Post Card from Auschwitz
Auschwitz, the largest and most notorious concentration camps, was established by the Nazis during the Second World War. The name alone is synonymous with genocide and extermination. Located near the town of Oswiecim, Poland, it grew into a vast complex of 3 main camps and over 70 sub camps.
From the camp’s establishment in May 1940 to January 1945, when most surviving Auschwitz prisoners were marched off by their German captors and Soviet troops liberated the camp, approximately 405,000 prisoners of both sexes, from nearly every European country were registered, assigned serial numbers, and incarcerated there. Almost 1.5 million people lost their lives at the camp.
Auschwitz 1 was “primarily a concentration camp serving a penal function”: it housed political prisoners, Poles, homosexuals, and a few Jews. The forced labor camp of the Auschwitz complex, it held between 13 to 16 thousand prisoners at any one time. In barrack 10, doctors conducted pseudo-scientific research on infants, twins, and dwarfs, and performed forced sterilizations, castrations, and hypothermia experiments.
Auschwitz 2, or Birkenau, contained the gas chambers and the crematorium. From spring 1942 until fall 1944, the operation designated to annihilate European Jews functioned almost without ceasing as transport trains delivered Jews from Nazi-occupied countries. This is the camp where most of the Jews were sent. The camp held up to 100,000 prisoners at one time and had 4 gas chambers and a crematorium to dispose of the bodies. An estimated 1 million to 1.5 million Jews were sent to their death here.
Auschwitz 3, called Monowitz or Buna, was a forced-labor camp set up in the spring of 1942 for IG Farben Chemical Works which produced synthetic rubber and liquid fuel. They used slave labor, paying the Nazis for the use of these prisoners to produce their products.
Within Birkenau, the administrative offices operated and ran the camp. They were the heart of the camp administration, controlling all aspects of the camp and its functions. The offices were divided into 6 administrative divisions:
- Section I: Kommandantur (Commanders office)
- Section II: Politische Abteilung (Political Section)
- Section III: Schutzhaftlagerfuehrung (Work Administration)
- Section IIIa: Arbeitseinsatz (Work Allocation)
- Section IV: Verwaltung (Administration for food and clothing)
- Section V: Standortarzt (Medical Care)
- Section VI: Truppenbetreuung (Training of the SS)
Section II the Politische Abteilung, played a significant part in the operation of Auschwitz…..It functioned as the representative of the RSHA in camp. It could independently decide the fate of inmates and was only required to inform the commandant accordingly. Section II had branches in all of the satellite camps of Auschwitz.
A peculiarity existed in the Politische Abteilung–as the camp’s Gestapo was called–where German speaking Jewish women where employed as secretaries. They enjoyed better living conditions than the other inmates because the SS saw to it that the inmates with whom they had daily contact had more hygienic surroundings… It is assumed that the SS preferred using Jewish women as secretaries because they mastered languages and would never see freedom again, and thus would not be able to divulge any secrets.
The functions of Section II were as follows: maintaining the card file and personal dossiers of all prisoners, corresponding with the RSHA and the various Gestapos and Kripo offices responsible for sending prisoners to Auschwitz, receiving prisoner transports, maintaining camp security, combating any resistance movements among prisoners, interrogating prisoners, keeping the civil registry and administering the crematoria.
The Politische Abteilung employed roughly 80 to 90 women, all with some work background and clerical experience. They were chosen by the officers in charge of the unit, sometimes at random, but in some cases they were given proficiency tests. The ability to speak German and clerical skills were also helpful in being picked for the position. They came mostly from Slovakia, but some were from all over Europe. Their life was brutal but a fraction better than that of the other inmates. The one advantage is they survived the war, while many of their relatives and friends did not. One interesting aspect of their existence in Birkenau they were permitted to write and receive mail.
Else Grun, who sent the postal card below, commented in Secretaries of Death about their work in the Politische Abteilung:
We had to write death lists which contained names, birth dates, birth places and causes of death. Many of the letters were not to be believed. For instance, quite frequently the cause of death for a little girl was given as “weakness due to old age …we also wrote letters of condolence to the next of kin of Aryan prisoners who had died in camp. I had to check every word; the smallest unnoticed mistake was considered sabotage.
In addition, I had to answer the various letters from Krippo officers pertaining to “Aryan” prisoners. I had to correct the letters my boss dictated since he had no idea of correspondence… Frequently, he threw them back at me, screaming “Shit!” at he top of his voice, without offering any guidance as to how to amend them.
Auschwitz grew and so did the Politische Abteilung, and as it grew, more women were employed, among them the sisters of prisoners already working there.”
We also obtained permission to write to our relatives who were still at home. At first we were reluctant to communicate, fearing that this was a trick to discover the addresses of family members still at large in order to deport them as well. But we had to comply. We attempted to warn our relatives in an unobtrusive way, for example, telling them to join long deceased persons rather than come to us. We did receive replies from our relative, but we noticed they often misunderstood our letters.
Many of the women of the Politische Abteilung survived the war and went on to make lives for themselves in other countries.
Figure 1 shows the front side of the postcard sent from Birkenau to Bratislava, Slovakia. The postcard was written by Else Gruen and send to Hanna Kochova. It was sent without a stamp in departmental mailbag #77. The return address is Arbeitslager Birkenau.
The reverse side of the postcard (Fig. 2) shows the message. The translation is as follows:
Dearest loved ones,
Can only write one card this time, it is for everyone. Received latest letter on 10.3, hopefully more will come with general delivery mail. Received packages from Laci, 3, from Ehrental, 2 with Portuguese sardines, and you, 2. A thousand thanks to you. I wrote last in October, and await already with anticipation your mail!
Am healthy, and think constantly about parents and you. Hugs all around and love, Else.
(other names on card): Ida, Irene, Regina, Renee and Edith
Many Kisses and Greetings, from Alice