For centuries Jews had been concentrated in specified areas of many European cities, segregated from the surrounding population. They were often required to wear identifying items such as yellow badges or pointed hats. The Third Reich built upon this religious and antisemitic impulse of European ghettoization, creating a ghetto system based on an eliminative racial ideology. Jews were no longer merely persecuted, terrorized, and denied their civil rights and loss of their ability to earn a living. Now they were to be herded like cattle into overcrowded enclosures typically surrounded by fences, walls and barbed wire, denied access to the basic necessities of life, exploited for their labor, and subject to starvation and disease: all as a preliminary step to what the Nazis considered the solution to the "Jewish problem." The specific form of this solution went through several iterations, from mass emigration to plans to ship Jews to Madagascar or to Siberia. Confining Jews to ghettos began in earnest after Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 and 3 million Jews fell into their laps. Reinhard Heydrich had proposed establishing ghettos near railway lines in large Polish towns, with Jews from the smaller villages as well making up the ghetto population, in the effort to centralize Jews for a presumptive "final solution." Jews would be employed as slave laborers. A counsel of Jewish elders - a Judenrat - would be formed to do the bidding of the German occupation administration, ensuring that initiatives and regulations would be carried out. Jewish "police" were to ensure maximal compliance with Nazi orders, including readying Jews for slave labor or deportation. Conditions were execrable: overcrowding, starvation, disease, and exposure to the elements created high death rates. While this scenario wasn't the much-vaunted Final Solution the Nazis struggled with, it served to contribute to Jewish death without Germans taking full responsibility; indeed, the self-serving Nazi idea that Jews were disease carriers would prove to be a self-fulfilling prophesy by virtue of their living conditions alone. After operation Barbarossa and the invasion of the Soviet Union, millions more Jews came under Nazi control, at which point deportation and extermination of Jews in all German-occupied territory became the most obvious and desirable solution to the Jewish problem. At Hermann Goering's request, Heydrich chaired the conference at the Wannsee villa in the Berlin suburbs in January 1942 to coordinate this decision with other Nazi elite. Adolf Eichmann sat quietly taking notes which would be euphemized and sanitized for public consumption.
--Michael D. Bulmash, K1966
Browse the Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection.
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Parcel Slip from Theresienstadt Concentration Camp/Ghetto to Kleine Festung
2014.1.132
Front: Tan slip with printed text and red, black and blue hand stamps.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Theresienstadt Concentration Camp/Ghetto parcel to Kleine Festung from the small fortress Gestapo Prison, Terezin, 1944.
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Censored Postcard from Ella Stibitz in Kolin Ghetto to Mother Josefa Stibitz in Theresienstadt Ghetto
2021.1.16
Postcard written in black ink with purple border design. Zensur 8 is written in red crayon on front.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Josefa was born in Bohemia in 1873, the third of nine children. Her father was a businessman. She married Vladimir Stibitz, a bank official, in 1898. Vladimir eventually became director of a factory in Kolin belonging to his brother-in-law. Josefa and Vladimir had four children. When Vladimir became ill and died, Josefa managed the factory. In frail health, Josefa was deported from Kolin to Theresienstadt in June 1942 on transport A.A.D.68 three years after Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. Here she met her siblings, who would ultimately perish in extermination centers.
Remarkably, Josefa survived Theresienstadt, having been liberated in May 1945. Three years later, in 1948, she recorded memories of her experiences at Theresienstadt. Photographs of Josefa walking with her daughters to the collection point in Kolin in 1942 prior to her being transported to Theresienstadt had been discovered as well as photographs showing her reunion with her son in 1945 after her liberation. These recordings and photographs were utilized by Nadja Seelich and Bernd Neuberger in their 1997 documentary entitled “Theresienstadt looks like a curort (resort)” about Josefa’s imprisonment in Theresienstadt and her struggle to survive.
