Postcard sent to Salomon Itzkowic from his wife Esther
Object numberM2002/019:001
TitlePostcard sent to Salomon Itzkowic from his wife Esther
DescriptionPostcard from Esther Itzkowic, Antwerp to her husband Salomon Itzkowic in an internment camp in Argelès-sur-Mer, Southern France, 13 August 1940, sent through the Belgium Red Cross. This is the first letter in a collection of correspondence written by Salomon's wife and three children. The letters become increasingly desperate over time.
In this postcard, Esther informs her husband that she and the children are in good health and have enough money. She writes that the eldest children are doing well in school and that Arthur, their youngest child, has been walking for the last two months. (Salomon was separated from his family before Arthur was born).
Salomon Itzkowic was born in Wietrzychowice near Tarnow, southern Poland, on 1 March 1901. His mother died when he was young and he was looked after by an older sister. He went to Cheder until his barmitzvah and had no other formal education. Pogroms in the Krakow province in 1919 was possibly the reason he left Poland with his brother Nuta (Nathan) and went to Germany in 1922. In 1928 he married Esther Goldberg (born 21 October 1903 in Czechow, Poland). Nazi Germany pursued an aggressive policy of forced emigration for Jews, and Salomon and Esther and their two sons Achim (born 1929 in Berlin) and Berthold (born 1932 in Berlin) left in July 1938 for Belgium. Esther was pregnant at the time; Arthur was born in Antwerp in 1939.
In May 1940 the Nazis invaded Belgium, Salomon was arrested by Belgian authorities as he was a Jew of German nationality, and taken to a camp at St Cyprien in the south of France. After six months the disease-ridden camp was closed and he was moved to the camp at Argeles-sur-Mer. He was deported leaving Esther was alone with the boys, then aged 11, eight and one. Esther and the three children were deported from Malines to Auschwitz on 10 October 1942. Salomon never met his third child and he never saw his wife and children again.
In August 1942 Salomon escaped from the camp and with the help of a smuggler crossed the Pyrenees into Spain; from Madrid he went to Gibraltar and boarded a ship to England, arriving on 6 May 1943. In April 1946, Salomon made urgent requests to tracing services about the whereabouts of his wife and children, in the hope that they survived. Records indicated that Esther survived Auschwitz and was sent to Flossenburg (arriving 2 December 1944), and was then transferred to Mehltheuer subcamp. After receiving notification from the London Beth Din that he should be regarded as a widower, Salomon married Antonia Pressburger (born Vienna 1921), in St John's Wood Synagogue on 2 June 1946. They had a son, David, and eventually migrated to Australia in November 1948.
When Salomon died in 1981, David found letters in a wallet that his father had received between August and December 1940 from Esther and the boys. He donated them to the Sydney Jewish Museum. Salomon had never told David about Esther and the boys. The letters describe the heart-breaking difficulties Esther had with the children, her loneliness and desperation and details of attempts to arrange Salomon's return, without success.
In this postcard, Esther informs her husband that she and the children are in good health and have enough money. She writes that the eldest children are doing well in school and that Arthur, their youngest child, has been walking for the last two months. (Salomon was separated from his family before Arthur was born).
Salomon Itzkowic was born in Wietrzychowice near Tarnow, southern Poland, on 1 March 1901. His mother died when he was young and he was looked after by an older sister. He went to Cheder until his barmitzvah and had no other formal education. Pogroms in the Krakow province in 1919 was possibly the reason he left Poland with his brother Nuta (Nathan) and went to Germany in 1922. In 1928 he married Esther Goldberg (born 21 October 1903 in Czechow, Poland). Nazi Germany pursued an aggressive policy of forced emigration for Jews, and Salomon and Esther and their two sons Achim (born 1929 in Berlin) and Berthold (born 1932 in Berlin) left in July 1938 for Belgium. Esther was pregnant at the time; Arthur was born in Antwerp in 1939.
In May 1940 the Nazis invaded Belgium, Salomon was arrested by Belgian authorities as he was a Jew of German nationality, and taken to a camp at St Cyprien in the south of France. After six months the disease-ridden camp was closed and he was moved to the camp at Argeles-sur-Mer. He was deported leaving Esther was alone with the boys, then aged 11, eight and one. Esther and the three children were deported from Malines to Auschwitz on 10 October 1942. Salomon never met his third child and he never saw his wife and children again.
In August 1942 Salomon escaped from the camp and with the help of a smuggler crossed the Pyrenees into Spain; from Madrid he went to Gibraltar and boarded a ship to England, arriving on 6 May 1943. In April 1946, Salomon made urgent requests to tracing services about the whereabouts of his wife and children, in the hope that they survived. Records indicated that Esther survived Auschwitz and was sent to Flossenburg (arriving 2 December 1944), and was then transferred to Mehltheuer subcamp. After receiving notification from the London Beth Din that he should be regarded as a widower, Salomon married Antonia Pressburger (born Vienna 1921), in St John's Wood Synagogue on 2 June 1946. They had a son, David, and eventually migrated to Australia in November 1948.
When Salomon died in 1981, David found letters in a wallet that his father had received between August and December 1940 from Esther and the boys. He donated them to the Sydney Jewish Museum. Salomon had never told David about Esther and the boys. The letters describe the heart-breaking difficulties Esther had with the children, her loneliness and desperation and details of attempts to arrange Salomon's return, without success.
Production date 1940-08-13
Object namepostcards
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- whole width: 140.00 mm
height: 110.00 mm
Language
- German Red Cross via Belgian Red Cross Office in Limoges, France
Sent by Mrs E. Itzkowic of 36 Kerkstraat (Church Street), Antwerp to Mr S. Itzkowic, Camp of the Internees in St. Cyprien, Pyrenees Orientales (this was the department of France just north of the Spanish border on the Mediterranean side)
Antwerp, 13th August 1940
Dear Daddy,
We received your dear letter, and were very happy to get it. We are all in good health and good spirits and have enough (money) to live on, do not worry over that. Your brother left with family Spiegel and family Steinfeld. Until now none of them have returned and we have heard nothing of them so far. Our Arthur has been walking for the last two months. Berthold and I have both been promoted (at school). We hope to see you back here pretty soon. Warm greetings from our hearts from Mummy, Karl, Berthold, Arthur and Achim.
(In another handwriting) Greetins also from Pittmann, Arno and Reidorf
'' '' '' Greetings from your wife
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by David Itzkowic, 2002. This collection is donated in memory of Anny and Salomon Itzkowic.