VIRTUAL JEWISH MUSEUM

Help German Jews.1933

Awareness of the predicament of European Jews came in stages. In 1933, with the first threats to Germany's Jews, their coreligionists attempted to address problems. Here is an invitation to a conference to help German Jews on the 3rd & 4th of December 1933. This 'First Lithuanian Conference' was held in Kaunas Lithuania/Poland.

Nazis Promote Emigration

Convinced that emigration to Palestine was the solution to 'The Jewish Problem', officials visited Palestine in 1934 making contacts and arrangements. The visit was written up in the Nazi newspaper 'Der Angriff' ('The Attack') entitled 'A Nazi Travels to Palestine'. This medal was issued to promote it. Thousands did emigrate but not enough to avoid the anti-Jewish laws that were soon implemented.

Evacuating Children to England

Following the anti-Jewish violence of Kristallnacht in Nov. 1938, some 10,000 children - infants to teenagers - were evacuated to England from Nazi-held Germany, Austria, & Czechoslovakia. They began arriving at the port of Harwich in Essex county. In Dovercourt Bay Camp they lived in small huts, ate in communal dining halls, and began to learn English. This envelope was sent there in April 1939.

Kindertransport I.D.

This is a photo of Lore Grossman's I.D. on the Kindertransport. She was brought from Vienna, Austria to safety in England. It was used in a film about the project.

Escape & rescue buttons.sympathy

Buttons had always been used for political elections but also for social action and causes. These buttons express the feelings of Jews in America and England who felt mostly unable to help but wanted to encourage support for the Jewish victims of Europe.

Escape & rescue buttons.Allies

Once the United States was in the war, there was much patriotism for the Allies to win. These buttons express support for the Allies against Germany, Italy, and Japan for fighting us. Notice the colorful and creative style. On the 'Let's Pull Together' button, Hitler's head pops up into the noose when the lever is pressed down.

Aid for Polish Jews labels

These labels from 1942 were mini receipts for small donations to help Polish Jewry. The funds went to the big help agencies, like Relico, Joint, and others who were engaged in relief and rescue works in Europe.

Escape & rescue.funds for Poles

These labels and receipt for the "United Council to Help the Jews of Poland, from the 1940's from Palestine show that there was awareness of their plight and efforts to help.

England.Jewish Relief

World Jewish Relief was formed in 1933 as a support group to German Jews under Nazi rule and played a major role in organizing the Kindertransport which rescued around 10,000 German and Austrian children from Nazi Germany. They remain a major relief organization in Britain today.

German Jewish relief pin

This button was manufactured in Massachusetts so likely was used to promote American relief efforts.

Youth Aliyah

Youth Aliyah sent its 1st group of young German Jews to Palestine in February 1934, to relieve distress and unemployment. During the war years they brought out nearly 10,000 (and by 1948 over 30,000) becoming a major instrument in rescuing Jews. Most were brought to kibbutzim & moshavim from 8 European countries. Programs were created incorporating study and work.

Youth Aliyah.message

60 youth arrived at Kibbutz Ain Harod in February of 1934. Werner Kleinart was one of them. "Dear Karl. Since you don't...write me I shouldn't write to you but I really would like to know what is going on...How was the report card?...Go to your desk and write at least 15 1/2 pages...Your friend Werner" Mailed 14 may 1934.

Swiss Refugee Labor Camps

Neighboring neutral Switzerland was a logical destination for escaping German Jews. But the Swiss refused to accept thousands who tried. This discrimination violated their long tradition of asylum and soon spread to other countries. No more than 25,000 were allowed in, largely supported by the AJDC. Many ended up in labor camps, like Bostetten, where conditions were difficult but not cruel. Most moved on after the war. The return address states 'labor camp'.

Swiss Refugee Labor Camps.back

Back of censored envelope from Bonstetten Labor camp. Years later there were accusations that the Swiss had violated Human Rights by turning the refugees into involuntary laborers.

Swiss internment.Estavayer le lac.back

Salomon Koen is a refugee from Yugoslavia. Somehow he made it to Switzerland and was interned in a refugee camp. As many as 120,000 refugees did the same.

