stated that “there is no good or bad weather for inmates,” and decreed that prisoners are to always work shoeless regardless of weather conditions. Moved to the subcamp of Birkenau, Lorbeer finds no latrines, dirt floors in the barracks, and miserable conditions in general. She is in “sumpfkommand” (“swamp commando”) draining the surrounding marshlands. With no access to drinking water, she is forced to rely on water from the swamp, into which the SS guards regularly dump truckloads of ash from the crematorium. Such conditions make diseases such a typhus common. Lorbeer describes the selection of prisoners to be executed in the gas chambers, early in 1943 as 35,000 women in the camp are gathered in the courtyard at two in the morning, as SS doctors Mengele, and others gather by the gate. The prisoners are made to pass through the gate with their hands outstretched, and any prisoner with reddened palms or demonstrating any kind of limp is selected for immediate execution. Only 5,000 women pass muster. Such selections continue daily, although Birkenau is slowly expanded and gains a proper sewer system, leading to improved hygiene. By this time, however, Lorbeer reports that veteran inmates like herself have become apathetic and sluggish, and would be happy to be selected to put an end to their misery. Lorbeer recounts the rumors of horrific medical experiments being performed in Block 10 of Auschwitz, especially on new arrivals. With the advance on the Soviet Army in January 1945, the prisoners are evacuated on a forced march to Ravensbruck, during which hundreds of prisoners starve to death or are shot by guards. From Ravensbruck, they are transported to the subcamp of Retzow. Lorbeer and her companions hide from a further transport from Retzow, and are eventually liberated by Red Army soldiers on May 1st, 1945. Of the 15,000 Slovakian women transported in 1942, only 300 survive.
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Drancy, France Internment Camp Food Package Card
Tan paper with printed black text and a purple circular hand stamp in upper lefthand corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Unused food package card with violet triple ring cachet "CAMP D'INTERNMENT DE DRANCY." Drancy was a high-rise apartment complex in the northeast suburb of Paris in the 1930’s before the Nazis confiscated it and utilized it a an internment camp to hold Jews and other “undesirables” who were later deported to the extermination camps. 65,000 Jews were deported from Drancy, of whom 63,000 were murdered including 6,000 children. The Vichy government under Petain and Laval cooperated with Nazi Germany, hunting down foreign and French Jews and turning them over to the Gestapo for transport to the Third Reich's extermination camps. Drancy was under the control of the French police until 1943 when administration was taken over by SS and officer Alois Brunner. With his arrival came the need to increase deportations to Auschwitz. Drancy at its peak held more than 7,000 prisoners. The brutality of the French guards in Drancy and the harsh conditions imposed on the inmates is well known. For example, upon their arrival, small children were immediately separated from their parents for deportation to the death camps. The On 6 April 1944, SS First Lieutenant Klaus Barbie raided a children's home in Izieu, France, where Jewish children had been hidden. Barbie arrested everyone present, all 44 children and 7 adult staff members. The next day, the Gestapo transported the arrestees to Drancy. From there, all the children and staff were deported to Auschwitz. None of them survived.
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Briefaktion (Operation Mail) Postcards, Auschwitz
Front: Tan postcard with message written in purple pencil. Back: Black printed postcard lines with writing in purple pencil. Includes a purple hand stamp on bottom left, and several black hand stamps on top right, and a pasted purple stamp of Hitler in profile at the top right.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of four cards (2015.2.105 -.108) with Deutsches Reich franking on card from Birkenau to Prague, bearing 5 line "Rukanwort nur auf Postkarten in deutscher Sprach uber die Reichvereiningung der Juden in Detuschland..." 1944. Among the many deceptions used by the Nazis to deflect rumors and reports regarding liquidation of Jews, Operation Mail or Briekaktion was utlized in Auschwitz. The victims were required to write postcards home indicating that they were in good health and that "resettlement" was fine. They were typically not registered or not given prisoner numbers. What distinguishes these cards are the following: 1. The same return address of Arbeitslager Birkenau, bei Neu-Berun, Oberschlesien. 2. The mail was taken for processing to Berlin. 3. Cachets were stamped on the correspondence indicating that replies were permitted only through the Association of Jews in Berlin, Germany. 4. The postmark read Berlin-Charlottenburg 2.
