door The postcard sent from Amsterdam to Theresienstadt in 1944 is more than just a piece of paper; it is a poignant reminder of the resilience of the human spirit during one of the darkest periods in modern history. As the Second World War raged across Europe, millions of Jewish people faced persecution, deportation, and death. The Nazi regime’s ruthless policies and systematic oppression left families torn apart, with communication limited to rare, censored exchanges. Against this grim backdrop, personal letters and postcards became vital connections, conveying news, hope, and love amidst overwhelming despair.
Theresienstadt, a ghetto and transit camp located in what is now the Czech Republic, served as a temporary holding area for Jews before they were transported to extermination camps such as Auschwitz. The camp was often used by Nazi propaganda to depict a model community, but in reality, it was a place of immense suffering, deprivation, and death. The postcard discussed in this article was sent by a family member in Amsterdam to Irma Mahler-Simons, who was imprisoned in Theresienstadt. This fragile artifact represents the determination of people to stay connected, to provide emotional support, and to retain their humanity, even under the most inhumane conditions.
Introduction: The Context of a War-Time Correspondence
In the midst of the chaos and devastation of World War II, personal correspondence became a fragile lifeline between families separated by persecution, deportation, and imprisonment. One such extraordinary piece of correspondence is a postcard sent from Amsterdam on August 7, 1944, addressed to Theresienstadt—a notorious Nazi concentration camp located in what is now the Czech Republic. This postcard, sent from the Netherlands to a Jewish detainee at Theresienstadt, represents a rare and poignant artifact from one of the darkest periods of human history. The significance of this postcard is multidimensional, covering aspects of human connection, the historical value of philately, and the heartbreaking circumstances under which it was written.
Mail between the Netherlands and Theresienstadt was exceptionally scarce during the Holocaust. Transports from the Westerbork transit camp in Holland to Theresienstadt took place between April 1943 and November 1944, involving approximately 5,000 people. This postcard provides a rare glimpse into a human story behind those statistics, a story shaped by love, loss, and the fight to maintain hope despite dire circumstances.
Philatelic Analysis: A Unique Postal Document
From a philatelic perspective, this postcard is of exceptional value, not only due to its rarity but also because of the journey it undertook from a country under Nazi occupation to an infamous ghetto-concentration camp. The postcard is franked with a 5-cent Dutch stamp, which was a typical rate for local postcards – and to Germany – during that period. The stamp bears the iconic image of the winged lion—a design representing Dutch resilience. The postmark on the postcard is dated August 7, 1944, indicating the date it was sent from Amsterdam.
In addition to the Dutch postal markings, the postcard features a blue stamp from Theresienstadt, reading “Jüdische Selbstverwaltung Theresienstadt, Post und Verkehr, 13 SEP 1944.” This stamp demonstrates that the postcard passed through the Jewish self-administration in Theresienstadt. Due to wartime constraints and Nazi control over all mail, many items were only partially inspected. Mail that was not fully scrutinized bore a special stamp from the sorting department, marked with a large “A” and a smaller “c” indicating the sorting center of Cologne.
The postcard is addressed to Irma Mahler-Simons, who was detained in Theresienstadt at the time. The correspondence, marked by both Nazi censorship and Jewish self-governance stamps, provides an incredibly rare philatelic artifact, reflecting the multifaceted nature of mail services during World War II—a testament to how even mundane activities like postal services were politicized and controlled during the Holocaust.
The Text of the Postcard
The postcard’s content itself offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of its sender and recipient. Below is the corrected transcription of the text from both sides of the postcard in its original German, followed by an updated English translation.
German Text
Amsterdam, 7/8. 44.
Liebe Irma
Wir haben deine drei Karte von dir empfangen. Uns geht es allen bis jetzt gut. Hannelore ist schon sehr groß geworden. sie sieht sehr gut aus. sie geht jetzt schon ein Jahr auf der Kleinkinderschule und jetzt im August kommt sie schon auf der großen Schule. Am Piet ist sehr gut für ihr. Ich bade ihr, und wäscht die Wäsche von ihr, sie kommt auch immer bei mir. Und schlafen tuht sie auch öfter bei uns. Sie sagt Tante Willemsen ist jetzt meine Mutter. Also keine sorgen um Hannelore sie hat es sehr gut. Und Kleider hat sie auch genug. Als wir nichts sagen wo ist Mama dann spricht sie nicht davon. Sie hat es gut und das ist bei ihr die Hauptsache. Viele Grüsse von uns alle Louise, Piet, [Hasseln?]
