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.
-
First Day Cover: Argentinian Commemoration of Raoul Wallenberg and Holocaust
Off-white envelope with illustration of barbed wire and a yellow Star of David Patch. Includes a purple Raoul Wallenberg stamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Argentinian First Day Cover commemorating Raoul Wallenberg and victims of the Holocaust.
-
Enigma Machine
A color photograph of the Enigma machine.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Enigma machine invented by Germans for transmitting secret military information. Alan Turing and others at Bletchley Park's cipher program in England were able to break the Enigma code which helped with the Allied war effort.
-
Letter from Mavis Batey
Front: A note written in blue ink on white paper in English.Back: The letter continues. Includes a signature.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: A letter written by Mavis Batey, one of the leading code breakers at Bletchley Park in World War II, and crucial to the success of D-Day. Along with Dilly Knox and Margaret Rock, she was instrumental in breaking the Enigma cipher used by the German secret service, the Abwehr. Bletchley Park was a mansion 50 miles northwest of London, and was the top secret wartime home of Government Communications Headquarters, or "Station X." Mrs. Batey's husband Keith Batey also worked at Bletchley.
-
First Day Cover: Czechoslovakian Commemoration of Petr Ginz
A white envelope with a blue image of a space shuttle.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Czechoslovakian First day Cover from 2005 commemorating Petr Ginz. Petr Ginz was a Czechoslovakian diarist, novelist,and artist transported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz in 1944 where he was murdered at the age of 16.The stamp shows his drawing "Earth seen from the Moon"
-
First Day Cover: Celebration of Hiram (Harry) Bingham IV
White envelope with photographs of and text about Hiram (Harry) Bingham IV.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: US First Day Cover commemorating Harry Bingham, Vice Consul in Marseilles, who worked with Varian Fry and others to provide visa and travel documents to Jews attempting to escape Vichy France.
-
Signed Letter from Miep Gies
Letter on Anne Frank House stationery with rainbow emblem on upper right. Includes a printed letter and a signature in blue ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Miep Gies (1903-2010) was a Dutch citizen who hid Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis during World War II. She discovered and preserved Anne's diary after the Franks were arrested and deported. This letter was written in Amsterdam on Anne Frank House letterhead to Mary Louise in Kentucky.
-
Postcard Commemorating Death of Zelea Codreanu
Front: A sepia photograph of Romanian men in the street.Back: White postcard with black printed postcard lines. Includes writing in blue ink as well as purple and blue postage stamps, as well as two black hand stamps.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Romanian postcard commemorating the 70th anniversary of the death of Iron Guard leader Zelea Codrenau, and his exile in Spain. Overprint on stamp of Iron Guard symbol with a picture of party members marching.
-
The Holocaust Never Happened and the CIA Killed JFK'
Book titled “THE HOLOCAUST NEVER HAPPENED & THE CIA KILLED JFK” by Jorgen Lars Rasmussen, featuring an image of a brain wrapped in chains.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:The author provides “facts” to support his view that the Holocaust never happened.
-
Holocaust Remembrance: What's Behind the Campaign?' by Mark Weber
Document titled “Holocaust Remembrance: What’s Behind the Campaign?” printed in red at the top. Back includes “INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL REVIEW” printed in red at the bottom.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:Weber, a major source of anti-Semitic and Holocaust denial propaganda, has been a director of the Institute for Historical Review and editor of its journal. In speeches given at Holocaust denial rallies, he has argued that the Holocaust victims’ testimonies are unreliable, and that we are in a global struggle with Zionist power. In this brochure, Weber contends that the Holocaust remembrance campaign only serves to enhance Israeli-Zionist power. He believes that the Holocaust has become a tool to justify Israeli policies and for extorting money from Europeans and Americans.
-
"As long as you remember us we are alive" Israel Holocaust Commemorative Stamps
Full sheet of six columns of stamps, three with black background and gold heart with 'Jude' at center, three with blue and white flag of Israel with Star of David at center. At left are larger images of stamps.
-
Commemorative Australian First Day Cover Featuring Raoul Wallenberg and Flora Hegedus
Front: Reproduced work permit with photograph of Flora Hegedus at left; postage stamp with image of Raoul Wallenberg top right; Back: ‘JSR 2/5’.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Commemorative Australian first day cover from 2015 showing a signed Wallenberg work permit under Swedish authority for a Flora Hegedus. Only 5 issued.
