Hungarian Jews
were the last to be transported to the gas chambers of
Auschwitz-Birkenau. By the time these deportations began,
Jewish leaders were aware of their fate. To revive the
deception, Adolf Eichmann's deputy said they were being sent
to "Waldsee," a resort in southwestern Germany. Upon arrival
at Auschwitz, deportees were instructed to write post cards
telling relatives they had arrived safely and well. These
were returned to Hungary outside the mails by SS couriers,
and delivered to the Jewish Council, so they bear no postage
stamps or cancellations. next >>
Below: The
message on this May 31, 1944, prisoner's post card from the
Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp to Kolozsvar, Hungary (today
Cluj, Romania), reads, "1944 V/31 Am Waldsee. Dear Goske: I
arrived safely and am healthy. I hope next to be occupied
with my profession. You should write to Gabor, and also tell
me what your Aunt Treve wrote to you. Hopefully I will
write more next time. Kisses to you from Aladar." The
message is more detailed that was required or typical of
this mail. Circumspect references to others may have been
Dr. Aladar Barta's way to communicate more than the Nazis
wished to allow if, for example, these were deceased
relatives or would have had some other comparable meaning to
the recipient. The bilingual German-Hungarian handstamp
instructs the recipient to reply only by post card (30
words) written in German addressed to the Society of
Hungarian Jews at Budapest.
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