Unused trilingual paid reply postcards for use by forced laborers from eastern Europe
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 8.250 inches (20.955 cm) | Width: 5.750 inches (14.605 cm)
Archival History
The postcard was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005.
Acquisition
Forms part of the Claims Conference International Holocaust Documentation Archive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This archive consists of documentation whose reproduction and/or acquisition was made possible with funding from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Unused reply paid postcards with instructions in German, Russian, and Ukrainian created for use by Ostarbeiters [Eastern workers], forced laborers from eastern Europe, mostly Russians and Ukrainians, forcibly recruited by the Germans to work in Nazi controlled territories. They were allowed to send two postcards a month, subject to censorship. Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union in the spring of 1941, and the need for forced labor to support the war effort and to keep the German economy functioning was an urgent necessity. Millions of forced laborers were deported from the Soviet Union to work in factories. They were housed in so-called residence camps which were often surrounded by barbed wire and staffed by SS guards. They were required to wear OST badges to keep them separate from the general population and to mark them as second class citizens. After the war ended in 1945, nearly 6 million eastern workers were repatriated to the Soviet Union where they often were discriminated against and accused of being traitors to their country.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Rectangular light brown paper sheet with 2 blank postcards printed in dark purple ink and joined at the creased center, made to be detached and used separately. On the front center of the top reply postcard is a vertical line. On the right is text in German, Ukrainian, and Russian and 3 blank lined rows for writing. In the top right corner is a printed rectangular postage stamp with an image of Hitler in right profile with German text below and the denomination 6 on either side. On the left is text in German, Ukrainian, and Russian and 16 blank lined rows. The reverse has German, Ukrainian, and Russian text in the top and left corner and 14 blank lined rows. The lower half of the sheet is for the initial outgoing postcard. On the front center is a vertical line. On the right top is text in German, Ukrainian, and Russian text and 6 blank lined rows. In the top right corner is a printed rectangular postage stamp with an image of Hitler in right profile with German text below and the denomination 6 on either side. On the left is text in German, Ukrainian, and Russian and 12 blank lined rows. The reverse has text in German, Ukrainian, and Russian text in the top and left corners and 14 blank lined rows.
Subjects
- East Europeans--Germany--History.
- Forced labor--Germany--History.
- World War, 1939-1945--Germany--Postal services.
- Foreign workers--Germany--History.
- World War, 1939-1945--Conscript labor--Germany.
Genre
- Information Forms
- Object