letter
Object numberM2007/039:002
Titleletter
DescriptionThis letter was sent to Heinz Jacobius (the donor) who was interned in Tatura from his parents in Halbe Germany. In the letter his mother writes that they have received all 20 of his letters. They write that they are well and that they have be in contact with his sister Lottchen (diminutive of Charlotte/Lotte). She writes that Uncle Wilhelm has died and this is particularly difficult for his Widow, Aunt Hertha as he passed in another country and she is without support.
His father writes a few short lines at the end. “We are living in great fear back here.”
The letters were sent via Baghdad and censored. It does not have a stamp because it is POW post and the parents knew the post deliverer. There are discrepancies between the dates in the letter and the envelope so it could be that they were not of the same posting. The envelope is marked being sent from Halbe 1.12.41 but the letter talks about receiving letters from October 1942. Heinz’s parents were sent to Treblinka where they were murdered.
Part of a collection of documents, photographs, letters and military memorabilia donated to the Sydney Jewish Museum by Heinz Jacobius (Henry James).
Heinz Jacobius was born in 1922 in Halbe, Germany, to Alexander and Pauline (nee Loewenstein) Jacobius. Alarmed by the news of the war and the persecution of the Jews, Heinz was sent to England. There he got caught in the internment of “enemy aliens”. Aged 18, he became one of the 1,750 Jewish refugees who were shipped on 10 July 1940 on the HMT Dunera from Liverpool to Australia - together with 800 other enemy aliens. The dangerous voyage took 57 days and left a lasting impression on the detainees. On arrival in Sydney on 6 September 1940, the detainees were incarcerated behind barbed wire in remote camps in Hay in New South Wales and Tatura in Victoria, guarded by friendly elderly armed Australian reservists, under the watchful eye of a Military Commandant. It was left to the new arrivals to organise camp life, which was filled with a rich program of cultural events and educational and vocational activities. Internees were gradually released, beginning in late 1940. Of the 2,542 Dunera passengers, two thirds made the decision to leave Australia. Almost half accepted the offer to return to England or to other countries that were open to new arrivals.
When given the opportunity to join the Australian military, Heinz enlisted on 8 April 1942 and served in the Citizen Military Forces employment companies until 5 July 1946; a total effective period of 1,549 days and all within Australia. Heinz remained in contact with his parents in Germany until early 1942 when his letters came back unopened and marked ‘Return to sender’. He later learned that his parents were murdered in Treblinka. He kept in contact with his uncle and aunt, Max and Margarete Loewenstein (Pauline's brother), and their son Hans-Joachim, who had immigrated to Australia in 1938 and had started a chicken farm called, ‘Loewenstein’s Chickens.’
His father writes a few short lines at the end. “We are living in great fear back here.”
The letters were sent via Baghdad and censored. It does not have a stamp because it is POW post and the parents knew the post deliverer. There are discrepancies between the dates in the letter and the envelope so it could be that they were not of the same posting. The envelope is marked being sent from Halbe 1.12.41 but the letter talks about receiving letters from October 1942. Heinz’s parents were sent to Treblinka where they were murdered.
Part of a collection of documents, photographs, letters and military memorabilia donated to the Sydney Jewish Museum by Heinz Jacobius (Henry James).
Heinz Jacobius was born in 1922 in Halbe, Germany, to Alexander and Pauline (nee Loewenstein) Jacobius. Alarmed by the news of the war and the persecution of the Jews, Heinz was sent to England. There he got caught in the internment of “enemy aliens”. Aged 18, he became one of the 1,750 Jewish refugees who were shipped on 10 July 1940 on the HMT Dunera from Liverpool to Australia - together with 800 other enemy aliens. The dangerous voyage took 57 days and left a lasting impression on the detainees. On arrival in Sydney on 6 September 1940, the detainees were incarcerated behind barbed wire in remote camps in Hay in New South Wales and Tatura in Victoria, guarded by friendly elderly armed Australian reservists, under the watchful eye of a Military Commandant. It was left to the new arrivals to organise camp life, which was filled with a rich program of cultural events and educational and vocational activities. Internees were gradually released, beginning in late 1940. Of the 2,542 Dunera passengers, two thirds made the decision to leave Australia. Almost half accepted the offer to return to England or to other countries that were open to new arrivals.
When given the opportunity to join the Australian military, Heinz enlisted on 8 April 1942 and served in the Citizen Military Forces employment companies until 5 July 1946; a total effective period of 1,549 days and all within Australia. Heinz remained in contact with his parents in Germany until early 1942 when his letters came back unopened and marked ‘Return to sender’. He later learned that his parents were murdered in Treblinka. He kept in contact with his uncle and aunt, Max and Margarete Loewenstein (Pauline's brother), and their son Hans-Joachim, who had immigrated to Australia in 1938 and had started a chicken farm called, ‘Loewenstein’s Chickens.’
Production placeMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Production date 1942-02-03
Object nameletters
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 210.00 mm
height: 290.00 mm
Language
- German My dear little Heinz!
So that you are reassured, I inform you, that we have received all your letters. Your card of 30.9 no. 16, also the letters that followed and now at last the letters of 18 and 25 of October 1942, no. 19 and 20. We have also already sent you as many letters by air-mail via Baghdad. Unfortunately, you have only received the one of April 1941. In any case, we have received all your 20 letters, without exception. We are well/healthy, dad works in a saw-mill in Köris (?). We received a few lines/a short message from Lottchen (diminutive of Charlotte/Lotte) via the Red Cross and immediately sent a reply. I went to see Aunt Hanna in January and we both wrote to you, adding regards/greetings for Eve. We had told you in that letter, that Uncle Wilhelm had died on 16 November. It is so sad, because he died in a foreign country and now Aunt Hertha is without any support/all on her own. We have not heard from her since. I simply cannot understand that Lottchen has not yet given her new address as the Kamnitzers (?). Mother Mayer (Meyer?) often writes. She is well and has a lot of work.
Ardent greeting and kisses, for you, my boy, your mother.
Regards to Eve, Ruth and husband
Dear Heini!
We are living in great fear back here. I wished we will be with you, Lottchen and Werner quite soon.
Ardent greetings,
Your Dad
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Henry James