Object numberM2018/020:005
DescriptionPostcard from Hilde Ehrlich, Germany, to her husband Paul in Shanghai, 9 February 1940. The postcard features a photograph of a steam train hand-inscribed with her words "Ich Komme" (I am coming; I shall arrive). The postcard bears a stamp of the ‘Kriegs WHW’ (Winter Relief of the German People).
Hilde writes, "...Now the time has arrived and I believe 99% for sure that the trip ...will go ahead on the 20th this month to Shanghai...Hopefully the trip is not too strenuous. If all goes well I’ll be there as quickly as this card".
On the eve of Kristallnacht, SS officers arrested Paul Ehrlich and deported him to a concentration camp. Paul’s sister and family crossed the border into Holland and managed to organize him travel papers for Shanghai. He was given two weeks to leave Germany. Paul left for Shanghai while Hilde tried to get their children out of Germany, approaching different organizations. In early 1939 a friend who worked in the German Jewish Welfare in Berlin, told her that the Australian Jewish Welfare Society were willing to accept 17 Jewish children. Hilde applied for her daughters, 10-year-old Ingrid and nine-year-old Marion; they found refuge in Australia on the Kindertransport. Hilde joined her husband in Shanghai soon after. The family were eventually reunited in Australia in 1946, after seven years of separation.
Hilde writes, "...Now the time has arrived and I believe 99% for sure that the trip ...will go ahead on the 20th this month to Shanghai...Hopefully the trip is not too strenuous. If all goes well I’ll be there as quickly as this card".
On the eve of Kristallnacht, SS officers arrested Paul Ehrlich and deported him to a concentration camp. Paul’s sister and family crossed the border into Holland and managed to organize him travel papers for Shanghai. He was given two weeks to leave Germany. Paul left for Shanghai while Hilde tried to get their children out of Germany, approaching different organizations. In early 1939 a friend who worked in the German Jewish Welfare in Berlin, told her that the Australian Jewish Welfare Society were willing to accept 17 Jewish children. Hilde applied for her daughters, 10-year-old Ingrid and nine-year-old Marion; they found refuge in Australia on the Kindertransport. Hilde joined her husband in Shanghai soon after. The family were eventually reunited in Australia in 1946, after seven years of separation.
Production date 1940-02-09 - 1940-02-09
Object namepostcards
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 140.00 mm
height: 90.00 mm
Language
- German Front has the handwritten words "Ich Komme" (I come; I am coming; I shall arrive). The only other legible word for the translator on the front is "immigrate".
Back:
To: Paul Ehrlich Shanghai.
My …? little fellows, For a long time I have kept this card together with all important documents. Now the time has arrived and I believe 99% for sure that the trip from …..? will go ahead on the 20th this month to (?) Shanghai. Now sitting (?) in town with coffee and cake. Daily I …..? and am……… settle down. Hopefully the trip is not too strenuous. If all goes well I’ll be there as quickly as this card……….? Your ……Hilde
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Ingrid Naumburger