Postcards from Birkenau
Extent and Medium
folder
1
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum acquired the postcards from the House of Zion on June 30, 2004.
Scope and Content
The two postcards were written by inmates at Birkenau concentration camp. One postcard is addressed from Karl Reiner to Frieda Prokesch, and the other is addressed from Pauline Neuschul to Karl Masojodek. The postcards are evidence of the Briefaktion des RSHA (Juden), or "Operation Mail," initiated by the Nazi government in the summer of 1942 to deceive the world about the "Final Solution." Jews were forced to write postcards or letters home falsely stating that they were in good health and doing well.
Corporate Bodies
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, German.
- Concentration camp inmates' writings--Germany--Birkenau.
Genre
- Postcards.
- Document
This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.