The faded papers hint at stark details in the lives of Nazi concentration camp inmates. This undated photo shows the only recorded example of the censor mark of the International Military Tribunal.
Letters secretly carried by children through the sewers of Warsaw, Poland, during the 1944 uprising. A 1933 card from a Dachau camp commander outlining strict rules for prisoner mail. A 1943 letter from a young man, who spent time in Auschwitz, to his parents.
The more than 250 World War II postal documents — cards, letters and stamps — have been acquired by an Illinois foundation from a private collector and will soon be on permanent display in the Skokie-based Illinois Holocaust Museum.
Some of the exhibit is available online.
A 1943 letter from a young man, who spent time in Auschwitz, to his parents:
Dear Mom and Dad,
WORST SUMMER CAMP EVER!
Chuck – tasteless.
I know, I know.
But it had to be done.
Last year a person in Lawrence, KS received a letter addressed to their house with a stamp date of around 1945. Now that’s commitment.
So why did the IMT have to censor smuggled mail? Who exactly were they protecting, the Nazi, or the intended receivers? Ya know, the jewish movie moguls of Hollywood kept mum about these camps for years. I happen to believe it was the Military Industrial Complex that told them to. Not good for post war business to point fingers.
And here’s the post war business that Hollywood was helping to protect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip