1933-1946 Holocaust era philately & ephemera

Holocaust-era Jewish mail from German-occupied Poland, outside the Ghetto: 11 NOV 1940 postmarked family correspondence registered cover from Metzger in tiny locale TUCHOW German-occupied Poland (return-addressed "Deutsche Post, Osten") to a Maurice Metzger in VICKSBURG US, franked 1.10Rm using Generalgouvernement & GG overprinted Polish stamps stamps, tied by 2x strikes of the local postmark + re...

WWII/Holocaust era mail from the heart of darkness - Svencioneliai/Schwentschionellen (Lithuania): July 1942 postmarked registered cover sent from Lithuanian sender (Zofija Dunskiene) at "Pharmacy" (vaistine) in SVENCIONELIAI to the lime kiln ("wapiennik") of a soap manufacturer "near Krakow" ("mydlniki koło krakowa") at RZASKA in German occupied Poland.Although the sender does not indicate perso...

WWII/Holocaust-era Jewish mail on the European mainland: 5 AUG 1942 postmarked Petain-frank imprinted postal card mailed from German-occupied PARIS to PIATRA NEAMT in Romania, uprated to 3.70Fr with Petain head stamp & tied by 2x strikes of the local postmark; passed the German Army censor ("gepruft" machine cancel - probably the Paris "X" letter-code office) and then the Romanian censor; received...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Theresienstadt/Terezin (Bohemia-Moravia/Czech Republic): 12 Jan 1943 postmarked postal dispatch receipt sent from PRAGUE to addressee Gottliebe in THERESIENSTADT, likely a Jewish inmate at the concentration camp....

WWII wartime civilian internee mail: 15 Jan 1940 postmarked stampless Red Cross imprinted postal card in French & Hungarian, with 6 Jan. 1940 dated family correspondence, sent from Hungarian annexed LEVA (LWICE) to relative in Soviet occupied LVOV; card is imprinted "toll free" for internees of belligerent countries. Front-stamped (likely pre-stamped) by faint illustrated dateless handstamp of the...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Vysoke Myto/Hohenmauth: 17-7-1940 photo picture postcard of the locale, with correspondence in Czech, from GEMEINSCHAFTSLAGER VYSOKE MYTO ("Communal Camp") to PRAGUE, franked 60h using Bohemia-Moravia stamps & tied by local civilian postmark + boxed camp cachet (interestingly on top of the franks - the card was prefranked and then stamped by the camp) + carmine censor ha...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Budweis/Caske Budejovice: 24 VII 1940 civilian cover in Czech from BUDWEIS ARBEITSDIENSTLAGER (labor service camp) to PRAGUE, franked 1.20k using Bohemia-Moravia stamps & tied by local bilingual machine cancel + blue-green boxed camp censor cachet; cut open at left. As the camp references "labor service", it may belong to the Reich Labor Service (RAD) organization, which...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Breslau/Wroclaw (Germany): 19 Aug 1940 postmarked cover sent from inmate at a penitentiary ("Strafgefangnis") in BRESLAU to addressee in BRNO (German protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia / Czechoslovakia); franked 12pf per domestic letter rate & tied by local slogan cancel; slit open at bottom. An unusual instance of prison/camp originating mail not bearing any official posta...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Mauthausen: 01-10-1940 dated deposit slip ('Einlieferungsschein') for 10 Reichsmark money order sent to a prisoner with a Polish name at "KZ Mauthausen Oberdonau" from ZAWIERCIE (OBERSCHLESIEN) / Upper Silesia. The postal stationary form requests on reverse "Please do not use [this space] for messages for the recipient". Around this time many Poles were transferred to th...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Prague (Bohemia-Moravia/Czech Republic): 11 Oct 1941 postmarked cover sent from PRAG GEMEINSCHAFTSLAGER (community camp) to civilian with Czech name in LEIPZIG (at the "Old Brewery Warehouse" - 'lager'); franked 1.80K & tied by local slogan postmark + violet handstamp of the camp with censor signature endorsement; cut open at left....

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Dobryszyce/Radomsko (Poland): 4 March 1942 postmarked cover with official looking appearance sent from village of DOBRYSZYCE near Radomsko to addressee in RADOMSKO, franked 24 groszy using General Gouvernement district Polish denominated stamps at the period domestic base letter postage rate of 12 pfennig (fixed at 1pf = 2gr during the occupation), couriered from the vil...