Swiss internment.Estavayer le lac

The name/location of the camp was Estavayer-Le-Lac. From the camp seal we learn that it was a 'military internment camp'. The envelope is addressed to the Red Cross in Geneva.

Escape.Jewish childs day

Child Refuge.Switzerland

A bitter-sweet story. Young Nothmann writes from a children's home in Switzerland, to which he must have been sent for safety, to his father who is interned at Theresienstadt - a ghetto from which most inmates were shipped to Auschwitz. It was mailed from Heiden on 15 Nov 1943, underwent several censors, and appears to have arrived on 3 February 1944.

Child Refuge.Switzerland.message

"How are you. We are all well. We received report cards. My average is 1-2. I am not learning Gemara but every 2-3 weeks a Rabbi comes...and gives a lecture...Have you heard anything from Mama? I did not...Heartiest greetings and kisses..." A shattered family. Perhaps if this card survived so did the father?

Escape & rescue Switz.certificate Rosenberg.jpg

The Swiss allowed children under 16 who managed to sneak into the country to remain. Dr. Nettie Sutro persuaded the Swiss to protect some 10,000 children. Her organization SHEK placed many with families or in Children's homes. This recommendation will help Fritz Rosenberg find a job when he leaves. "Fritz...is most polite...earned the trust. Boss has...praise for his diligence and competence...G-d should guard him...he should be a good Jew."

Voyage of the St. Louis

930 Jews with paid passage, permits, & visas to enter Cuba sailed from Hamburg on May 13, 1939. When they arrived on May 27, all but 22 were denied entry. No country would offer asylum. Roosevelt ordered the Coast Guard to prevent anyone from landing. The German captain sailed back to Europe. Britain accepted some; hundreds found refuge in Holland, Belgium, and France but soon they came under Nazi rule and many perished. This sad story was made famous in the movie 'Voyage of the Damned.'

Voyage of the St. Louis.back

This postcard was mailed by a passenger on the St. Louis some years earlier in the 1930's, to New Jersey. The name of the ship shows clearly near the bow.

Shanghai China

Jews with the means and connections fled to Shanghai in 1939-40. Until 1941, when Germany attacked Russia, these refugees, & the mail sent to them, traveled by way of Siberia. Over 20,000 Jews reached this international seaport. With the outbreak of war in the Pacific, conditions deteriorated. Despite poor conditions, schools & yeshivas opened, books were published, Jewish life went on. This postcard clearly states "By Way of Siberia". It was censored in Germany & charged postage due in China.

Shanhai China.message

"We and all our loved ones are well. We hope all of you are well and that your expectations were satisfied, and perhaps exceeded." Mailed 0n 9 September 1940 from Berlin and arrived 11 October.

Kobe Japan

A port on Osaka Bay, Kobe had a small Jewish presence before WWII, with a Sephardic & Ashkenazic community. After the Nazis came to power, a stream of Jews escaped across Siberia to Japan & China, where they received aid from the local community & relief organizations. This envelope is from the stationary of the original Ashkenazic community.

Kobe Japan.back

From the back we see that the envelope traveled from Japan to San Francisco to Detroit. It arrived on March 14, 1941.

Kobe Japan .Jewkom

Jewkom was the cable address for the Jewish Committee for Assistance to Refugees in Kobe. They looked after the needs of 4600 refugees from Germany & Poland who escaped to Lithuania & received visas from Japanese consul Sempo Sugihara to pass through Kobe. The 2 week 'visit' of the visa stretched into 8 months. R' Askenazi operated in the forefront of humanitarian efforts.

Kobe Japan .Jewkom.message

R' Askenzai wrote on behalf of R' Chaikel Grynberg to R' Szcsedrowicki of Jewkom in May 1941. The message is 'Please help me obtain a visa to enter the U.S." (which was just about impossible). In the meantime he wanted to move from Shanghai to Kobe where he believed conditions were better but in fact soon everybody from Kobe was forced to transfer to Shanghai.

Escape & rescue.Kobe telegram Mir

Refugees to Kobe included some 650 Rabbis, students, and families of the Mirer Yeshiva. They were supported by the Joint Distribution Committee and the Vaad Hahatzalah. But the government wanted them to move on. This telegram from Kobe Jewish authorities to Agudas Horabonim in NY asks for immigration certificates to Canada since the US was tightening up. 20 Rabbis are listed, many future personalities of Mir Yeshiva. They transferred to Brooklyn NY after the war.