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Theresienstadt Postcard
2012.1.340
White postcard with black printed postcard lines. Addressed to Erma Behonneck to Sigmund Kaufmann in black ink. Includes message written in black ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
To: Mrs. Erna Behonnek in Brunn. Bäehergasse 25. From: Sigmund Kaufmann. Theresienstadt Wallstrausse No. 8.Translation: "My dear ones: Grandma wrote to you recently telling you that I am steadfast with rheumatism. I am improved and the change in the weather gets credit for it. Hopefully you and your dear child with God's help are well. Hopefully the new year will bring the things that are lacking and especially good health and good luck. Why do you now write so seldom? Here it is cold and we have snow. I mailed stamps to you. Did Maura and Hilda write? Please write about this soon. Also little girl (?) should write and how she is doing in Rehoof (?). Johnny and children come less frequently now but are (?). Praise God very well. With many greeting, to all of you, your Grandfather."
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Package Acknowledgement Postcard to Trude Neumann From (?) in Theresienstadt with Bauschwitz Cancellation
2012.1.343
Tan postcard with black printed postcard lines. Addressed in black ink to Trude Geumann from Stefan Diel. Includes printed message with additions in black ink and English translation in pencil.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: This cancellation has no affiliated hand stamp, since it is the mailstop for the Theresienstadt Ghetto. Mail sent from Theresienstadt went through either Prague, Berlin, or Bohusovice (Bauschowitz). Inmates in Theresienstadt looked forward to food packages in the mail due to food shortages.
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"Orderly Traffic" in the Warsaw Ghetto
2014.1.111
Front: A black and white photograph of Jewish people in pushcarts being pushed through the streets by young men.Back: A taped piece of paper with a typewritten caption in purple, as well as several hand stamps.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Wire photo with attached information verso: "Warsaw, Poland... A picture from a leading German magazine, received in the United States through neutral sources, showing, according to the German caption, orderly traffic in the walled-in ghetto of Warsaw. The Germans say of these aged Jews in their rolling chairs, they formerly occupied prominent places in the world, were driven from their homes and now live in this Ghetto."
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Litzmannstadt Ghetto Postcard
2012.1.314
Tan postcard with black printed postcard lines. Includes a handwritten address to Bohemil Dudler with stamped return address to, "Der Aelteste der Juden in Litzmannstadt." Includes a printed and handwritten message from Josef Tanger.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
A postcard sent from the Jewish Elders (Judenrat) in Litzmannstadt Ghetto stating that 25 Reichsmarks were received. With signature.
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Bialystok Ghetto Application for Day Off
2012.1.503
Tan document titled, "Postamt Bialystok." Includes typewritten and handwritten text and a partially-filled table.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Document from Bialystok Ghetto in which a worker requests an additional day off. Stamped Getto Verwaltung or Ghetto Administration.
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Theresienstadt Ghetto Package Receipt Acknowledgement
2015.2.53
Front: Green postcard with printed black text, and pencil writing filling in blanks. Back: Black printed postcard lines, with pencil-written return address in upper lefthand corner, and address written on right side. 11b handstamp on left side. Purple stamp with Hitler in profile facing left on upper righthand corner, with black circular handstamp over it.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Package receipt acknowledgement from Theresienstadt Ghetto written by one Pinkas Hoffmann.
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Postcard from Theresienstadt with Reply Instruction Cachet
2012.1.333
Tan postcard with black printed postcard lines. Addressed in pencil to Elfrieda Oppenheim from Herman Kahn. Includes message written in pencil.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: This postcard has a cachet reading "Ruckantwort nur auf Postkarten in deutscher Sprache," or “replies only by postcards in the German language”. This postcard from Mr. Hermann Kahn to Elfrieda Oppenheim in Kettwig in the city of Essen on the Ruhr river, thanks her for her packages—especially for the noodles and tomatoes.
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Theresienstadt Package Receipt Postcard
2012.1.337
Tan postcard addressed to Dr. Otto Kurz from Georg Wengraf in blue ink. Includes printed message with additions written in blue ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Postcard addressed to Dr. Otto Kurz in Switzerland, received 3/9/44. Two-line h/s 'REPLY MUST BE ON PCDS & IN GERMAN' Nazi OKW censor and three other censor markings. Formula printed card "thank you for your food parcel" to Dr. Otto Kurz-Switz, delivered by Nazi courier to Prague rather than Berlin, thus held only one month before being posted on 4.5.44; under franked, taxed on arrival, 4 different censor marks; 7-word message contrary to regulations, but posted anyway. Translation: "Dear ones: I acknowledge with thanks the receipt of your package March 1944. We are well and await information soon from you. George Wengraf."
