Object numberM1993/044:001
DescriptionTyped postcard, in German, heavily censored with black ink, addressed to Hilda Weisz in Tiszaföldvár, Hungary, from Imro Pollak, Grand Hotel, Finhaut, Valais dated 11 June 1944. Finaut is a municipality in the district of Saint-Maurice, Switzerland. Full content unable to determine due to censorship.
Visible content:
Finhaut, 11 June 1944
Dear dearest Hilda! We just want to get in touch with you. We are worrying infinitely about you all. With impatience we are waiting for a message from you. With a lot of love, we are kissing you. Your concerned (worried) Florina? & ?? (illegible)
Censored Mail
Severed apart, family members hungered for information about their loved ones and relied on letters and postcards to describe their daily lives and plans. Yet mail was censored during the war by military, police, and state authorities who deleted text that conveyed information they did not want transmitted. Many specific regulations applied, including permitted languages, or the number of words allowed. These rules changed abruptly and varied by location. Every situation posed its own difficulties. In the ghettos of eastern Europe, the Jewish Council (the internal governing body set up by the Germans) was responsible for mail receipt and distribution. Some correspondents resorted to code to fool the censors. They used Yiddish words, references to family history, Biblical and Talmudic quotations, and other clues to pass news. Seemingly innocuous, these messages spoke of subjects as varied as currently available foodstuffs, clandestine rescue and escape efforts, deportation actions, and atrocities committed by the Germans and their collaborators.
In 2005, the painting conservator laboratory of the Art Gallery of NSW used their equipment to look at this postcard; the black ink applied over the top of the text prevented the infra-red from picking up the writing underneath. More sophisticated examination tools have not yet been explored to decode the censorship.
Donated by George Wise formerly Janos Weisz. His wife (first) was Hilda Weisz.
Visible content:
Finhaut, 11 June 1944
Dear dearest Hilda! We just want to get in touch with you. We are worrying infinitely about you all. With impatience we are waiting for a message from you. With a lot of love, we are kissing you. Your concerned (worried) Florina? & ?? (illegible)
Censored Mail
Severed apart, family members hungered for information about their loved ones and relied on letters and postcards to describe their daily lives and plans. Yet mail was censored during the war by military, police, and state authorities who deleted text that conveyed information they did not want transmitted. Many specific regulations applied, including permitted languages, or the number of words allowed. These rules changed abruptly and varied by location. Every situation posed its own difficulties. In the ghettos of eastern Europe, the Jewish Council (the internal governing body set up by the Germans) was responsible for mail receipt and distribution. Some correspondents resorted to code to fool the censors. They used Yiddish words, references to family history, Biblical and Talmudic quotations, and other clues to pass news. Seemingly innocuous, these messages spoke of subjects as varied as currently available foodstuffs, clandestine rescue and escape efforts, deportation actions, and atrocities committed by the Germans and their collaborators.
In 2005, the painting conservator laboratory of the Art Gallery of NSW used their equipment to look at this postcard; the black ink applied over the top of the text prevented the infra-red from picking up the writing underneath. More sophisticated examination tools have not yet been explored to decode the censorship.
Donated by George Wise formerly Janos Weisz. His wife (first) was Hilda Weisz.
Production date 1944-06-11
Subjectsigns of life, censorship
Object namepostcards
Materialpaper
Language
- German "Finhaut, 11th June 1944
Dear dearest Hilda!
We just want to get in touch with you. We are worrying infinitely about you all. With impatience we are waiting for a message from you. With a lot of love, we are kissing you. Your concerned (worried) ?Florina? & ??"
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mr. George Wise