Willemsen
Prinsengracht 826
Amsterdam Holland
At the left side: Hannelore sagt […?] Mama
English Translation
Dear Irma,
We received three cards from you. We are all doing fine so far. Hannelore has already grown a lot. She looks very well. She already goes to kindergarten for a year and will now in August go to the big school. And Piet is very good to her. I bathe her and wash her clothes, she also always comes to me. And sleeping she also does often at us. She says Aunt Willemsen is now my mother. So no worries about Hannelore, she has it very well. And also clothes she has enough. If we say nothing about where Mom is, then she also does not talk about it. She has it very well and that’s the main thing for her. Many greetings from all of us, Louise, Piet, […]
Willemsen
Prinsengracht 826
Amsterdam Holland
At the left side: Hannelore says […?] Mama
The People Behind the Postcard
The postcard carries immense emotional weight because it reflects the lives of real individuals—individuals whose personal experiences were shaped by the devastating events of the Holocaust. The sender of the postcard was likely a family member of Irma Mahler-Simons, whose last known address was Prinsengracht 826 in Amsterdam.
Irma Mahler-Simons (née Sondheimer) was born on October 3, 1910, in Neuhofen, Germany. During World War II, she was deported to Theresienstadt, the infamous ghetto-concentration camp located in Czechoslovakia. The camp was often used as a transit point before people were deported to Auschwitz and other death camps. Irma Mahler-Simons was part of the small number of people who managed to communicate with the outside world during her internment. She was listed as a camp inmate in Theresienstadt according to records found in a list of persecuted persons deported from the Netherlands to Theresienstadt in 1943.
Hans Mahler, Irma’s husband, was born on June 25, 1912, in Jüchen, Düsseldorf, Germany. He was deported to Sachsenhausen, a Nazi concentration camp in Germany, where he was declared dead on April 14, 1942. The fate of Hans Mahler exemplifies the tragic consequences suffered by countless families who were torn apart by the Holocaust. His story of deportation and death in a concentration camp is similar to that of millions of Jews who perished during the Nazi regime.
Hannelore Mahler, likely the daughter of Irma and Hans, was born in 1938. She survived the war and passed away on December 30, 1974, in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. Hannelore was a child during the Holocaust, and her upbringing, as described in the postcard, was heavily influenced by the constant threat and danger faced by her family. The references to Hannelore in the postcard convey the tenderness and love that her family continued to offer her, even amid the war.
The extended family is also mentioned in the postcard. There are references to Aunt Fried and Aunt Malmon, whose roles in the family likely provided some stability during turbulent times. The family tried to continue with normal activities, such as taking Hannelore to kindergarten and preparing her for primary school—an effort to retain a sense of normalcy for the child despite the chaos around them.
Conclusion: A Testament to Endurance and Memory
This postcard from Amsterdam to Theresienstadt is a rare historical document that offers a snapshot into the life of a family enduring the Holocaust. It captures the resilience of those attempting to maintain family bonds and protect their children, even as the world crumbled around them. The postcard’s philatelic value adds another layer of significance, as it reveals the intricacies of wartime communication and the impact of Nazi control over even the smallest aspects of everyday life.
Irma Mahler-Simons and her family were ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances. The postcard reflects their attempts to preserve a sense of normalcy, even while facing unimaginable hardships. The love and care expressed in this correspondence—the reassurances given, the descriptions of a growing child—remind us of the humanity that persisted even in the darkest of times.
Studying such artifacts is crucial to understanding the personal dimension of the Holocaust. It provides insight not only into the mechanisms of Nazi oppression but also into the everyday lives of its victims—how they struggled, adapted, and, above all, held on to the belief that their loved ones could be reached, even if only through a few scribbled lines on a postcard. The story of this postcard serves as a testament to human endurance, a symbol of both the pain and the hope that characterized life during the Holocaust.
One final detail: research shows that after the family had been deported, a Gestapo agent lived on the same address for some time. Much later after the war the address was known for another person living there: the Dutch artist Wim Sonneveld lived at number 826. Whether he knew about what had happened during the war years at this address is unknown.
The postcard will be on auction on November, 30. Lot 6095, Sheraton & Peel auction 68. René Hillesum Filatelie, Zwijndrecht.