Sosua Dominican Republic

At the Evian (France) Conference on refugees in 1938, the Dominican Republic offered to accept up to 100,000 refugees, one of the few countries open to mass Jewish immigration. Sosua was designated & freedoms & incentives given. Despite optimism and support from the AJDC, the project did not succeed. Travel was difficult & few were suited for the agricultural development which had been envisioned. While some 5,000 visas were issued, only 700 passed through. By 1968 only 150 Jews remained.

Sosua Dominican Republic.back

Mailed from Sosua Dominicann Republic on 23 March 1949 to Bridgeport Commecticut.

Chile Protection of Jews

Jewish life in Chile was originally secret and unrecognized, from the Spanish conquest until 1865. Communal organizations developed in the early 1900's. Thousands of German Jews entered the country in the 1930's and HICEM established the Committee to protect them. 879 arrived after the war broke out. They were sent to the south, an area of difficult climate and economic conditions.

Chile Protection of Jews

Notice that the envelope has been censored. Mailed from Sao Paulo Brazil 22 Feb 1945 arrived Santiago Chile 1 March 1945.

Escape & Rescue Telegram Mazur A

Germany attacked Poland on Sept 1 1939 beginning WWII. Warsaw surrendered on Sept 25 and a wave of riots & murder followed. Exit routes were blocked and Jewish emigration forbidden. By the end of November badges, restrictions, & forced labor had all been decreed. Elias Mazur managed to get to the Romanian border. This telegram, sent from Bucharest to Tel Aviv asks for funds to help smuggle him out. It must have worked. We later find him in the first Knesset, a delegate of Agudat Yisrael.

Escape & Rescue Telegram Mazur B

Mazur got out and now is helping others. Here HE sends a telegram from Italy to Tel Aviv. In the early stages of the war, having a ticket and a destination meant survival. But money was an issue. "Need buy for your family tickets South America otherwise must return to Poland send by cable 500 pounds...very urgent Mazur".

Teheran Children Reach Palestine

The families of the 'Teheran Children' fled east from Poland to the Soviet Zone when the war broke out. They were moved around, reaching Teheran, Iran in 1942. The British admitted the children to Palestine in 1943. Youth Aliyah, headed by Henrietta Szold facilitated their absorption. This letter to Szold in April 1943 confirms that the Yeshiva school network was planning to care for and educate a number of these children.

Swedish Hospitality

Although Sweden did not open its gates freely to those fleeing Nazis, 2-3000 Jews were getting in. And they admitted 500 Jewish children, without their parents. Sweden's Jews established several relief committees. In 1943 the Jewish Agency persuaded Sweden to do more, highlighted by the famous rescue of 8000 Danish Jews ferried across the sound from Denmark to Sweden in October 1943.

Swedish Hospitality.message

Mailed from Stockholm Sweden 21 April 1941 arriving in London 29 July . Agnes Krillberg writes to her friend Hannah Bowman: "I have found a dear friend in an emigrant lady who lives with me since more than a year". This indicates that she has taken in a refugee woman.

U.S. Lobbying & Publicity

The Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe was established by the Bergson Group, Zionist Revisionists who were active in the US between 1940 - 48. Since the U.S. government was keeping the fate of Jews confidential, they used unconventional (for those days) means to raise public awareness & government action. Ads in the NY Times, Rabbis March on Washington in Oct 1943, a million signature petition, etc.

US Lobbying & Publicity. Szyk Labels

The Bergson Group was led by Peter Bergson, who changed his name from Hillel Kook so as not to embarrass his famous Rabbinic uncle. One accomplishment of the group was the formation of a 'War Refugee Board' which did bring over 900 Jews from Ferramontini Camp in Italy to Oswego. These fund-raising labels were designed by Arthur Szyk, himself a refugee from Nazis. The Group's actions were controversial, and remained obscure until recently.

