The Holocaust (1933-45) refers to Nazi Germany’s deliberate, progressive persecution and systematic murder of the Jews of Europe. Nazi antisemitism superseded traditional Judeo-Christian religious conflict by uniting a racial ideology with social Darwinism: the Jew is seen as subhuman, a disease threatening the body politic, and the cause of Germany’s problems—its economic woes, its defeat in World War I, its cultural degeneracy—and thus he must be eradicated. As soon as Hitler came to power in 1933, the Nazis commenced the organized persecution of the Jews. Jewish books were burned, and businesses boycotted. Jews were excluded from professions, public life, and from the arts. The Nuremberg laws of 1935 identified and defined a Jew based on immutable racial characteristics and lineage, less so his religion. Jews were stripped of their civil rights as German citizens. More than 120 decrees and ordinances were enacted subsequent to the Nuremberg laws. In 1938, Kristallnacht occurred, the planned pogrom that led to the destruction of synagogues, mass arrests, and the looting of Jewish businesses. Jews were murdered, and many more were interned in concentration camps that had been established for political prisoners. Jewish property was registered, confiscated, and ultimately aryanized. Life in Nazi Germany was sufficiently intolerable that more than 200,000 Jews emigrated. Hitler’s goal of making Germany “Judenrein” was proving successful.
With the Nazi’s ascension to power, other groups were imperiled as well, vulnerable to discriminatory treatment, persecution, and death; for example, the Roma and Sinti, the developmentally and physically disabled, homosexuals, and political and social "undesirables". Slavic people were considered Untermenschen, fit only for servitude in the new and expanded Reich. During this period, in direct contravention of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was also secretly building its military and preparing for an eventual war. Yet it was the Nazi’s growing confidence and skill in pruning the aryan tree of its undesirables that allowed it to create an increasingly sophisticated technical apparatus for carrying out mass murder on an industrial scale, its ultimate goal the “final solution to the Jewish question.”
--Michael D. Bulmash, K1966
Browse the Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection.
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Familien-Stammbuch, or German Family Register, Issued to Newlyweds on the Day of Marriage
2019.2.196
Small, rust-colored book with eagle emblem and “DEUTSCHES EINHEITS:FAMILIENT-STAMBUCH” etched in gold print on cover, inside front cover includes two yellow postage stamps, 56 pages.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
The Stammbuch, issued by the local register office, included family names - both surnames and maiden names - occupations, birth and marriage particulars, names of children, church affiliations, information on the parents of the spouses, their nationalities, etc. Collecting this information was consistent with the importance of racial ideology and genealogy in Nazi Germany, an important and influential instrument in the overall emphasis on racial pride and the importance of being an aryan.
This Stammbuch was completed by a German woman named Emma Paula Finkbeiner, born in Karlsruhe in 1907 and married to businessman Adolf Gustave Zender, also born in 1907. Their marriage certificate is included. Birth certificates of their children Horst and Siegrid are here as well. Mr. Zender reports on his racial classification that he is an aryan, not Jewish.
On page 46, marriage impediments are enumerated, including racial difference, disability, hereditary disease, adultery, etc.
Page 50 details the racial meaning of the Jew according to the Nuremberg Race Laws of 1935; i.e., anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents irrespective of whether the person identifies as a Jew or belongs to the community of Jews. Jews were thus to be excluded from Reich citizenship for racial and not religious reasons, and thus not allowed to marry or have sexual relations with persons of German blood.
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J-Stamped Reisepass for Ernestine Aigner
2022.1.54
"Brown booklet titled, ""Deutsches Reich, Reisepass."" Includes photograph on page 2 of 32 pages, no marks on pages 14-31, back cover torn.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
It is assumed that Ernestine travelled to Italy accompanied by her parents or relatives, fleeing Nazi persecution that reached a crescendo with the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 1938. Her temporary entrance visa indicated that she would depart from Italy via Trieste, and her British consular visa - issued in Rome - allowed her to travel to British Mandatory Palestine.
