Henry F. Kahn collection of Holocaust-era mail
The Henry F. Kahn collection of Holocaust-era mail primarily consists of envelopes, letters, postcards,
and philatelic materials Kahn collected between approximately 1945 and 1985. The materials document
mail systems in and around Holocaust-era ghettos and concentration camps and, by extension, the
survivors and victims who passed through them or perished in them. Kahn arranged the materials in
three annotated scrapbooks, providing context and history for the ghettos, camps, and mail systems.
Most of the materials date from the 1930s and 1940s while the reproductions and commentary date
from Kahn’s collecting period.
The “Concentration camp mail” scrapbook consists primarily of correspondence and envelopes documenting mail systems and prisoners at Buchenwald, Dachau, Oranienburg, and Sachsenhausen from 1934 to 1945. This series also includes a postcard sent from the donor's uncle, Ferdinand Kahn, at Dachau to the donor's grandmother, Hedwig Kahn; a Gestapo summons issued to Ferdinand Kahn; and a post-period picture postcard of Auschwitz. Additional Buchenwald, Oranienburg, and Sachsenhausen materials can be found in Series 2.
The “Ghetto and camp mail” scrapbook consists primarily of correspondence and envelopes documenting mail systems and prisoners in ghettos and camps in Germany, Poland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Czechoslovakia. This series also includes scrip from the Łódź ghetto and the camps at Buchenwald, Theresienstadt, and Westerbork; postal notes and postage stamps from the Warsaw ghetto; and a ration ticket, lunch ticket, and two medicine bottle labels from the Łódź ghetto. This series further includes a portion of an original letter signed by Otto Frank, two facsimiles of Anne Frank diary entries, and an Anne Frank memorial postage stamp. Additional Buchenwald, Oranienburg, and Sachsenhausen materials can be found in Series 1. Additional Warsaw ghetto and Theresienstadt materials can be found in Series 3.
The “Warsaw ghetto and Theresienstadt materials” scrapbook primarily consists of correspondence and envelopes documenting mail systems and prisoners in the Warsaw ghetto and Theresienstadt. This series also includes a photograph of Hedwig Kahn; copy prints and photocopied images of the Warsaw ghetto and its residents; a copy of a map of the Theresienstadt ghetto; identification cards, ration cards, and certificates documenting Emil Cohn's internment in Theresienstadt; tickets for recreational activities in Theresienstadt; and photocopies of Theresienstadt cremation lists. The donor dedicated these materials to the memory of his grandmother, Hedwig Kahn, who perished at Theresienstadt. Additional
Warsaw ghetto and Theresienstadt materials can be found in Series 2.
The fourth series consists of a single 1939 document of exclusion that was not included in the scrapbooks. This document was issued to Emil Cohn and barred him from German military participation. Additional Emil Cohn materials can be found in all three series above.
Printed materials include the November 8, 1938 copy of the Münchner Neuste Nachrichten and two1961-1962 clippings about the Eichmann trial.
The Red Cross letter is dated December 9, 1965 and addressed to Henry Kahn.
- Date
-
inclusive:
circa 1932-1985
- Genre/Form
-
Photographs.
Stamped envelopes.
Letters.
Envelopes.
- Extent
-
2 boxes
1 oversize folder
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Henry Kahn, in memory of his grandmother Hedwig Kahn, who like millions of others, had no memorial for her death during the Holocaust
-
Record last modified: 2023-06-01 14:28:21
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn77424
Also in Henry F. Kahn collection
The collection consists of an MS St Louis demitasse spoon, envelopes, letters, postcards, and philatelic materials collected between approximately 1945 and 1985 by Henry F. Kahn, who fled Nazi Germany in January 1939 for the United States.
Date: 1935-1985
Gilt-plated demitasse spoon embossed with the MS St Louis
Object
Gilded demitasse spoon with an engraved ship image and enamel company logo used prewar on the MS St. Louis. This German ocean liner has become a symbol of the world's, and especially the United States, indifference to the fate of Jews in a Europe dominated by Nazi Germany. On May 13, 1939, the ship left Hamburg, Germany, for Havana, Cuba, with 937 passengers, nearly all Jews fleeing Germany. In Havana, only 28 people were allowed to disembark. For a week, the ship remained in port, amid desperate negotiations with Cuban and US authorities. On June 2, it was forced to leave. It drifted for 5 days near the Florida coast until all pleas to the US were rejected, due to strict quota limits and isolationist sentiment. It docked in Antwerp, Belgium, on June 17. Jewish aid organizations had negotiated with European governments to admit the passengers rather than return them to Germany. All those admitted to the United Kingdom, 288, survived; nearly half of those admitted to Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, 278, survived; the rest perished.