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Postcard Package Receipt from Theresienstadt Ghetto
2015.2.56
Front: Tan postcard with black printed text and blanks with writing in green ink. Back: Black printed postcard lines. Return address written in upper lefthand corner in green ink. Address written on right in green ink. 11b stamp on left side. Pencil marking in upper righthand corner. Postcard written by (Gertruda) Trüde Shön (born January 21, 1900). Prisoner number 65152. Transported from Hradec Kralove, Czechoslovakia to Theresienstadt. Transported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz October 9, 1944. She did not survive.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Postcard written by (Gertruda) Trüde Shön (born 21 January 1900). Prisoner number 65152. Transported from Hradec Kralove, Czechoslovakia to Theresienstadt on 17 Dec. 1942. Deported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz extermination camp on 9 October 1944 where she was murdered.
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Theresienstadt Postcard
2012.1.342
Tan postcard addressed to P. Kämpf from Oskar Kuhn in pencil. Includes printed message with additions written in pencil.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Card acknowledging package from Mr. P. Kampf to an inmate of Theresienstadt Ghetto, Oskar Kuhn -- Vienna 9. Theresiandstadt. Turngasse 1. Translation: "I wish to confirm receipt of your package and thank you as of April 17. Happy birthday, Oskar Kuhn."
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Plaszow German Arrest Warrant
2014.1.432
Dark paper; 'Geheime Staatspolizei' letterhead; several red pencil underlines including the name, 'Marian Sendek'.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
From Secret State Police, Krakow. Originally headed “Concentration camp Plaszow," it was changed to "Transit camp Plaszow." The document identifies one Marian Sendek, born in Krakow on November 29, 1919, an unmarried Catholic farmer, was being arrested on suspicion of being a member of the Polish Worker's Party, the 'Polska Partia Robotnica." The PPR controlled the People's Army resistance, which was backed by the Soviet Union.
Oskar Schindler witnessed a German raid on the Jewish ghetto in Krakow in the summer of 1942 and watched Jews being packed onto trains and transported to certain death. He later said, "I was now resolved to do everything in my power to defeat the system." After the Krakow ghetto was liquidated, many Jews were sent to Plaszow concentration camp, run by the infamous Amon Goeth. Schindler recorded the names and jobs of 1200 Jews at Plaszow that he needed to work at his enamelware factory in Krakow and submitted the list to the SS. While many Jews from Plaszow were sent to Auschwitz as the Russian forces approached in 1944, Schindler was able to save the "Schindlerjuden" from extermination.
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Theresienstadt Postcard
2012.1.338
Tan postcard with black printed postcard lines. Addressed to Fritz Osfreicher from Zdenka Rorensky in black ink. Includes message written in black ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Postcard sent from Zdenka Korensky, Theresienstadt -- Badhausgasse A to Mr. Fritz Osfreicher in Prague, with cachet in red regarding mailing instructions for Jews. Translation: "We thank you very much for your package and hope that you will not forget us in the future. We are well and hope that you are too. It would please us very much if we would get a report from you. Please convey our greetings to Hans and his wife and baby. Your Zdenka."
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Theresienstadt Package Receipt Acknowledgement Three Days After Swiss Red Cross Visit
2019.2.89
Orange postcard marked "POSTKARTE," brown postage stamp of Hitler in top right corner, "11b" stamped in blue on left side, "Theresienstadt" written on left side.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Theresienstadt, Hitler’s so-called “gift to the Jews,” was subject to a Nazi effort to sanitize the ghetto in advance of a visit by the Swiss Red Cross on June 23, 1944. The Verschonerung , or embellishment program, emerged out of Denmark’s pressure on the Nazis; since 466 Danish Jews were sent to this ghetto, the Danish government wanted to ensure that they were being treated humanely and living under suitable conditions. Indeed, the two Swiss Red Cross representatives were to be accompanied by two representatives of the Danish government. The Nazis used the occasion to create propaganda presenting the ghetto in a favorable light. To impress the delegates and create the appearance of a functioning village life for the Jews, shops were opened, including a café and a bank; camp “money” (scrip useless anywhere else) was printed and distributed for Jewish labor to purchase items at the shops. This general beautification ruse included cultural events that lasted for one week: soccer games were arranged, orchestral and operatic productions were held, parks were opened, a playground was created for the ghetto children, and jazz played in the town square pavilion. Of course, the massively overcrowded conditions had to be relieved in advance of the visit, so 17,517 Jews were transported to Auschwitz.