Safe in the US. Oswego Internment

The US finally admitted 982 refugees - in August 1944. The plan was to shelter refugees who would return to Europe after the war. It was a token act by President Roosevelt, in the midst of a re-election campaign. This 'Emergency Refugee Shelter' was an abandoned army camp called Ft. Ontario. It was cold, no indoor plumbing, & refugees could not leave the camp. Internees organized a kosher kitchen, synagogue, & school. Upon release in Feb 1946, those who wished were permitted to stay. Nov 44.

S.S. Pentcho.Escape frustrated

Betar bought the SS Pentcho to help Czech Jews escape to Palestine. 407 passengers sailed on May16 1940 &100 more released from Buchenwald boarded in Yugoslavia. After numerous delays and food shortages, the ship broke down. The Italians rescued them and interned them on the Island of Rhodes in Camp Stadio, a tent camp set up near a stadium. In March 1942 they were transferred to Camp Ferramontini. Most emigrated to Palestine in June of 1944.

S.S. Pentcho.Escape frustrated

Mailed 18 July 1942 from Budapest to Rhodes. Notice that the address includes 'Campo Conzentramento', although the passengers organized kitchens, and had classed in Italian, Hebrew, Talmud, Bible. "We received your card and are enjoying your constant writing to us and also that you are well.".

Collective Passport Saves Hungarians

Carl Lutz, a Swiss diplomat, arrived in Budapest in 1942 to represent interests of various countries. He facilitated the emigration of thousands of children. He created 'Collective Passports' that included 1000 families each and persuaded Nazi officials to tolerate his formal protection of Jews. Lutz instructed Raoul Wallenberg & other diplomats how to get these documents honored. "The Swiss Legation ..hereby certifies that Bohm Kalman is entered for immigration in a Swiss collective passport".

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Collective Passport.Fake?

Lutz's collective passports were faked by the thousands in a desperate attempt to save more people. This form is an obvious copy , in black & white, with fuzzy and faint lettering. But the reverse bears an endorsement "this copy is in accordance with the original. The fee has been paid." And it is signed by the 'Royal Officer'. The fact that it survived suggests that the holder did too!

Escape & rescue.collective passport back

"I hereby declare that this copy is genuine in accordance of Mrs. Laszlo Rotschild with text of the document. It is issued in Budapest 1944 November 9. Fee charged 5.40 Pengo" (signature). Royal Officer

Escape & rescue.Kastner train Postcard

From May - July of 1944 Nazis were deporting 437,000 Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz, most of whom were murdered. Lawyer Rudolf Kastner negotiated with Adolph Eichmann for the rescue of a trainload of Jews in exchange for gold, diamonds & cash. After a journey of several weeks, including a diversion to Bergen-Belsen Concentration camp, the train of 35 cattle cars holding 1670 Jews arrived in Switzerland in August & December 1944.

Escape & rescue.Kastner train.PC back

This postcard was mailed in Switzerland from Geneva to Caux where the Kastner Train survivors were housed in former hotels. Kastner emigrated to Palestine in 1947. He was later accused of collaboration with Nazis and of protecting his family at the expense of others. Margit Sternberg was one of those rescued on that train.

Kastner Train Survivor in Israel

Margit Sternberg arrived on the Kastner train by Dec 1944. She was still there in June 1945 but must have soon made it to Palestine. This letter to her at her new Haifa address explains the origin of relief funds that she benefited from. No doubt she wanted to thank, and perhaps repay her. This agent comments "I am glad that you are okay and escaped from the Nazi hell". Feb 1946.

Escape & rescue.Parachutists

It took the British 3 years to approve sending Jewish volunteers behind Nazi lines to support partisans, facilitate escapes, & distribute equipment. 32 parachuted in, all but 7 survived. Some were going back to where they themselves had escaped from as they tried to rescue Hungarian Jews from deportation! These 7 were caught, tortured and executed. Most famous was Hanna Senesh (Szenes). She is remembered for her heroism and poetry.

Escape & rescue.Parachutists

Joint Distribution Committee

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee spent nearly $80 million between 1939 - 45 on relief and rescue schemes in Europe. It alleviated poor ghetto conditions, parachuted money for the Jewish underground in Poland, sent funds to European countries and Shanghai, rescued 2 trainloads of Hungarian Jews, and helped rescue 81,000 Jews from France Spain Portugal and the Balkans. The JDC was the main way that American Jews helped European Jews during the holocaust.