Hungarian Polish internee mail: stampless 11 MAR 1942 hand-dated bilingual Hungarian & French postage-free Red Cross Prisoner of War postal card, from Anton Borsuk of the Royal Hungarian 1/2 "Polish Technical Labor Camp" (location not revealed - possibly the SZENTGYÖRGYMEZŐ region of the city of ESZTERGOM) to his wife in LEMBERG (LVOV) Poland/Generalgouvernement; the postcard is tied by a 2-line...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Olmutz/Olomouc (Bohemia-Moravia/Czech Republic): 23 Mar 1942 postmarked cover sent from OLMUTZ STRAFARBEITSLAGER (penal labor camp) to civilian in BRNO; franked 1.20K & tied by local machine cancel + 2x strikes of violet handstamp of the camp (front & back) & censor handstamp with signature endorsement; slit open at top & affixed at back with Jan Presl label. Of note it ...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Prague (Bohemia-Moravia/Czech Republic): 26 June 1942 postmarked picture postcard sent from PRAG GEMEINSCHAFTSLAGER (community camp) to local civilian; franked 50h per the local postcard postage rate & tied by local postmark + carmine handstamp of the camp with censor signature endorsement....

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Budweis/Caske Budejovice: 1 VII 1942 civilian cover in Czech from an engineer (ref. return address) at BUDWEIS ARBEITSDIENSTLAGER (labor service camp) to another engineer-architect in PRAGUE, franked 1.20k using Bohemia-Moravia stamp & tied by local German-only machine cancel + blue-green boxed camp censor cachet; cut open at right. As the camp references "labor service"...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Prague police prison: 17 VII 1942 civilian cover from PRAG POLIZEIGEFANGNIS (police prison) to JICIN, franked 1.20k using Bohemia-Moravia stamp & tied by local bilingual machine cancel + black police prison censor cachet; opened at back & slit open at left. The locale is probably Pankrac Prison....

WWII civilian mail within Axis countries: 10 Aug 1942 postmarked registered cover sent from ROME Italy to tiny locale of SOBESLAV "Bohemia" in German occupied Czechoslovakia, franked 2.50L & tied by 2x strikes of the local postmark on front + 1x on back; front-stamped by the Italian military censor + various numbered cachets - likely sorting numbers applied in countries of transit prior to the cov...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Bettlern/Zebrak: 19 Oct 1942 postmarked imprinted postal card "for the exchange of messages between medical authorities" (Nachrichten austausch der medebehorden) of the Bohemia-Moravia protectorate police service, sent from the office of the Police President in PRAGUE to the State Police Department in BETTLERN (ZEBRAK); franked 60h per the inland postcard postage rate us...

WWII German postage dues in occupied Poland: 22 Oct 1942 postmarked imprinted postal card of the Generalgouvernement district with message in German, sent from WARSAW to KRASNIK (Lublin district within the "GG") - but posted unfranked (likely entered unstamped into a letter box & then processed later by the post office); tied in the field by the local postmark & tied 2x by German carmine "Nachgebu...

WWII German-occupied Poland COD cash on delivery parcel card posted on 18 Nov 1942 at WARSAW by a local bank to addressee in KIELCE, for a package weighing 10kg at a cost of 250 groszy paid by the sender with an additional 463.40Zl to be paid by the receiver - on 23 Nov. as per manuscript date on reverse....

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Bettlern/Zebrak: 1 Dec 1942 postmarked imprinted postal card "for the exchange of messages between medical authorities" (Nachrichten austausch der medebehorden) of the Bohemia-Moravia protectorate police service, sent from the municipal office the town of NEUDORF (NOVA VES) in the Pilsen district to the State Police Department in BETTLERN (ZEBRAK); franked 60h per the in...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Breslau/Wroclaw (Germany): 2 Dec 1942 postmarked cover sent from STRAFARBEITSLAGER BRESLAU (penal labor camp) to civilian in SMIRICE (Bohemia-Moravia/Czech Republic); franked 12pf & tied by local slogan postmark + handstamp of the camp with censor signature endorsement. Cut open at left + affixed on back with illustrated label of Smirice. The Breslau labor camp may have ...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Vienna to Chelm: 29 Dec 1942 postmarked family correspondence cover sent from the Lager der DAF in VIENNA-LOBAU (labor of the Germany Labor Front) to female civilian in WLODAWA in the Chelm province of German occupied Poland; franked 12pf & tied by single strike of the local postmark. Slit open at bottom + original correspondence in Polish included.The referenced camp is...

WWII/Holocaust era camps > Jungbunzlau/Mlada Boleslav (Bohemia-Moravia/Czech Republic): 22 May 1943 postmarked registered cover sent from JUNGBUNZLAU Arbeitslager (labor camp) to civilian in KOSMONOSY (Bohemia-Moravia/Czech Republic); franked 4.30K & tied by 2x strikes of the local postmark + handstamps of the camp & signature endorsed censor mark (the cover was pre-franked & stamped by the camp a...