It seems counter-intuitive that Ernestine - and Jews in general - would for a time seek sanctuary from Nazi persecution in Mussolini’s Fascist Italy, which would become by the late 1930s a German ally in WW2. However, Italian Jews were more fully integrated into Italian society than they were in Germany and had attained civil rights guaranteed by law on a par with those of non-Jews. Many Jews intermarried with Catholics. Indeed, some Jews were members until the late 1930s of the Fascist Party. Moreover, Fascism was neither inspired nor driven by the racial antisemitism of Austria and Germany. Civil rights did become an important matter in 1938 when a version of Germany’s Nuremberg laws was introduced in Italy, perhaps in an effort to placate Hitler and the Nazis. Even then, the Fascist version was not as aggressively enforced as it had been in Germany and Austria. Facing little discrimination, Jews who experienced the upsurge of antisemitism in other countries felt that aid and assistance would be forthcoming in Italy.
There is no gainsaying, however, the harm inflicted on Jewish relations with their non-Jewish neighbors toward the end of the 1930s. The discrimination that did occur would adversely impact the quality of life for Jews and many would emigrate after 1938.
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"Wir Danken Unserm Führer" Postcard
2012.1.446b
Includes a photograph of Nazis in the middle of a yellow and blue map of Germany. Titled, "Wir Danken Unserm Führer." [We Thank Our Leader]
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
"We Thank Our Führer” postcard celebrating the Nazis’ march into Prague after having annexed the Sudetenland in 1938. Photograph of Nazis in middle of map.
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Authorization to Identify Self As Jew in Keeping with Nuremburg Laws
2015.2.96
Tan paper with printed lines and German, with typewritten words onto the blank lines. Signature at bottom right, with blue stamp with Nazi eagle next to it.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Issued at Ratibor authorizing Salomon Blumenthal to add Vornamen "Israel" to his name per decree of August 17, 1938 (as of January 1, 1939).
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Notice from the German Jewish Aid Committee in London to Salome Goldstein (German Family Escapes the Holocaust)
2015.2.203
Tan card with printed black text in English, including information written onto dotted lines in black cursive ink. Also includes a signature on the bottom right and printed red text.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Group of items pertaining to the timely escape of a Jewish family from persecution in Hitler's Germany. Includes: (2015.2.202) a legalized copy of a letter from Chase National Bank to the American Consul in Vienna, Nov. 19, 1938, stating that the American Louis Cohen wishes to be responsible for the entrance of Salome Goldstein to the U.S., and further states that he maintains accounts at the bank and has been etended credit; (2015.2.201) a British National Identity card issued to Goldstein and signed by her on May 23, 1940; (2015.2.203) a Jan. 25, 1939 notice that the German Jewish Aid Committee in London has retained Goldstein's passport which presumably will remain in their possession until her future status is determined; (2015.2.204ab) a May 5, 1939 letter from a Jewish dressmaker in London stating that business conditions do not permit her to hire Goldstein; (2015.2.205a-c) a letter from a Mrs. Hoffman in London to Goldstein's parents in the U.S. who had just made the crossing, with Mrs. Hoffman relieved that they had arrived alive; (2015.2.206) a May 3, 1939 postcard from a Jewish friend or relative mentioning Budapest; (2015.2.207) an envelope to Goldstein from Victoria Woolen Co. in New York.
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"Israel" Postcard
2012.1.292
Tan postcard with green postcard lines with handwritten address in green ink. Includes a handwritten message with a hand stamp for Dr. Alfred Israel Jacobsohn.
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 postcard was posted at Koln (Cologne) to the currency exchange at Berlin. It had been numbered on receipt. Dr. Alfred "Israel" Jacobsohn was asking for a leaflet regarding the new Reichsmark (RM) credit, refundable in British pounds for emigrating Jews.
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"Israel" Postcard
2012.1.287
Tan postcard with green postcard lines. Includes typewritten address to "An die Berliner Handelsgesell-schaft" (Currency Exchange Office in Berlin) and handwritten return address to Herman Israel Reinauer. Includes a typewritten message.
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. Here, Herman "Israel" Reinauer complied with the law concerning the regulation of Jewish forenames. This postcard was addressed to the Currency Exchange Office in Berlin.