Joint Distribution Committee.Lisbon

During the holocaust the JDC managed its European activities from its office in neutral Lisbon. Supporting orphanages, hospitals, public kitchens, schools, theatres, etc. it also helped refugees obtain false I.D. papers and cross international borders, and supplied funds to neutral diplomats like Raoul Wallenberg to aid Jews. This envelope went from the Lisbon office to the New York office.

Escape & Rescue.Lisbon box 506

E. Mayer in Hungary writes to family member Joseph Mayer care of Post Box 506 in Lisbon Portugal. To facilitate mail between German controlled territories and Allied areas the famous Thomas Cook travel agency operated an undercover mail drop, with the participation of the British. It was used by many underground groups. The mail was forwarded to the London office and then to the final destination. Originally a POB in Amsterdam had been used until Germany conquered Amsterdam in May of 1940.

Escape & rescue.Lisbon box 506 back

The Hungarian postmark is hard to read but the return address says 'Mor' Hungary. On the back is another one, dated 1 September 1941. We also see Hungarian and British censor tapes showing the double censorship of wartime.

Escape & rescue.Lisbon box 506 directions

This note was put into incoming mail by the British authorities in Palestine to explain how mail must be sent to enemy territory: Either a) by way of the International Red Cross in Geneva, using their designated forms or b) by way of POB 506 in Lisbon Portugal, which had its own regulations, published in the local newspapers.

Escape & rescue.trapped and deperate

Emil Bier 72 & Laura 65 write from Cologne: Please make an effort to arrange our migration ...Please send us 2 packages of food.. Conditions were deteriorating rapidly. Help did not come in time. Yad Vashem records this couple as deported and murdered in Treblinka in September 1942.

Portugal packages

Mailed from Belgium on 26 September 1941 to Cleveland Ohio to people with the same last name. The Nazis applied their policies toward Jews in Belgium as soon as they overran the country. Many thousands were deported and most of those perished. "We didn't hear from you for a long time...G-d should help us that we should see you soon in good circumstances. ..Here people are getting packages through a committee in Portugal. You would do us a great favor if you could help us."

Portugal packages.message

"Please send us tea and coffee..."

Lisbon package to Birkenau

The Joint set up offices in Portugal and Switzerland. From there, aid was sent to Ghettos and camps. This pre-printed export form for canned fish is addressed to inmate Vilma Kohn in Birkenau (next to Auschwitz). Jews were murdered in Birkenau so it's not clear if they benefited from these packages.

Gentile Arranges Care Packages

Sometimes decent people can make a difference. Lt. Philipe Schwob, a French gentile, is being held by the Germans in an Oflag - an officer POW camp. He writes to a friend in Switzerland asking for help for Jews. Mailed at Oflag XC July 10 1944 to Berne Switzerland.

Gentile Arranges Care Packages

"...I'd like to ask you for a favor...Wives and young children of French Jewish POWs..have been transported to ... Bergen Belsen..In France they could receive packages..(now) they receive nothing. Reminding myself of your activity on behalf of French POWs, your customary goodness...You might ..find a way to have them supplied (200 women...400 children)...thanks in advance for all that you may be able to do."

RELICO Relief Organization

The "Relief Committee for the War Stricken Jewish Population (Relico) was established in Geneva by Dr. A Silberschein to aid Jews in Poland. In 1940 it enabled Jews in concentration camps to emigrate to Bolivia, Palestine, Shanghai, Kobe, and Dutch colonies. It conveyed information, transferred money, visas, letters and delivered parcels of food medicine and clothing. Parcels originated in Portugal & contained a receipt card which was to be mailed to Geneva. Shaya Gold mailed his from Sanok.

RELICO Relief Organization.message

Shaya Gold acknowledges receipt of 1 necessities package. Dated 25 February 1942. Notice that this is card number 62,170 ! The 5000 Jews of Sanok were deported that year and all but a few hundred were murdered in Belzec.

Care Packages from Sweden

Towards the end of the war, Swedish members of the World Jewish Congress sent food parcels to Jews in concentration camps, mostly to Bergen Belsen. A storehouse was set up in Goteborg and parcels were shipped through the Swedish Red Cross. The Germans distributed only a small portion of the food; most of it was discovered by liberating forces.

