Letters from Oblivion: Auschwitz and Buchenwald.


 Mail, packages and money were welcomed by concentration camp prisoners at Auschwitz and Buchenwald, and a prisoner’s letters express gratitude along with a glimpse of life in the camps.

Henry Zguda, a Polish Catholic, spent three and a half years interned at Auschwitz and Buchenwald as a political prisoner. During a series of interviews held with Zguda in 2003, he shared his camp experiences, including a discussion of his camp letters. A study and translation of all his letters from both camps in combination with first-person interviews, offer an intriguing lens into prisoner mail, incoming packages and money practices in German concentration camps.


A postal station existed at every concentration camp, and each ran with surprising efficiency given the harsh conditions and intended short life span of all prisoners. Restrictions evolved as to who could send mail and what paper and envelopes could be used, especially in the first camps such as Dachau (1933). In the earlier years of Buchenwald a very few groups—primarily the privileged Dutch hostages—were permitted to receive packages from home in addition to letters. Camps subsequently developed standardized stationery that included pre-printed rules and limited the number of lines and space prisoners had to write.


The rules from Dachau, as the first camp, became the primary example. The stationery consisted of either a postcard or a single piece of paper that could be folded into a self-envelope. Small handwriting definitely ensured being able to send a longer message.


Jews and Soviet POWs occupied the lowest prisoner status in all camps and were rarely granted mail privileges. When Germans did grant mail privileges, especially for Jews, they weren’t being totally altruistic. The letters constituted a minor ruse for relatives that prisoners were merely at a “protective custody” camp and were treated better than they were. Camp commandants imposed varying rules on what had to be included or omitted. In Auschwitz, every letter had to include “I am healthy.” In Buchenwald, prisoners could never mention they were hungry. Then consider this phrase that appeared in the printed rules: “The sending of money is permitted.”


This Auschwitz prisoner photo of Henry Zguda was taken when he arrived at the camp in June 1942. Non-Jewish prisoners were identified by various colored triangles on their prison clothing. TOP: A postcard mailed by an Auschwitz inmate is marked as passed by a censor and typical of the mail traffic in and out of the extermination camp.


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