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Letter From Martin Bormann
2012.1.375
White paper with "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei" (National-socialist German Workers' Party) letterhead. Includes typewritten message. Signed on back side by Martin Bormann.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Martin Bormann (1900-1945) was head of Nazi Party Chancellery and private secretary to Adolph Hitler. By the end of World War II Bormann had become second only to Hitler himself in terms of real political power. This document is on official German Workers' Party letterhead and addressed to Reichstag member Josef Burckel in Vienna. It was regarding the law on the legal status of Israeli religious communities in the country of Austria. In part: "It is... a wish that the Israeli religious communities in Austria no longer comprise a corporate body under the law. I therefore oppose the proposed. I therefore have no objection to the draft of the law. I would advise you on the following: once the draft of the law is submitted, the Israeli religious communities in Austria must pay income tax..." as well as more legal content. Josef Burckel was a Nazi politician and an early and influential member of the SDAP. In 1938 he was appointed acting head of the party to carry out annexation of Austria to Germany and served from April 1938-March 1940 to fully integrate the country. A month before this letter, Burckel had been chosen to replace the notorious Gauleiter Odilio Globocnik at the order of Hermann Goering and worked aggressively within Austria to promote antisemitic laws and confiscate property of Jews within Austria.
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Nazi-Issued Jewish Identification Card for Young Girl
2012.1.16
Interior: Grey paper with various biographic information and stamps.Exterior: Titled, "Deutsches Reich Kennkarte."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
A Nazi identification card for a nine-year-old Jewish girl with the identification "J" and the additional required name "Sara." No photograph was included since the young girl was not yet ten years old. The card was Issued in Berlin and stamped with the police chief's signature.
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Postcard from Gestapo Addressed to Freda Oberegger
2019.2.221
Postcard addressed to “Freda Oberegger” on front. Back includes “Geheime Staatspolizei” in black print in upper left side.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Postcard from Berlin Gestapo, Geheime Staatspolizei, with purple Geheime Staatspolizei Berlin special cachet, cancelled in Berlin 3/28/39, addressed to one Freda Oberegger of Huttenberg, Karnten, Austria, concerning someone (“file number” 0.422) held in detention - in all probability a family member. The Gestapo acknowledge receipt of her communication, but report that further “investigation” is necessary, and that Ms. Oberegger would receive a decision later, perhaps before the month expires.
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Jews Start Flight as Swastikas Fly in Memel
2012.1.398
Black and white photograph of carts rolling down a cobbled streets. Includes a Nazi flag in the background. Back includes pasted newsclipping.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Press release on this wire photo describes Jews of Memel attempting to flee across the border into Lithuania in advance of German troops entering the town.
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Correspondence to Salome Goldstein, London, England (German Family Escapes the Holocaust)
2015.2.204ab
Envelope: Off-white envelope with address written in blue cursive ink on the middle. Includes red and green stamps in upper left corner, and two black hand stamps.Letter:Off-white paper with printed title. Includes message written in blue cursive and underlined signature.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Group of items pertaining to the timely escape of a Jewish family from persecution in Hitler's Germany. Includes: (2015.2.202) a legalized copy of a letter from Chase National Bank to the American Consul in Vienna, Nov. 19, 1938, stating that the American Louis Cohen wishes to be responsible for the entrance of Salome Goldstein to the U.S., and further states that he maintains accounts at the bank and has been etended credit; (2015.2.201) a British National Identity card issued to Goldstein and signed by her on May 23, 1940; (2015.2.203) a Jan. 25, 1939 notice that the German Jewish Aid Committee in London has retained Goldstein's passport which presumably will remain in their possession until her future status is determined; (2015.2.204ab) a May 5, 1939 letter from a Jewish dressmaker in London stating that business conditions do not permit her to hire Goldstein; (2015.2.205a-c) a letter from a Mrs. Hoffman in London to Goldstein's parents in the U.S. who had just made the crossing, with Mrs. Hoffman relieved that they had arrived alive; (2015.2.206) a May 3, 1939 postcard from a Jewish friend or relative mentioning Budapest; (2015.2.207) an envelope to Goldstein from Victoria Woolen Co. in New York.