Care Packages from Sweden

"Per your request, 2 packages have been sent to M. Posen & N. Freudiger. They must confirm when the package has arrived." Mailed in Stockholm 28 December 1944.

Escape & rescue.Schindler's list

Oskar Schindler, a German with a checkered past, took over an enamelware factory in Krakow, Poland - later an armaments factory for the Germans. He kept 500 Jews working for him regardless of their actual productivity, safe from deportation. He provided housing food & medical care from his own pocket. Later, he saved an additional 700 workers, even rescuing their womenfolk from Auschwitz. 'Schindler's List' above, enumerates the hundreds of workers who were saved. Many attended his funeral.

Escape & rescue.Schindler survivor

Salomon Urbach was saved by Schindler. He was number 570 on the list. In 1994 he wrote this postcard outlining the facts of his experience. "Started work at Schindler's factory September 1942." It appears he was eventually interned in camps until liberated by the Russian army. He lost his whole family to the Nazis.

Saved by Gentiles

One of the first tasks of Yad Vashem, Israel's national memorial to the Holocaust, was to honor 'The Righteous Among the Nations" - those non-Jews who had risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. After a process of nomination and verification, these individuals are brought to Israel for a ceremony & awarded a medal as seen here. The stories of rescue are published in a multi-volume encyclopedia. Nearly 25,000 people have been honored, largely from Poland and the Netherlands.

Saved by Gentiles.reverse

Wladislw & Helena Krolikiewicz and family saved Renya Zaks and Franka Kenigsztajn who had been deported, escaped, and needed to hide. The Krolikiewiczes hid, fed, & clothed them until liberation. They were honored by Yad VaShem on 20 Nov 1986. They received this exact medal with their names engraved on it. The reverse shows the well-known line from the Talmud (Sanhedrin 37a): "Whoever saves one life, it is as if he saved an entire world".

Belgium.Gratitude to Catholics

This medal was given to Belgian Christians who hid Jewish children during the war. It was designed by Idel Ianchelevici , a Russian born Jewish sculptor in Belgium. The design shows 2 seagulls with outstretched wings supporting a third one that is injured and crying out, as they fly over a barren landscape. The reverse of the medal has the inscription.

Belgium.Gratitude to Catholics.back

The Belgian Catholic Church played an important role in the defense of Jews. About 3000 Jews were hidden in Belgian convents during the Nazi occupation. 48 Belgian nuns have been honored as Righteous among the Nations. Many Belgian convents and monasteries sheltered Jewish children, pretending that they were Christian. Fr Joseph Andre of Namur found shelter for around 100 children, returning them to Jewish community leaders after the war. The inscription reads "Gratitude of the Jews of Belgium.

Partisan Resistance

20-30 thousand Jews escaped to the forests where they formed fighting groups - the Jewish partisans. Escape was dangerous, leaving family, survival in the weather, food, fear of discovery. They organized raids, destroyed trains, communications, & rescued some from ghettos. Children & women fought too. Perez Padison was a trained officer. in the Kovno ghetto he organized resistance. They joined partisans in the forest. He survived and made Aliyah. He received this medal 'Partisan of Belarus'.

Tehran.JDC aid

In addition to the relief efforts in Europe the JDC (Joint Distribution Committee) sent thousands of relief packages to Russia. This card, sent from Bukhara to Tehran, was censored by the 'Anglo-Soviet-Persian' censor, as these powers were cooperating with one another at the time. Datelined 8 March 1945, it didn't get posted until the 23rd.

Teheran.JDC thank you card

The card is written in Yiddish to 'American Jewish Committee' (but he meant the Joint). "The package # 234 I have received for which I am very thankful." He signed 'Yozef Dolinsky'

US Jewish Soldiers

550,000 Jewish men and women served in the US armed forces in WWII. Many fought and died in Europe but there was no opening of ghettos or disbanding of concentration camps. Those events could only happen after the Germans were defeated. Thus their main contribution to relieving Jewish suffering under the Nazis was by bringing the war to an end. Above, 1st Lieutenant Schwartzman writes to Private 1st class Horowitz, both apparently stationed on the west coast.