Henry Schwab, Correspondences and related documents of the wartime and postwar and modern periods, Poland, 1970-1996 | Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust

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Collection Overview

Title: Henry Schwab, Correspondences and related documents of the wartime and postwar and modern periods, Poland, 1970-1996

Predominant Dates:1980s

ID: RG-110/RG-110

Primary Creator: Henry Schwab, researcher and collector (1970s -- 1990s)

Extent: 4.0 Folders

Languages: Polish, German, English

Abstract

This record group comprises of 63 paper documents, namely postcards, envelopes, postal receipts and unissued paper currency -- all related to correspondence and other paperstuffs used to and from wartime Warsaw, Poland.

This collection was compiled by researcher Henry Schwab in collaboration with collector Ed Victor (Ed Victor Papers) at various auctions in the 1970s-1980s. With this collection and additional collected documents, Henry Schwab published a book titled, "The Echoes that Remain: A Postal History of the Holocaust" in 1992. The 200-page-book was complemented by primary source documents of the wartime era including some from relatives in his family and his wife's family who died in the Holocaust.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This record group includes paper documents, namely postcards, envelopes, postal receipts and unissued paper currency -- all related to the correspondence (and other papers) used to and from Warsaw (Poland) during the wartime era.

The postcards, envelopes and postal receipts either are related to Warsaw as the sender or receiving address. The general theme of the content is the fleeing of Polish Jews. Some of the postcards and receipts have a sending address to various Jewish emigration committees from a Polish Jew in Warsaw. Other postcards are inquiries as to the well-being of a family member who has fled. The theme is common.

A unique part of this collection includes is what is known as Warsaw Ghetto post office unissued paper currency in various denominations. The currency was allegedly produced by the Jewish underground in Spring 1941. The common inscription printed on the currency is "RZWW", "SZDP", a Star of David and the denomination. The initials for RZWW and SPDZ spelled out in full translate to "Jewish Postal Authorities" and "Jewish Council in Warsaw".

Subject/Index Terms

Box and Folder Listing

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 20: RG-110.20, Central Asscn. of Jewish Emigration, Warsaw to Society for Protection of Jewish Immigrants in Chile, September 1941, September 11, 1941

Postal receipt sent from Central Association of Jewish Emigration in Warsaw to the Society for Protection of Jewish Immigrants in Chile

September 1941

Subject/Index Terms:: Chile (1939--1945); Comite de Proteccion a los Inmigrantes Israelitas, Afiliado a la Hicem, Santiago (Chile); Correspondence between German-occupied territories and neutral countries; Correspondences in Poland in the course of the Second World War; correspondence to and from ghettos; Correspondence to and from Relief and Rehabilitation organizations; day-to-day life in the Warsaw ghetto; General Government (German-occupied Poland), 1939 -- 1945; Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Warsaw ghetto; Jewish Postal Authorities of Warsaw ghetto, Rada Zydow w Warszwie; Postal receipts, Second World War; Postal Service of Jewish Councils (Judenraete), 1939 -- 1945; Santiago (Chile); Warsaw (Poland); Warsaw (Poland: ghetto)

Creators:: Henry Schwab, researcher and collector (1970s -- 1990s)