Ghetto Post of the Holocaust Era

Postal history is the study of the movement of the mail. We can learn about postal systems through rates, censorship, mailing directions, travel time, and routes. When there is access to the message on the card or letter, we have another aspect of history to aid us in our study. The four postal cards discussed in this article provide an insight into the postal system between the U.S.S.R. and Nazi-occupied Poland. From them we also get a feeling of ghetto life in general and specifically, a feel for the ghetto postal system. The ghetto was an innovation of the Nazis to subjugate the Jews. After occupation, the Nazis established ghettos in each town or village. These ghettos were usually located in the poor section of the town and walled off from the rest of the population. Life within the ghetto was very difficult and often dangerous.

After each ghetto was created, the Nazis established a Judenrat (Jewish Council). The Judenrat consisted of prominent individuals in the community who were responsible for running the day-to-day activities of the ghetto. “The Judenrat concept,” as described by Isaiah Trunk, “was conceived by the Nazis, not as an instrument for organizing life in the ghettos or for strengthening the structure of the ghetto, but the opposite; as an instrument which, in their hands, would help them in general, to realize their plans concerning the Jewish population in the occupied territories and, in particular, to exterminate the Jewish people.”

The postal system was a very important part of Judenrat and ghetto life; it connected the ghetto with the outside world. Knowing the importance of mail to the ghetto, the Nazis frequently interrupted the mail, confiscated packages, or did not permit ghettos to receive mail. Since individual Jews were not permitted contact with non-Jews or non-Jewish agencies, according to laws established by the General Government, mailing a letter was very difficult. Therefore the Judenrat often assumed responsibility for the postal system in many towns even before the ghettos were walled off.

To mail a letter, the sender would affix a stamp, the proceeds of which would go to the Deutsches Post Osten, not to the Judenrat. Then the letter would be dropped off at the Judenrat building in the small towns, or a at a designated post office building in the large cities. The mail was sorted, censored, and, if dropped off at the Judenrat, was brought to a building on the edge of the ghetto, which acted as the drop-off and collection point between the Judenrat and Deutsches Post Osten. Incoming mail was distributed by the Judenrat Post Osten.

Setting the Stage

Next we’ll look at cards from people who were from the Polish town of Grojec. The Nazis occupied the town on September 8, 1939. Grojec is a small town, 30 miles south of Warsaw and 60 miles east of Lodz, whose Jewish community dates back to 1754. In 1939, 5,200 Jews resided there. On September 12, 1939, all males between 15 and 55 were marched to Rawa Marzowiceka; many were shot along the way. In July 1940, the ghetto was formally organized for the remaining Grojec Jews, and 500 more moved to Lodz. Between February 23 and 24, 1941, 2,700 Jews were moved from Grojec to the Warsaw ghetto and eventually shared the same fate as the rest from the ghetto inhabitants. The remainder of the Grojec ghetto was liquidated in September 1942 and 300 of the remaining 500 Jews sent to Treblinka. The other 200 Jews were taken to the forest near Gora Kalwaria and shot.

Slobodski Lespunkt, a wood-cutting labor camp in the province of Krasnoborsk (on the White Sea) was a Russian forced-labor camp. The journey for Polish Jews to Archangel began with the Nazi invasion of Poland then annexed by the Soviet Union, the Russians tried to integrate the new refugees into the Soviet lifestyle, but many of the exiles refused to assimilate. Those who resisted and those who applied to leave the Soviet Union for the United States or Palestine were deported to labor camps in Siberia and Archangel.

Postal Cards

The first postal card (Fig. 1) is a Deutsches Reich 15 pfennig Hindenberg card, overprinted with 30 Groschen, Deutsches Post, Osten. These cards were used until early 1941 in the German-occupied General Government area of Poland. The card was cancelled with a Grojec circular date stamp (28 mm.), September 3, 1940, (the day after the date line). It was censored in Berlin with circled (20 mm) Ab and circular (27 mm.) OKW handstamps. Several Russian receiving marks indicate the routing on the Russian side: a Moscow circular date stamp (24.5 mm), September 25, 1940, then a district cds (24.5 mm). Petrakovskii Sel’ sovet, residence Slobvdskii Lesapunkt, -.10.40 (October x, 1940), with a slug in the day slot of the date. The total travel time appears to have been 37 days.

 

The card is written in Yiddishized Polish and reads:

Dear Rozia,
Your card that was sent on July 28 came to us. It caused us great joy (to know) that you are healthy. The news, however, that you are so far away upsets us. We are all together, living in the same house; we are all healthy. Regina doesn’t feel bad. Take care of your own health… dress warmly. If it were only possible to send you a package… I have the addresses of Josef, Flint, and others; write to them… they can send them more easily… but we will not return here. Well, Kopsz, the father of Pola, died, but don’t let her know. The Blums live in our yard by the window. Many changes have happened… I will manage…

This card was in response to the first communication between the family after a longer than normal period without communication, and deportation to the labor camp. The family seems well and together, with special mention to Regina (Rozia’s mother). The next concern is whether the mail and packages can be received and where the best place would be to send them. We also learn of the death of Pola’s father and the overcrowded conditions in the ghetto. Overcrowding in the ghettos of Poland was a way of life. In the Warsaw ghetto, the area measured 840 acres, and for a period of time around July 1942, 400-500,000 people were crowded into this space.