After the Red Cross visit and the subsequent glowing report that was to emerge, the transports to Auschwitz - which had ceased for a time - resumed again in the fall.
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Postcard from Arbeitslager to RELICO
2015.2.140
Front: Tan postcard with printed black text in French and writing in purple pencil. Several black and purple hand stamps.Back: Black printed postcard lines and address. Includes several red and black hand stamps, and a blue stripe diagonal across the page.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Unfranked RELICO postcard with censor marks and chemical censor, printed card from Abraham Taub who writes from a work camp Jowischovitz in Upper Silesia to Comité RELICO (Relief Committee for the Warstricken Jewish Population), founded by Abraham Silberschein, in Geneva Switzerland, dated June 24, 1944.
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Newsletter from Theresienstadt
2014.1.133
Front: Tan paper with a black illustration of Theresienstadt at the top. Includes black typewritten text, an illustrations of a horse-drawn carriage, and a dove entering through a gate.Back: Black typewritten text going halfway down the page, and illustrations of a tree-lined path, and a man looking through a telescope.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
A self-published bulletin from the Theresienstadt ghetto dated June 24, 1944. Written by the Jewish Council (Altestenrat der Juden) in Theresienstadt - Hitler’s so called “gift to the Jews” - the bulletin typically gave orders and reports to the Jewish inhabitants of the ghetto. The “beautification” program referred to (the “Stadtverschonerung”) was the cynical Nazi effort to sanitize the ghetto in advance of the infamous Swiss Red Cross visit on June 23, 1944, just one day before this bulletin’s publication. This planned visit, and the Nazi response to it, emerged out of Denmark’s pressuring the Nazis about the 466 Danish Jews sent to Theresienstadt. To ensure that they were being treated humanely, the Danish government sent two Danish representatives to accompany the Swiss representatives. The Nazis used this occasion to create propaganda and an embellishment campaign that was designed to present the ghetto in a favorable light. To impress the delegates, to create the appearance of a functioning and quasi-autonomous village life for the Jews, shops were opened, including a café and a bank; camp “money” was printed (scrip useless anywhere else) and distributed for Jews to purchase items at the shops. The ruse included cultural events that lasted for one week: soccer games were arranged, orchestral productions, parks were opened, a playground and special food given to the ghetto children, etc. Of course, the massively overcrowded conditions in the ghetto had to be relieved, necessitating the transport of 17,517 Jews to Auschwitz. After the Red Cross visit, and the release of a glowing report, transports to Auschwitz resumed.
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Theresienstadt Correspondence
2012.1.345ab
Letter: Letter written in blue ink on thin white paper.Envelope: Tan envelope addressed to Blarenka Seidlicove in blue ink. Back flap has return address to Otto Leidlic.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Correspondence between Otto Leidlic and Blarenka Seidlicove/Leidlic (2012.1.345a-e).
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Correspondence from German-Occupied Czechoslovakia Commissioner for Property Management
2012.1.345e
Green envelope with printed return address to "Der Bezirkshauptmann in Jitschin." Includes typewritten address to Blazena Seidlitz.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Letter from the Commissioner for Management of Properties in "Jitschin" in Chechoslovakia to Blazena Seidlitz.
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Judenrat Litzmannstadt Receipt of Money
2012.1.308
Tan postcard with black printed postcard lines and message layout on back side. Addressed in ink to H. Eisner from Eda Aschermann.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
From the "Judenrat" in Litzmannstadt (Lodz) Ghetto, an acknowledgement of receipt of 20 Reichsmarks.
