F03_P10: Mass Arrests and Incarceration of Jews
1941 August 17, Front side - Envelope from Buchenwald concentration camp. 2007.3.10.b
Tan envelope with printed text and outline in German using black ink. Cursive handwriting in German using black ink is present. At the top right is a red 12-pfennig stamp depicting President Paul von Hindenburg facing to the left. Overtop is a cancellation dated August 22, 1941. Directly to the left is a machine stamp which states "Reichsmesse in Leipzig Herbst 1941". There is a logo with two letter M's positioned on top of the other. At the center left is a purple postal censorship stamp.
Name/Title
F03_P10: Mass Arrests and Incarceration of JewsEntry/Object ID
2007.3.10.a-bScope and Content
1941 August 17, envelope and letter from Buchenwald concentration camp.Context
The arrests that followed the Kristallnacht pogrom launched the Nazis’ plan to eliminate Jews from Germany and Austria. In the first stage, they were expelled from the country or incarcerated in concentration camps. Many were worked or starved to death under those conditions. Later, the ones who remained, and those who lived in countries conquered by the Nazis, would be transported to Jewish ghettos and death camps in the East. Ludwig Israel Ordower’s low prisoner number indicated that he had been imprisoned for several years when he wrote this letter to his non-Jewish wife. He probably had been arrested in the post-Kristallnacht dragnet. The August 22, 1941, commemorative machine cancellation of Weimar promoted the festive autumn fair in nearby Leipzig.Collection
Nazi Scourge I: Primary ExhibitionCategory
Cover, Registered Letter
Philatelic Material