The second card (Fig. 2) followed the same routing as the first and is identical in markings except for the Ab handstamp. The card was dated October 24, 1940 in Grojec and received at Slobodski Lespunkt on November 22, 1940.

The card is written from a friend and addressed to Jorek:

Dear Jorek,
As I already wrote to you, I received two cards simultaneously from you a month ago. Prior to that, I could not write, as I didn’t know the address. At my place, we are all healthy: the little one is walking, and we are having lots of fun with him. At home we are all healthy. As of January 15, I will not be working; it will be hard to support myself. I have not received anything from Altern. As you know, I don’t go to Novomiejskii Street (in Warsaw) because there is no one to see there and there is no reason to go.
A lot has changed at my place since your departure. You can still write to the same address. Maybe I will change my address, and if that happens, I will certainly let you know. I am in Grojec once in a while. My parents received two cards from you at the same time. Ida Kulown begs you, if you already know the address of her husband, to write to him. Regardless of this card, I will write you a second card next week. Write me on what’s happening. Be well.
Eli

The card begins with family news about health and the baby and continues with the job situation: Eli (the letter writer) is going to lose his job on January 15 and it seems even the Altern, the head of the Judenrat, does not have access to jobs. Those who did have work were paid 2.5 to 5 Zlotys ($0.50 to $1.00) for a day’s work. The tone of the card leads us to believe that the writer moves fairly freely between Warsaw and Grojec, his home. The card itself, as indicated by the franking, was sent from Grojec. The Warsaw return address was scratched out and the Grojec address written in. The travel restrictions in and out of Warsaw were not strictly enforced until October 1941, when leaving the ghetto was punishable by death. Before this date some travel to Warsaw was permitted.

Our third card (Fig. 3) was written on General Government postal stationery and sent registered mail to assure its arrival. The card is cancelled with a Grojec date stamp (28 mm), February 21, 1941, and a registry label 005 Grojec. The additional postage to make up the registry rate (1 Zloty) is missing, but black light inspection and a mute cancel indicate that stamps were removed. This card also has a Berlin OKW circular (27 mm) handstamp and a Moscow circular date stamp (24.5 mm), March 4, 1941.

The message reads as follows:

Dear beloved child!
I am very upset because I have not received any letters from you in almost two months. I don’t know how to explain this. I suppose that you have received all my letters, but you know what a letter from you means to me. My only beloved child, don’t worry about me. I am well. We are moving to Warsaw. You will be able to write to the old address (and letters will be forwarded).
Lots of kisses.
Your mother,
Regina

Dear Rozia,
In 8 to 10 days we are moving to Warsaw. We are all well. You will certainly have received our letters as well as the clothes packages. The food packages were returned. Write a lot about what you are up to.
I greet you sincerely,
Fulek
Write to (this) address: B. Klopfisz, Zamenhofa St. 3

This very emotional note from mother to daughter was sent by registered mail to assure its arrival. The card says they are moving to Warsaw. We know that the move from Grojec to Warsaw took place February 23 or 24, 1941, two days after the card was posted (February 21, 1941). The return address, 69 Panska St., is located in the small ghetto. Fulek’s address, Zamenhofa Street, is located in the large ghetto across the bridge. Fulek also indicated that packages of clothes could be mailed, but food packages were returned.

As we see from the cards, returned packages caused families to worry. An interesting note of explanation may come from Emmanuel Ringelblum’s Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto: “During the month of September, packages for the Ghetto, received through mail, have been confiscated on several occasions. The excuse: smuggling.” Interestingly enough, Adam Czerniakow, head of the Warsaw Judenrat, in his diary, comments under September 1941, “The police appeared at the post office and requisitioned 6,000 parcels (food parcels sent from provinces).”

The Warsaw Judenrat and the Postal System

The postal system of the Warsaw ghetto, run by a committee of the Judenrat, had 94 employees; 64 were letter carriers who delivered the mail dropped off by the Deutsches Post Osten. The mail was received and sorted at the postal station on Krochmalna Street. Mail could be sent at two substations, one in the small ghetto on Ciepla Street and the other in the large ghetto on Zamenhofa Street. Outgoing mail processed in the ghetto received a censor cachet from the Judenrat censor. This marking is a small rectangular box in red, black, or violet, reading JUDENRAT WARSCHAU. Five varieties have been identified (see table and Figs. 4-5).

 

 

 

 

 

Type	Letter Case	Approx. Size	Color
1	all capitals	12 × 6 mm	red or black
2	all capitals	9 × 8 mm	red
3	initial capitals	11 × 6 mm	red
4	initial capitals	14 × 6 mm	black or purple
5	initial capitals	15 × 9 mm	red or purple

Source: Simon, Sam. 1973. Handbook of the Mail in the Concentration-Camps, 1933–1945, and Related Material: A Postal History. New York: Port Printed Products Corp., p. 114.

