F01_P13: Concentration Camp Dachau, SS takes command
1935 February 18, Front side - Envelope from Thedor Eicke's office as Dachau commandant.
Light tan-orange envelope (appears bright red-orange via scan). Red ink stamp in the top left corner verifying the letter came from the office of the Dachau commandant. In the top right corner there are two green 6-pfennig stamps featuring President Paul von Hindenburg facing to the left. Overtop, a black ink cancellation dated February 18, 1935 is present. The center text is printed in black. The printed text reads "Hernn / Schloss Maier / Ingolstadt / Theresienstrasse 28/II". The foundation is promptly working to update this scan.
Name/Title
F01_P13: Concentration Camp Dachau, SS takes commandEntry/Object ID
2007.1.13Scope and Content
1935 February 18, envelope from Thedor Eicke's office as Dachau commandant.Context
In June 1933, SS-Oberführer Theodor Eicke became the Dachau commandant. In 1934, as the elite Nazi SS [Schutzstaffel – literally, protection squad; originally Adolf Hitler’s bodyguards] took control of the Gestapo and all the concentration camps, Eicke was placed in overall command of the camps. On the night of June 30-July 1, 1934, known to history as “Night of the Long Knives,” elite, ruthless Nazi SS men purged SA storm troopers in a grisly spree of mass assassination. Eicke personally executed SA chief Ernst Röhm in his cell at Munich. Promoted to SS-Gruppenführer, Eicke centralized administration, introduced torture and exemplary cruelty as deliberate methods of control, and propagated rules for the entire concentration camp system. From then until the defeat of Nazi Germany, all concentration camp guards were specially trained SS personnel. Central authority was headquartered at Dachau until October 1938, when it was moved to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp at Oranienburg. Above: A cover mailed from the office of the Dachau commandant on February 18, 1935, to former prisoner Maier Schloss at Ingolstadt. Below: An October 3, 1934, inmate’s post card from Schloss to his wife before he was released.Collection
Nazi Scourge I: Primary ExhibitionCategory
Cover
Philatelic Material