F06_P01: Concentration Camp Auschwitz West (Buchenholz) I.G. Farben chemical combine, Air Mail
1943 March 27, envelope from Auschwitz concentration camp sent via air mail.
White-yellow envelope with cursive handwriting in blue ink. At the bottom, a sender's address from Auschwitz appears. At the center left is a blue 25-pfennig stamp depicting Adolf Hitler. At the center right is a imprinted blue air mail stamp written as "Par Avion" in French. At the center is the letters Ae with a circle around in red ink.
Name/Title
F06_P01: Concentration Camp Auschwitz West (Buchenholz) I.G. Farben chemical combine, Air MailEntry/Object ID
2007.6.1.aScope and Content
1943 March 27, envelope from Auschwitz concentration camp sent via air mail.Context
I.G. Farben was a conglomerate of eight German chemical trusts, including Bayer, Hoechst, and BASF (Badische Anilin-und Sodafabrik), making it the world's largest chemical firm. Zyklon B gas, used to kill Jews in the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau, was supplied by an I.G. Farben subsidiary. The Buna synthetic rubber factory at Auschwitz III was operated by I.G. Farben. The labor camp at Auschwitz West, called Buchenholz, also run by I.G. Farben, employed both slave laborers and conscripted civilian workers from occupied countries. Although the conscripts were forced laborers, they enjoyed privileges that were not accorded to slave laborers, including fewer mail restrictions. A March 27, 1943, air mail letter and an April 24, 1943, special delivery letter from a French forced laborer at the Auschwitz West Buchenholz labor camp operated by I.G. Farben to his parents in Meaux, France. Both were censored at Frankfurt.Collection
Nazi Scourge I: Primary ExhibitionCategory
Cover
Philatelic Material