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Jews Fleeing Memel
2014.1.82
Front: An image of a man and woman each holding the hand of a child with Nazi forces behind them in Memel, Germany. Back: Typewritten information about the photo.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Acme News pictures wire photo of Jews leaving Memel. Press release verso reads: "Memel, Germany:- A picture which clearly illustrates the ‘other side’ of the story in Memel. A Jewish refugee family walks thru the cobbled streets of the town as uniformed Nazis in the background laugh and jeer at their misery. While Memel citizens were celebrating the return of the territory to the Reich, thousands of Jews fled in terror to Lithuania."
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Medical Note of Dr. Richard Diamant
2019.2.220
Document marked “Dr. RICHARD DIAMANT” in black print along left side and stamped in purple in lower right corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
With the extension of the German Nuremberg race laws to Austria, the Nazis stepped up persecution of the Jews by disallowing Jewish doctors from treating non-Jewish patients. Thus Dr. Diamant could treat Frau Guenser, 34 years old, because she was Jewish. He confirms she is in good health without communicable or congenital disease. The caveat that he is only allowed to treat Jews is plainly seen in two places on his note, after his address in Kleine Stadtgutgasse 3 in Vienna. The Star of David is circled and draws attention to the caveat.
Dr. Diamant, born in Vienna, was transported from Vienna to Kaunas, Lithuania on November 23, 1941, where he was murdered. He was 39 years of age.
His patient, Frau Coelestine Guenser, was transported to Theresienstadt Ghetto in October 1942. In January 1943, she was transported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she was murdered.
(Database of Austrian victims of the Holocaust, Documentation Centre for Austrian Resistance, Vienna) Yad Vashem Database.
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Postcard Reveals Attempts of Family to Escape Nazi Germany
2014.1.81
Front: Tan postcard with handwritten letter.Back: Black printed postcard lines with continuation of message and address in black ink. Includes a red postage stamp on upper right, as well as several black hand stamps.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Like many others, the Wernick family tried to send the younger generation to Palestine. German postcard dated 1.5.39, handwritten in German, addressed from one sister to another in Tel Aviv; "... at this time we cannot come (to Palestine). We have no certificate, do not know when it will arrive, hoping it will not take a long time. Our Ethel will soon be in Tel Aviv, she is on her way. We have sent her your address and she will be visiting you... Your sister and brother-in law."
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Postcard to Miss Salome Goldstein, London from Regent Palace Hotel, London (German Family Escapes the Holocaust)
2015.2.206
Front: White postcard with German writing in blue cursive ink written horizontally across the page.Back: Includes information printed in black in English, an address written in blue ink, a red stamp, and two black hand stamps.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Group of items pertaining to the timely escape of a Jewish family from persecution in Hitler's Germany. Includes: (2015.2.202) a legalized copy of a letter from Chase National Bank to the American Consul in Vienna, Nov. 19, 1938, stating that the American Louis Cohen wishes to be responsible for the entrance of Salome Goldstein to the U.S., and further states that he maintains accounts at the bank and has been etended credit; (2015.2.201) a British National Identity card issued to Goldstein and signed by her on May 23, 1940; (2015.2.203) a Jan. 25, 1939 notice that the German Jewish Aid Committee in London has retained Goldstein's passport which presumably will remain in their possession until her future status is determined; (2015.2.204ab) a May 5, 1939 letter from a Jewish dressmaker in London stating that business conditions do not permit her to hire Goldstein; (2015.2.205a-c) a letter from a Mrs. Hoffman in London to Goldstein's parents in the U.S. who had just made the crossing, with Mrs. Hoffman relieved that they had arrived alive; (2015.2.206) a May 3, 1939 postcard from a Jewish friend or relative mentioning Budapest; (2015.2.207) an envelope to Goldstein from Victoria Woolen Co. in New York.
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Reich Association of Jews in Germany Notice
2019.2.5ab
Document split into two pieces, "REICHSVEREINIGUNG DER JUDEN IN DEUTSCHLAND" written at the top in black print, tan, worn paper, writing in red in top right corner, "31" written in blue in top right corner, lower piece of document has "J" underlined in black print and red ink
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
The Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (originally called Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden) was an umbrella organization established in 1933 to manage all aspects of Jewish life in Nazi Germany. The Nazis, specifically the RSHA, forced the organization to change its name in 1935 to accommodate the Nuremberg laws and the understanding that Jews were no longer citizens of Germany. By the time of this document the name was changed again to the Association of Jews in Germany due to changes in the organization. The organization was chiefly concerned with emigration and survival until emigration was banned in 1941. The Association also organized a network of Jewish schools, as Jews were expelled from German public schools. Throughout its history, the Association was headed by Rabbi Leo Baeck until he himself was transported to Theresienstadt. This document was sent to all Jewish professionals advising that the RHSA must issue and maintain identification on individuals, which identification must have a “J” on the document. Additionally, professional services, consistent with the Nuremberg laws, may only be provided to Jews.
