By May 1945 six million European Jews had been murdered by the Nazis and their allies. Much of Europe lay in ruins. Allied soldiers confronting the concentration camps for the first time found -amidst the scattered mounds of corpses and ash-“survivors” suffering from disease and starvation, many of whom would perish in the forthcoming days and months. Homeless and unable -or unwilling- to be repatriated to their countries of origin, many were housed in Displaced Persons camps throughout the Allied zones of occupation. These DP camps, often former military or even concentration camps, were themselves overcrowded, and just as often the Jews had to share space with their very persecutors. Many Jews attempted to emigrate to Palestine despite stringent quotas on immigration imposed by the British government attempting to mollify the Arabs. As a consequence, many emigrated “illegally” with the assistance of the Jewish Brigade and Haganah, through the underground Bricha Movement. A 1947 a United Nations resolution to partition Palestine between Jews and Arabs was to be rejected by the Arabs. Britain would end its mandate and withdraw from Palestine in May 1948. Israel established its provisional government in the same month, giving Jews their own homeland and unrestricted immigration. President Truman himself loosened restrictions on quotas of displaced persons, and approximately 28,000 Jews were able to immigrate to the US. The Nuremberg trials were a consequence of Allied efforts to take legal action against Germany as a criminal state. The first tribunal consisted of eight judges, drawn from each of the Allied countries. Twenty-one former Nazi leaders stood trial. The Tribunal enshrined for the first time in jurisprudence and international law the concept of “genocide”, as well as a typology of war crimes to be utilized by the United Nations. In the ensuing years many courts- both international and domestic-would conduct trials of accused war criminals.
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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Vel D'Hiv Roundup Commemoration Envelope
Front: White envelope with a color illustration of many people crowding into a small area, two black hand stamps, one blue pasted postage stamp, and a line of printed text.Back: Printed black circular seal and printed black text in French.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: The Vel D'Hiv roundup began July 16, 1942. Over the next two days, 12,884 Jews from the Paris region, including over 4,000 children, were taken into custody in an operation planned and implemented by French police and auxiliaries. It would become the largest mass arrest in France during World War II. 7,000 of these Jewish victims were packed into the Veldrome d'Hiver, an indoor sports stadium. In increasingly desperate conditions -- no working lavatories, extreme summer heat, and absence of ventilation, no fresh water -- they awaited shipment to transit camps before being transported to Auschwitz. The Vel d'Hiv roundup would become a symbol of French guilt and complicity with the Germans during the Holocaust.
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Heroes and Martyrs Remembrance Day Leaflet
Front: Black and white photograph of children in a concentration camp. Titled, "Souvenir Leaf, Heroes and Martyrs Remembrance Day, 52 Years Since the Uprisings in the Ghettos and Camps, 50th Anniversary of the Defeat of Nazi Germany and Liberation of the Camps 1945-1995" in Englihs and Hebrew.Back: White background with a black illustration of a building. Titled, "Beit Lohame Haghetaot Ghetto Fighters' House" in English and Hebrew.
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50 Years Since the Liberation of the Auschwitz Death Camp Souvenir Leaf
Front: White card with a photograph of the train tracks leading to Auschwitz. Titled, "Souvenir Leaf, 50 Years Since the Liberation of the Auschwitz Death Camp."Back: Text in Hebrew and English. Titled, "Beit Lohamei Hagethaot - The Ghetto Fighters' House."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Auschwitz was liberated on January 20, 1945.
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Kristallnacht Commemorative Souvenir Leaf
Front: Includes a black and white photograph of a synagogue and photograph of a memorial. Titled, "Souvenir Leaf, Kristallnacht - 65 Jahre" in English and Hebrew.Back: Titled, "Remember and Never Forget!" in English, Hebrew and German. Includes an illustration of a burning synagogue and a Star of David in chains.
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First Day Cover: Israeli Commemoration of Heroes and Martyrs Day
White envelope with blue illustration of a hand reaching towards the sky with Star of David on wrist.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Israeli First Day Cover commemorating Heroes and Martyrs Day. Issued 50 years after of the Holocaust of Hungarian Jews.
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First Day Cover: Israeli Commemoration of 50th Anniversary of Liberation of Buchenwald
White envelope with blue illustration of children standing by a tower. Titled "Convention of the Children of Buchenwald 50th Anniversary of Liberation of the Camp."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Israeli First Day Cover commemorating the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp
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German Commemorative Sheet and Stamp
White sheet titled, "50. Jahrestag der Befreiung der Gefangenen aus den Konzentrationslagern." Includes a serated stamp and the names of concentration camps surrounding it.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: German Commemorative sheet issued in Bonn. This sheet commemorated the liberation of the concentration camps. This was issued near the 50th anniversary of the ending of German National Socialism and the liberation concentration camps in the Third Reich during World War II.
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First Day Cover: Marshall Islands Commemoration of Allies Liberating Concentraion Camps
White envelope with matching illustration and stamp of concentration camp prisoners behind a barbed wire with a soldier holding a gun. Titled, "Allies Liberate Concentration Camps."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Marshall Islands First Day Cover commemorating Allies liberating Concentration Camps.
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First Day Cover: Portuguese Commemorating Peace and Freedom in Europe
Envelope with barbed wire background, and two long, rectangular stamps. Titled, "Europa, Paz e Liberdade.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Portuguese First Day Cover commemorating peace and freedom for Europe.
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V-E Day Stamps
Large white envelope with a green illustration of a man saluting with troopins in the background. Includes a series of stamps depicting Auschwitz and St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Stamps celebrating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.
