Object numberM2001/001:011
DescriptionPostcard from Jozef Sztorch and his wife and the grandmother of Jakob in Lodz ghetto to Jakob Sapir in Kobe, Japan 20 November 1941. Censored by Nazis. The postcard has the hand stamp of Ch. Rumkowski, the "Elder of the Jews in Litzmannstadt," with the name and address of the sender below the imprint. The ghetto was in western Poland within the territory incorporated into the German Reich, thus a German 15 pfennig stamp rather than a General Government stamp, and a Wehrmacht censor imprint with eagle and swastika.
They write: "Dearest beloved children! We have received your cards from Moscow and Vladivostok and are happy that little Peter is so good and that this very long journey has not exhausted you. We are with you in thoughts and with our souls, would like to put our arms around you and kiss you. We still think that the enormous distance from us is only a bad dream. We hope that a happy fate will take you on the rest of your journey to your goal."
Jakob Sapir, his wife Tola and son Peter, travelled in the late 1930s from Poland to Vilno in Lithuania, then on to Moscow. They then travelled from Vladivostock to Kobe, Japan and eventually arrived in Shanghai in 1941. They lived in the French quarter in Shanghai, but were later moved into the Hongkew ghetto. Peter Sapir attended St. Francis Xavier's school, run by English priests, which was outside the ghetto boundary. Jakob Sapir earned a living in Shanghai running a Polish kitchen. The family left Shanghai in 1947, aboard the "Hwa Lien" ship, migrating to Sydney, Australia.
They write: "Dearest beloved children! We have received your cards from Moscow and Vladivostok and are happy that little Peter is so good and that this very long journey has not exhausted you. We are with you in thoughts and with our souls, would like to put our arms around you and kiss you. We still think that the enormous distance from us is only a bad dream. We hope that a happy fate will take you on the rest of your journey to your goal."
Jakob Sapir, his wife Tola and son Peter, travelled in the late 1930s from Poland to Vilno in Lithuania, then on to Moscow. They then travelled from Vladivostock to Kobe, Japan and eventually arrived in Shanghai in 1941. They lived in the French quarter in Shanghai, but were later moved into the Hongkew ghetto. Peter Sapir attended St. Francis Xavier's school, run by English priests, which was outside the ghetto boundary. Jakob Sapir earned a living in Shanghai running a Polish kitchen. The family left Shanghai in 1947, aboard the "Hwa Lien" ship, migrating to Sydney, Australia.
Production date 1941
SubjectHolocaust, communications, censorship
Object namepostcards
Dimensions
- whole width: 104.00 mm
whole height: 147.00 mm
Language
- German 20.II.41
Dearest beloved children!
We have received your cards from MOSCOW and VLADIVOSTOK and are happy that little Peter is so good and that this very long journey has no exhausted you. We are with you in thoughts and with our souls, would like to put our arms around you and kiss you. We still think that the enormous distance from us is only a bad dream. We hope that a happy fate will take you on the rest of your journey to your goal. We congratulate you on your 15th wedding anniversary, which falls on the 14th of March. May your marriage increase in happiness all the time. We shall have you in our thoughts throughout that day. We are healthy and have a warm residence and await arrival of your fare-fell-gift. ESTA only sent us a telegram. Kissing you from all our hearts, wishing you a further happy journey your loving parents, father
Kisses from heart-loving
Mother and grandmother
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Dr Peter Sapir