The ghetto postal system did not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of General Government stamps: all went to the General Government post office. The support for the postal system and other Judenrat activities came from the delivery of the mail. A rectangular handstamp (Fig. 6) including the date and R.Z. w.W. R.Z.w.W. stands for Rada Żydowska w Warszawie (Warsaw Jewish Council) and S.P.D.Z. on the second line stands for Skladnica Pocztowa Dzielnicy Zydowskiej (Postal Repository of the Jewish Quarter). A special handstamp (Fig. 7) with the delivery fee charge was applied to all incoming mail and packages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fees collected by the postman were as follows:

Letters and postcards, ordinary, inland	20 gr
Letters and postcards, ordinary, foreign	30 gr
Registered mail	30 gr
Special Delivery	50 gr
Ordinary inland packets	20 gr
Ordinary foreign packets	30 gr
Repacking of damaged packets	20 gr
Printed matter	10 gr

Postal Card

Our final card (Fig. 8) was written from Warsaw on General Government postal stationery and cancelled with a seven-line Warsaw machine cancel on April 14, 1942. It is censored with a small red rectangular (12.5 x 5.75 mm) Judenrat franking, plus a red machine OKW censor from Berlin, and the same three Russian receiving marks. The only legible date is Moscow, April 29, 1942.

The card reads

My beloved child!
I received your cards. I am ever so pleased that you received the package of clothes. I shall try to send that what you ask. Before that, I will write to you again. I am terribly happy that you are healthy and feel well. Don’t worry about me. I am well. Fulek is in Warsaw together with the Lipschitzs. I met with them and said that you are concerned about them. They promised that they would write. Mrs. Hirsz said that they sent what Joziek asked for. Have Israel’s sister write to all her acquaintances and ask for parcels. Fulek received tea from Juta Kac, from Harbin. So, have Israel’s sister also write to her. Don’t worry about anything, because everything is fine with us.
All my love,
Your mother,
Regina

Dear Rozia,
I will give you the address of our Pola, and ask you please to write to her, because I don’t have any news from her. An acquaintance of hers gave me her address. We are all well.
Warm regards,
Dora
Address: The Tomsk Railroad, Novosibirsk Province (South Central Siberia) Post Box 247/13, Solomonovskoe Pole to Khmel’niskaia

This card is on a happier note. It tells us that clothing packages have been received and that everyone seems well. The card mentions a number of people, including Mrs. Hirsz, Rozia’s mother-in-law, and Fulek, who added a note on the last card. It is noted that Fulek received tea from Juta Kac in Harbin. Harbin was a point of entry for refugees in Manchuria, an area occupied by the Axis partner, Japan. In the first correspondence, it was mentioned that Pola’s father died, and it was assumed that Pola was in the same camp as Rozia. Here we learn that Pola was deported to Siberia at the same time that Hirsz went to Archangel.

Mail to the U.S.S.R. was cut off June 22, 1941, when Germany declared war on Russia. We can only assume that our writers met the same fate as the other inhabitants of the Warsaw ghetto. A year after war with Russia was declared, in July 1942, the orderly life of the Warsaw ghetto was severely disrupted, and the rounding up of Jews for deportation to the camps was begun. Adam Czerniakow, the Altern Juden (Council Elder) committed suicide rather than cooperate with the Nazis in the deportations. By September 1942, 500,000 people had been shot or rounded up and deported.

On April 9, 1943 more deportations began, and the final phase of the Warsaw ghetto’s liquidation started. This was met by strong resistance on the part of those remaining in the ghetto, and the resulting Warsaw ghetto uprising lasted 6 weeks—two weeks longer than it took the Nazis to defeat the Polish Army. The rebellion ended in a house-to-house leveling of the entire ghetto. Those who survived were deported to Treblinka.

With these four cards we are given a small insight into the ghetto postal system established in occupied Poland. We also get a feeling of life in the ghetto—families divided, overcrowded quarters, unemployment, scarcity of food and delayed mail. Nevertheless, the mail was the only regular link between the ghetto and the outside world.

 

Bibliography

Encyclopedia Judaica, Jerusalem, 1968.

Fenigstein, Henry Dr., “The Warsaw Ghetto Postal Service.” The Holy Land Philatelist. Vol. VII, April-May 1961.

“German Postal Regulation for Jews Resident in GHETTOS.” (sic) The Holy Land Philatelist. Vol. VII, April-May 1961.

Hilberg, Raul, Stanislaw Staron, and Joseph Kermisz. (ed). The Warsaw Diary of Adam Czerniakow. New York: Stern and Day, 1982.

Stern, Jacob (ed). Notes From the Warsaw Ghetto: The Journal of Emmanuel Ringelblum. New York, Schocken Books, 1974.

Trunk, Isaiah, Judenrat. New York, Stern and Day, 1977.

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Dr. Peter Brown for translating the postal cards and to Alan Goodkind for his editorial help.