Briefaktion: The Family Camp
Briefaktion, which is German for “letter action,” or, as some philatelists refer to it, “operation mail,” was a Nazi ruse used a number of times throughout the history of the Reich. Aktion is a famous Nazi euphemism used to refer to any non-military campaign to further Nazi ideals of race, but most often the term referred to the assembly and deportation of Jews to concentration or death camps (see About.com, http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaustglossary/g/Aktion.htm).
Nazi euphemisms and terminology were used throughout the history of the Reich for misdirection and to disguise the actual action intended. Arbeit Macht Frei, “Work makes you free,” was a sign placed over the entrance of Auschwitz: the work was, of course, was slave labor. Endlosung, or “Final Solution,” is the term used to define the elimination of all Jews. The word Briefaktion is no different; the ruse lies in the total misinformation conveyed by the letters, which always were sent after the writers had died or were on the way to their demise. The Briefaktionen were intended to lead people to believe that they should not be frightened about deportations, as they were merely transfer to a new place to work.
Examples of Briefaktionen
The most famous example of this type of deception was practiced in the Familienlager or “Family Camp” in the Birkenau section of Auschwitz. A unique document (Figure 1) from the Auschwitz Museum Archives shows an order for a truck to implement a Briefaktion des RSHA (Juden). It was for a truck and 2 persons to pick up mail at subcamps of Auschwitz 3 (Monowitz) and Camp Javisciovitz. The mail would be taken to Berlin, were it would be censored and post marked.
There were other noted Briefaktionen that took place. In the summer of 1942, letters were received from victims of mass deportations of Jews from Warsaw to Treblinka. The Gestapo had their victims write that they were in the east, were in working and employed and that things were good. The letters were falsely postmarked from Smolensk or Bobruisk, and their writers were taken to the gas chambers.
Another example took place in Kielce, where boys were sent for forced labor to a munitions factory in Skarzysko-Kamienna. They wrote to their relatives that they were in good health, had sufficient food, and were with their families (Yad Vashem Studies: 1967, Volume VI, 70).
Briefaktion Linking Theresienstadt and Auschwitz
The family camp concept began within the Theresienstadt ghetto outside of Prague, Czechoslovakia. Theresienstadt was originally built as a fortress for Austrian royalty under the orders from Joseph II of Austria in 1780 to 1790 and was named for his mother, Maria Theresa, who ruled from 1740-1780. The Nazis took control on June 10, 1940 and turned the little fortress, the Kleine Festung, into a prison (see note below for an observation about the postal system). By November, 1941, the bigger fortress had become a ghetto.
The Nazis intended Theresienstadt be a model ghetto, a working town that would demonstrate how well the Jews d under Nazi rule. It had stores, factories, schools, musical productions, and a “government” that functioned under the Nazis oversight. The only thing that changed were the people. Jews were constantly being shipped into Theresienstadt and transported out to Auschwitz. The population was gathered mostly from the “Protectorate”: Germany and other western European countries. They were particularly prominent persons, old people, or those who had served in the German Army during World War I.