The Collector’s Encyclopaedia · Documents · Persecution

Concentration Camp Correspondence: History, Contents and Collector’s Guide

Form Official camp letter forms and postcards
Example Letter and postcard from Dachau, November–December 1938 (USHMM)
Control Correspondence was restricted and censored by the camp administration
Significance Documents of persecution; often the last traces of a person
In the collection No pieces currently available

Prisoners in some concentration camps were allowed, under strict control, to write to their families on official camp stationery. These letters and cards are documents of persecution and frequently the last surviving words of their authors.

What Is Concentration Camp Correspondence?

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum holds a letter and a postcard written in November and December 1938 by Peter Bela Hess from Dachau, on official stationery printed “Konzentrationslager Dachau”. Camp correspondence was limited in length and frequency and read by the camp administration before it was sent. Many such letters survive in family papers and archives.

Who Issued It, and Who Signed It?

The forms were printed for each camp and passed through the camp censorship, which left stamps and marks. See Heinrich Himmler, Theodor Eicke and Oswald Pohl.

What Should Collectors Watch For?

  • Ethics: these are victims’ documents. Consider whether a family or a memorial archive should have them.
  • Fakes exist; forms, stamps and postal markings must be checked against authenticated examples.
  • Research: the Arolsen Archives and memorial sites can sometimes trace the writer.

Collector’s Note

I treat camp correspondence as testimony. Its value lies in the person who wrote it, and I would always support returning such a letter to a family or archive.

Related Entries and Pieces

Browse the full Collector’s Encyclopaedia →

Frequently Asked Questions

Could concentration camp prisoners write letters?

In some camps, under strict restrictions and censorship, on official forms.

Are camp letters collected?

Yes, but they are victims’ documents and require ethical care.

Can the writer be traced?

Sometimes, through the Arolsen Archives and memorial sites.

Historical Responsibility Notice: this entry documents historical figures and artefacts of the National Socialist period for collecting, preservation, education and research. It does not endorse or glorify any ideology, and it is written in memory of the victims of the regime.

References & Further Reading