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George F. Duckwitz
Black and white photograph of a dower-looking man in glasses, with his dark hair slicked back, wearing a three-piece suit and tie. The tie has a pearl pin in it, and is askew. Back: Pasted sticker naming Duckwitz a West German personality. Beneath a black handstamp giving copyright to Camera Press.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Press photograph of George F. Duckwitz (1904-1973). Duckwitz had been a German businessman who joined the Nazi Party in 1932. He was eventually assigned to the German embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, as an attaché. After 1942 Duckwitz worked with Werner Best, the Gestapo leader in Copenhagen. The latter informed Duckwitz about an intended roundup of Danish Jews to occur on October 1, 1943. After a failed attempt to stop the deportations through official channels in Berlin, Duckwtiz flew to Sweden and prevailed upon the Prime Minister in Stockholm to receive Danish Jewish refugees. Back in Denmark Duckwtiz was able to inform--through an intermediary--the chief Rabbi of the Danish Jewish community about the intended deportations. Word spread and resulted in sympathetic Danes organizing the escape of over 7000 Jews in boats to Sweden under the nose of the Nazis. At great personal risk to himself, in giving advance warning to the Jewish community of Denmark about the planned deportaitons of Jews, Duckwitz enabled the people of Denmark to help most of its Jews escape in boats to Sweden. He was named Righteous Among Nations by Yad Vashem in 1971 for his efforts on behalf of Jews.
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Drancy Internment Camp Postcard
Front: A black and white photograph of high-rise apartments with white text in French.Back: Black printed postcard lines.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Drancy was a 1930's high-rise apartment complex in the northeast suburb of Paris before the Nazis confiscated it and utilized it as an internment camp to hold Jews and other 'undesirables' who were later deported to the extermination camps. 65,000 Jews were deported from Drancy, of whom 63,000 were murdered, including 6,000 children. The Vichy government under Petain and Laval cooperated with Nazi Germany, hunting down foreign and French Jews and turning them over to the Gestapo for transport to the Third Reich's extermination centers.
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Postcard of Church at Oradour-sur-Glane
Front: Color photograph of the courtyard of a church.Back: Blue printed postcard lines and text in French.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: On June 10, 1944, more than 450 women and children were locked in this church by the Nazis, while the men were locked in barns and sheds. The Nazis detonated an incendiary device in the church; anyone attempting to escape was machine-gunned. The men were shot in the legs; no longer able to move, their bodies were covered in gasoline and the barnes were set ablaze. The village of Oradour was partially razed that night.
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Grim Barbed Wire in Poland
Front: A black and white photo of barbed wire and brick buildings. Back: Tribune Cut Order information about the photo.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Wire photo identifying the photo as occurring in Poland, probably of a ghetto street, at the forefront of which is a sign that reads "VORSICHT Hochspannung Lebensgefahr" ["DANGER! High voltage will cause death"
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Arbeitsbuch Signed by Eugen Gildemeister
Cover: 'Deutches Reich'above and 'Arbeitsbuch' below an eagle. Interior: 32 pages; 1-9 include many hand stamps and handwriting. Pages 10-32 are blank.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Labor booklet for a German Albert Kuschel who worked as a lab assistant in the Robert Koch Institute (of Infectious Diseases) in Berlin. Eugen Gildemeister was a German bacteriologist and, subsequent to the Nazi rise to power, he became Director and Vice-President of this Institute. Gildemeister was involved with pseudo-medical experiments on inmates of Buchenwald, Natzweiler, Sachsenhausen and Dachau. On March 3, 1942, he was present as 145 inmates of KL Buchenwald were willfully infected with Typhus. Five of those inmates died during this experiment; however, he has been held responsible for 250 deaths from his experiments on prisoners. On May 8, 1945, the day of German surrender, Gildemeister committed suicide in Berlin.
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Hungarian Propaganda Poster for the Arrow Cross Party
Poster in Hungarian titled, "Honvédek!"
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Banner exhorting people to vote for Ferenc Szalasi, the leader of the Arrow Cross (Nylas in Hungarian). The Arrow Cross was the Hungarian fascist party and movement established by Ferenc Szalasi. Like the Nazis, they were strongly nationalistic and militantly opposed to Communism and Jews. Also like the Nazis, they were advocates of agriculture. Szalasi led the Hungarian government after Miklos Horthy was dismissed by the Nazis. The so-called "Government of National Unity" terrorized Hungarian Jews and murdered approximately 10,000 to 15,000 people and deported 80,000 to Auschwitz in a five month period.
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Work-Related Contract Relating to Gertrude Katzenstein Prior to Emigrating From Germany
Two page document titled, "Lehr=Dertrag" with printed and typewritten information.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Gertrude Katzenstein, a German citizen who was able to escape Nazi Germany and emigrate to America. Items relating to Gertrude Katzenstein: 2012.1.38ab, 2012.1.39, 2012.1.40, 2012.1.94, 2012.1.95ab, 2012.1.566