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Postcard from Lutsk with Yiddish Writing
2014.1.251
Front: Tan postcard with black printed postcard lines and text. Includes writing in black ink, two red postage stamps and three black hand stamps.Back: Message written in black ink on printed lines.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: The western Ukrainian town of Lutsk was the home of one of the oldest Jewish settlements in the Volhyn region, dating back to the 14th century. The Nazis occupied Lutsk on June 16, 1941, and soon thereafter 2,000 Jews were transported into the Lubbard Fortress and murdered. Jews were then herded into the ghetto in December of that year. In August 1942, 17,000 more Jews were liquidated. A labor camp was established in Lutsk, and in December 1942 -- having been informed by a Christian woman that the labor camp was to be liquidated -- the Jews, led by Joel Szczerbat, rose up in revolt. Armed with nothing more than knives, iron bars, bricks, and several revolvers and shotguns, they held off the grenade-hurling Nazis and Ukrainian police for more than twelve hours before they were finally overcome. The Lutsk revolt predates the Warsaw Ghetto uprising by four months.
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Letter from the Reichvertretung der Juden in Deutschland (Dr. Israel Otto Hirsch and Dr. Alfred Lilienthal) to Dr. Alfred Leschnitzer, Cambridge, England
2014.1.442abc
Typewritten letter in German with heading, "Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
A letter to Dr. Alfred Leschnitzer, a noted scholar, historian and teacher who had emigrated to the United States after 1939. Signed by Dr. Israel Otto Hirsch and by Dr. Alfred Lilienthal. Lilienthal was an historian and journalist. Originally named Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden, the Reichvertretung der Juden in Deutschland had united all Jewish organizations and religious bodies under one national umbrella organization. Rabbi Leo Baeck was elected president and Otto Hirsch was chairman. However, after the Nuremburg laws were passed in 1935, the name was changed to reflect the Nazi need to distinguish Jews and Germans. Hirsch was arrested in 1941 and sent to Mauthausen concentration camp where he was tortured to death.
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Press Photograph of Cordell Hull Before Senate Foreign Relations Committee
2019.2.198
Black and white photograph of man in hat (Cordell Hull) talking in front of five other men, all looking down to write. Back of photo includes “International News Photos, Washington D.C. June 14th ‘39
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Cordell Hull before Senate Foreign Relations Committee, June 14, 1939, nine days after meeting with Morgenthau regarding the SS St. Louis refugees.
Cordell Hull was Secretary of State under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as well as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in facilitating the creation of the United Nations. He was also instrumental in refusing any action that might have helped Jews persecuted by the Nazis.
When Secretary of Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. recommended that passengers aboard the refugee ship SS St. Louis be allowed to debark with temporary tourist visas, Hull rejected the idea, citing the technicality that the passengers had no return address thus consigning them to the fate of having to return to Europe where many would be murdered by the Nazis. When French and German government officials complained about the rescue activities of Varian Fry, Hull demanded that Fry return stateside immediately. When Fry refused, Hull had his passport revoked. Indeed, Eleanor Roosevelt had to circumvent Hull to help Jews board the Portuguese ship SS Quanza and receive visas. Roosevelt’s State Department under Hull and his assistant Breckenridge Long ensured that saving Jews being slowly crushed under the Nazi boot would not be a priority. Many more Jews were allowed to perish who could have been rescued.
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Postcard from Austrian Ship Redirected to German Refugee in Shanghai, China
2019.2.227
Postcard with one red stamp and one brown stamp in upper right corner, “17 July 1939” stamped inside box marked with large “R” in green ink, addressed “Lloyd Triestino für Passa.”