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Letter from Jurgen Stroop
2012.1.385
Typewritten letter on "Der Höhere SS-Und Polizeiführer" stationery. Includes signature in black.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Stroop was the SS Police Leader of Warsaw who was responsible for the savage crushing of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943 about which he wrote a book - intended as a souvenir for Himmler - originally entitled “The Warsaw Ghetto is no more.” It took Stroop and his army a month of overwhelming firepower to subdue the ghetto fighters who had little in the way of food or ordnance. Indeed, Stroop grudgingly acknowledged surprise at the fighting spirit of the ghetto inhabitants. Brought to trial as a war criminal, he was found guilty and executed – appropriately - in Warsaw. Document on his "Der Hohere SS und Polizeifuhrer" letterhead. Sent to SS Gruppenfuhrer and Waffen SS Generalleutnant Maximilian von Herff in Berlin, thanking him for sending an edition of the "New German Cultural Atlas, which I would like to study..." Maximilian von Herff (1893-1945) commanded a corps in North Africa and later assisted Stroop in overseeing the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto.
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Package Receipt, Rosa Ornstein, from Theresienstadt Ghetto
2015.2.54
Front: Tan postcard with printed black text and blanks, with black writing in cursive. Some writing in pencil in lower righthand corner. Back: Black printed postcard lines. Return address written in black ink on upper lefthand corner. Address written in black ink on right side. Black stamp across length of the top. 11b stamp in blue on left side. Purple pasted stamp of Hitler in profile facing left on right top corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Package receipt acknowledgement sent by Elizabeth Rosa Ornstein (Born May 2, 1896) on July 7, 1944. Rosa was prisoner number 46606 at Theresienstadt, having been transported from Vienna, Austria to Theresienstadt. She was deported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz - three months after receiving this package - on October 6, 1944, where she was murdered.
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Theresienstadt Postcard
2012.1.344
Tan postcard addressed to Dr. Otto Kurz from Rosa Englander in green ink. Includes message written in green ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Translation: "Dear Hana and Otto: We wrote to you recently and acknowledged receipt of package of figs. We also received the package sent via Red Cross. My wife was especially pleased to receive the latter. She is recuperating from a recent illness and in need of lots of rest. I also informed you that my mother passed away Dec 12, 1943 and asked you to inform the rest of the family. Otherwise we are quite well. We constantly wait for mail from you. Greetings."
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Postcard from Theresienstadt Ghetto Used by Elizabeth Rosa Ornstein
2019.2.78
Postcard marked Postcard marked "POSTKARTE" in black, vertical line down center of postcard, brown postage stamp of Adolf Hitler in top right corner, stamped with "11b" in blue ink on left side, back marked "Theresienstadt, am 29/7 1944" in top right corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
This acknowledgement of receipt of a parcel was signed by Elizabeth Ornstein, an Austrian Jew who was transported to Terezin in March 1944. Several months later, on October 6, 1944, she was deported to Auschwitz where she was murdered. She was 48 years old.
[Related items: 2015.2.54 and 2019.2.80]
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Theresienstadt Postcard
2012.1.341
Green postcard with black printed postcard lines. Addressed to Josefa France from Irma Semesky in black ink. Includes message written in black ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
To Frau Josefa Franc, Prague from Irma Semesky, Theresienstadt: "Most precious mother, Greetings and kisses. I thank you for everything you do for me. Package arrived in good condition and made me very happy. I think of you all the time and also our good friends and are also happy to receive letters from them. From Father Franz I receive nothing, only from you. I received photos and a letter from Paul. It made me very happy. I would love to have a picture of you dear mother to see what you look like. I am working as before and am quite satisfied with my work. I have the opportunity to read and listen to music and you know what pleasure this gives me. I hope you are really in good health and that you think of me as I do of you. I hope you heard from Paul. Write to me often dear mother as I wait impatiently for any news of you. Many greetings for Paul, Aunt Anna and with kisses to you. Your Irma."
This postcard was censored and rejected: stamped red censor cachet states: “Response only to postcards in German via the Jewish Council of Elders in Prague V Philipp de Monte Gasse 18.