-
Commemorative Australian First Day Cover Featuring Schutz-Passes Signed by Raoul Wallenberg
Front: Reproduced images of Schutz-passes with postage stamp of Raoul Wallenberg in top right; Back: ‘JSR 5/5’
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Only 5 issued.
-
Young Judea Certificate of Membership
Front: A red card with a black printed border and black text. Includes a title in white against a black background with a white emblem including the Star of David in middle, typewritten information, and a printed signature.Back: Printed black text in English.
-
Stairs of Death' in the Mauthausen Quarry
Front: Black and white photograph of a quarry with house in upper left side and small groupings of people throughout. Back: No handwriting or postage stamp. Printed message in French and German the upper lefthand corner, with a place for a stamp in the upper lefthand corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Real photo postcard showing the infamous "stairs of death".many of the inmates at Mauthausen were worked to death in the granite quarry while receiving only starvation rations. Prisoners were divided into two groups: one that hacked the granite and the other that carried the 100 pound slabs up the 186 steep steps to the top of the quarry. Regardless of the real cause of death, for SS "doctors," "the official version was always euphemized to conceal the reality of "life" in this category three camp where prisoners were subject to "vernichtung durch arbeit" (extermination through work). For all prisoners life in Mauthausen meant "ruckkehr unerwunscht" (return not desired)."
-
Mass Produced Postcard to Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany, from the Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, Yeshiva University, Los Angeles, California
Front: Black and white photograph of a man in a Nazi uniform with his foot on a dead body, and two hanging bodies next to him. Titled, "This Murderer Has Not Been Found!"Back: Printed postcard lines and information about German laws.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Postcard from the Wiesenthal Center. Simon Wiesenthal was a Holocaust survivor and writer, who after the war devoted his life to bringing Nazi war criminals to justice.
-
Army Signal Corps Photos of Nazi Atrocities
Black and white photograph of a naked corpse lying on the ground with other clothed corpses.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of a set of 10 (2012.1.77a-k) Army Signal Corps photographs reproducing images taken at time of liberation of Buchenwald.
-
Army Signal Corps Photos of Nazi Atrocities
Black and white photograph of two corpses on the ground with the forearm of a third corpse in the foregound.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of a set of 10 (2012.1.77a-k) Army Signal Corps photographs reproducing images taken at time of liberation of Buchenwald.
-
Army Signal Corps Photos of Nazi Atrocities
Black and white photograph of men in a barracks bunks with one man standing.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of a set of 10 (2012.1.77a-k) Army Signal Corps photographs reproducing images taken at time of liberation of Buchenwald.
-
Army Signal Corps Photos of Nazi Atrocities
Black and white photograph of a decomposed corpse lying in thorns or barbed wire.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of a set of 10 (2012.1.77a-k) Army Signal Corps photographs reproducing images taken at time of liberation of Buchenwald.
-
Army Signal Corps Photos of Nazi Atrocities
Black and white photograph of two men standing over decomposed corpses with buildlings in the background.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of a set of 10 (2012.1.77a-k) Army Signal Corps photographs reproducing images taken at time of liberation of Buchenwald.
-
Army Signal Corps Photos of Nazi Atrocities
Black and white photograph of a pile of many corpses.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of a set of 10 (2012.1.77a-k) Army Signal Corps photographs reproducing images taken at time of liberation of Buchenwald.
-
Army Signal Corps Photo of Nazi Atrocities
Black and white photograph of men under a blanket.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of a set of 10 (2012.1.77a-k) Army Signal Corps photographs reproducing images taken at time of liberation of Buchenwald.
-
Army Signal Corps Photo of Nazi Atrocities
Black and white photograph of a pile of about ten corpses.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of a set of 10 (2012.1.77a-k) Army Signal Corps photographs reproducing images taken at time of liberation of Buchenwald.
-
Army Signal Corps Photo of Nazi Atrocities
Black and white photograph of crematorium ovens.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of a set of 10 (2012.1.77a-k) Army Signal Corps photographs reproducing images taken at time of liberation of Buchenwald.
-
Army Signal Corps Photo of Nazi Atrocities
Black and white photograph of a large pile of corpses with a roof in the background.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of a set of 10 (2012.1.77a-k) Army Signal Corps photographs reproducing images taken at time of liberation of Buchenwald.