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Postcard sent from Vienna to Lloyd Triestino Shipping Line (cachet) for a Jewish refugee fleeing Nazi Germany on his way to the Shanghai Jewish Quarter in the Hongkew District aboard the S.S. Victoria. This cover was first posted to Port Said, and then redirected to Shanghai. On this voyage were 300 German Jews fleeing to China, among the almost 20,000 Jewish refugees who fled to Japanese controlled Shanghai from Europe. Shanghai was an open port, no visas or passports were required, and was one of the only places in the world where Jews could find refuge from the Nazis. Many refugees fled after Kristallnacht - more than 12,000 in 1939 alone - through the Lloyd Triestino Line.
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J-Stamped Passport for Fritz Schlesinger
2022.1.40
32 pages; red ‘J’ stamp at top left of page 1; photo stapled on top left of page 2; interior pages have become detached from cover; pages 17-back cover have been hole punched twice;
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Fritz Schlesinger’s passport is stamped with the letter J. The handwritten “Israel” displayed on his passport to further distinguish him as a Jew was required on letters and documents in 1938 by Nazi executive order. Fritz had been a “landwirtschafat praktikant” and “agriculture intern” completing his training in farming practices and technology. Such training was commonly associated with the Halutz movement and inspired by Zionist ideology with the goal to create Jewish settlements in Palestine. Mr. Schlesinger, however, went through his training in a distinctly non-Zionist program formed by the Union of Jews in Germany (under supervision of the SS) on land at Gross-Breesen, near Trebnitz. To be sure, agricultural training was no less important here, but its inspiration was to help graduates secure jobs in any country as part of training for emigrating from Germany. While Mr. Schlesinger’s program was not specifically Zionist-inspired, it was no less urgent to help adolescents find gainful employment in countries like the UK, the Netherlands, South America and the United States. This became especially true after the Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938. Indeed, almost 120 participants were able to leave Germany after Kristallnacht from Mr. Schlesinger’s program.
Fritz graduated at the end of July 1939 and applied for a British visa in Berlin on August 7. He exited Germany on the 27th and entered the UK at Harwich on August 28th. There were instructions that upon completion of his training he will emigrate from the UK.
Just days later World War II began.
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Antisemitic Postcard
2012.1.468
White postcard with illustrations of people at a party and a group standing on the street. Includes a poem on the front and a message written in ink on the back.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Antisemitic multicolored postcard: "Greetings from Borkum." Includes a scene showing a German crowd singing with raised hands and glasses full while a group of Jewish stereotypes are refused admission to a hotel. City song reads "Those who come with flat feet, crooked noses and curly hair, cannot enjoy the beach but must be out! Leave Rosenthal and Levisohn. We want to keep our own town JUDEN REIN!" In other words, free of Jews. This exact term was used by Nazis during the Holocaust. Message posted from Nordseebad less than three weeks prior to the outbreak of World War II.
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Nazi Telegram Wedding Announcement
2014.1.452
Front: An illustration of Hitler giving the Nazi salute during a parade.Interior: Typewritten text in German.Back: An illustration of the Nazi eagle and swastika with red text reading, "Deutsche Reichspost."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Telegram of a wedding greeting issued in Kassel, Germany just two weeks before the advent of World War II. The painting shows Hitler saluting the parade of soldiers at a Nuremberg rally. On the back is a Nazi eagle with the swastika along with the text "Deutsche Reichspost" or German postal service.
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"Angaben über die Wohnung" (An Apartment is Entjudet) Referring to Jewish Removal from Apartment
2012.1.55
Brown half-sheet filled with printed charts and typewritten and handwritten information titled, "Angaben über die Wohnung."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Document attesting to the fact that a Jewish family had been cleared from their apartment. The home is now "entjudet," meaning that it has been cleared of Jews and their belongings. Jewish homes would routinely be confiscated by the Nazis and given to a German family or used by the military. The Jewish inhabitants would be removed to ghettos or deported to concentration camps. The concept "entjudet" went through a semantic evolution, the term becoming increasingly more sinister under the Nazi regime. It referred to removal of Jews from professional and economic institutions, removing Jewish influence, taking over Jewish firms and property, and finally deportation and murder. "Entjudet" no longer appears in modern German usage.