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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First Day Cover: Honolulu, Hawaii Commemoration of Liberation
2012.1.108
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
2012.1.128
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
2012.1.114
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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First Day Cover: Celebration of Raoul Wallenberg
2012.1.116
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
2012.1.125
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
2012.1.147
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
2012.1.115
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
2016.1.50
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
2012.1.121
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
2014.1.384
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
2015.2.5
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
2012.1.138
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."
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First Day Cover: Argentinian Commemoration of Raoul Wallenberg and Holocaust
2012.1.120
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.
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Enigma Machine
2014.1.238
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.
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Letter from Mavis Batey
2014.1.239
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.
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First Day Cover: Czechoslovakian Commemoration of Petr Ginz
2012.1.133
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"
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First Day Cover: Celebration of Hiram (Harry) Bingham IV
2012.1.119
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.
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Signed Letter from Miep Gies
2012.1.562
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.
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Postcard Commemorating Death of Zelea Codreanu
2014.1.279
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.
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"As long as you remember us we are alive" Israel Holocaust Commemorative Stamps
2016.1.17
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.
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Commemorative Australian First Day Cover Featuring Raoul Wallenberg and Flora Hegedus
2016.1.54
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.
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Commemorative Australian First Day Cover Featuring Schutz-Passes Signed by Raoul Wallenberg
2016.1.55
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.
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Young Judea Certificate of Membership
2015.2.209
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.
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Mass Produced Postcard to Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany, from the Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, Yeshiva University, Los Angeles, California
2012.1.30
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.
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First Day Cover: Israeli commemoration of Holocaust martyrs and heroes
2012.1.113
White envelope with orange photograph of buildings on fire, and a grey stamp with a shirtless man among ruins.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Israeli First Day Cover commemorating Holocaust martyrs and heros.