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First Day Cover: Israeli celebration of the end of WWII and liberation of Concentration Camps
Large envelope with five rows of identical stamps with US, UK and Russian flags.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Israelie First Day Cover celebrating the end of WWII and liberation of Concentration Camps.
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Israeli Buchenwald Commemorative Envelope
White envelope with black and white illustration of camp members along bottom. Includes a colorful illustration with camp members and watercolor butterflies.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Israeli Postal souvenir sheet issued in 1995 to commemorate liberation from the camps.
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First Day Cover: Honolulu, Hawaii Commemoration of Liberation
White envelope with green illustration of the liberation on right side. Brown text in middle. Stamp with people looking out through barbed wire on upper right.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: 1995 Hawaii commemoration of liberation of Holocaust survivors.
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First Day Cover: U.S. 50th Anniversary of Allies Liberation of Holocaust Survivors
White envelope with an illustration of a concentration camp on blue background, stamp with people behind a barbed wire fence. Text in English on back.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: First Day Cover celebrating 50th anniversary of the liberation of Holocaust survivors, with timeline.
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First Day Cover: Candadian commemoration of Shoah documentary and Allied Liberation of Wobbelin Concentration Camp
Front: Grey envelope with illustration of a concentration camp uniform on the left, and four identical stamps showing photographs of concentration camp survivors. Back: A black and white photograph of concentration camp survivors with text in English.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A picture of survivors being rescued by US Army troops at Wobbelin Concentration Camp, 1945.
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Christ Was Not a Jew: an Epistle to the Gentiles'
Book titled “CHRIST WAS NOT A JEW” by Jacob Elon Conner, yellow cover with blue print, 179 pages.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:This paperback by a one-time consul to Saigon and sociologist contends that Jesus was a Galilean, and hence not Jewish. Extricating Jesus from his putative Jewish background allows him to berate Jews with impunity as a more primitive race or tribal unit, which is to be distinguished from a more elevated Christianity, and thus presumably to place anti-Semitism on a surer footing.
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First Day Cover: Celebration of Raoul Wallenberg
White envelope with black and white photograph of a Nazi with a gun to the head of a man over a pit of bodies. Titled, "Raoul Wallenberg" and includes Raoul Wallenberg stamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: First day Cover Commemorating Raoul Wallenberg.
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First Day Cover: American Celebration of Raoul Wallenberg
White envelope with black and white photograph of men in uniform. Includes text in English and titled, "Raoul Wallenberg."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: USA First Day Cover celebrating Raoul Wallenberg with Talmudic quote and photo of Nazi soldier humiliating a Jew.
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American Commemoratives: Raoul Wallenberg Stamps
White sheet with four Raoul Wallenberg stamps. Includes several illustrations of classical-looking women and text in English.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: American commemorative stamps from 1997 celebrating achievements of Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish diplomat who saved Jews of Hungary
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First Day Cover: Celebration of Raoul Wallenberg
White envelope with yellow Star of David and Raoul Wallenberg stamp, titled "Remember the Six Million."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: First day Cover commemorating Raoul Wallenberg.
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First Day Cover Commemorating Clandestine Immigration Operations to Palestine
Image of ship on water filled with lines of Hebrew text at bottom left, circular stamp with date over rectangular postage stamp at right.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: This first day cover commemorates clandestine immigration or operations of the aliya bet designed to bring immigrants to Palestine, with the depiction of SS Exodus 1947 in the port of Haifa. Cover year of 1997 is the 50th anniversary of the Exodus. While clandestine immigration operations to Palestine existed before World War I, they increased dramatically with the Holocaust. The most famous of the immigrant ships to bring the surviving remnant to Palestine was the Haganah ship "Exodus 1947", pictured on the stamp at the port of Haifa, prior to its passengers being deported back to France and then to Germany.
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First Day Cover: Israeli Commemoration of Diplomats
White envelope with background picture of Holocaust survivors and a large stamp with photographs of five people on it.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Israeli First Day Cover commemorating the diplomats who provided visa and travel documents to Jews, thereby saving their lives. They were designated Righteous Among Nations by Yad Vashem.
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Elie Wiesel Photograph with Signature
Image of Elie Wiesel with book in hand; handwritten note, 'For Paul Lorenzen - with best wishes Elie Wiesel' in blue ink.
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Pope John Paul II Honored By Israel First Day Cover
Front: White envelope. Upper right has large stamp with red background with photo of Pope John Paul II in white putting message in Western Wall. Next to it is black circular handstamp with Hebrew and English. Top left has a small deer and a sextagonal hand stamp noting Day of Issue. Bottom left has Hebrew and English writing in red over an olive branch. The Pope's message reads: God of our fathers, You chose Abraham and his descendants to bring your Name to the Nations: we are deeply saddened by the behaviour of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffe[r], and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant. Information Provided by Michael D. BulmashPope John Paul shown placing message in the Western Wall which read: God of our fathers, You chose Abraham and his descendants to bring your Name to the Nations: we are deeply saddened by the behaviour of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffe[r], and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant. Jerusalem 26, March 2000. Signed: John Paul II.
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First Day Cover: Commemorating Holocaust Martyrs with Quote from Isaiah 56.5
White envelope with postage stamp of a teddy bear with Star of David Patch.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Israeli First Day Cover commemorating Holocaust martyrs with a quote from Isaiah 56.5: "I will give them, in My House and within My Walls, a monument and a name... which shall not perish."