17 letters, written by Jewish POWs from Palestine, volunteers to the British army, held in the German camp "Stalag VIII-B / 344." Lamsdorf, 1941-1944. English and German.
Letters handwritten (in pencil) on prisoner-of-war letter sheets (folding; mailed without the use of envelopes). Both sides of each letter stamped with official camp stamps (different stamps; the name of the camp changes in the later letters – see below, ) and most are stamped with British censor's stamps. The work company to which the sender belonged (coal mining, loading and unloading freight trains, etc.) is indicated in some letters.
Most letters were written by the POW Shelomoh Sela (Slodash), a soldier of the British Royal Pioneer Corps, who was captured during the German invasion of Greece (1941). Apparently, Slodash sent several of his letters under the names of other prisoners, signing them in Hebrew letters or with the word "your". The letters are addressed to his wife Elisheba in Tel Aviv (one letter addressed to their son, Ilan).
The letters contain words of consolation and greetings to Slodash's wife, son, family and friends. Slodash thanks his wife for the letters she sent, and tells her of his life in the camp. E.g., in a letter dated 5.8.1943, he assures her that the prisoners have access to hot water for bathing and drinking coffee and tea, enough time to rest and read newspapers and books, and receive food packages from the Red Cross. In a letter dated 27.9.1943 Slodash mentions a poem written to him by his son: "I was surprised of the 2 lines of Ilan's song, as I see he know what is Gola, his little heart are beating to this place, where his father is […] Tell him that he is brave. I'm proud of him."
Following his release, Slodash returned to Palestine, and published a book about his experience in the German Prisoner-of-war camp.
Palestinian-Jewish Prisoners-of-war in the German Stalag
More than 1,000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine who served in the British army were captured by the Germans during the Battle of Greece, in spring, 1941. Initially they were interned in Greece. Following the German invasion of Soviet Russia, they were transported under harsh conditions to temporary camps, and later, to "Stalag VIII-B" prisoner-of-war camp ("Stalag": a contraction of the German term "Stammlager, " translated as "main camp, " which is surrounded by a network of "sub-camps.") The camp was situated near Lamsdorf (today Łambinowice, southern Poland, ) in the vicinity of Auschwitz-Burkenau; throughout the war, hundreds of thousands of prisoners of the Allied Forces had passed through the camp.
Despite a certain oversight by the Red Cross, the conditions in the camp were harsh, although as a rule, the Jewish volunteers were not treated worse than the rest of the camp's population. Within a short while after their internment, Jewish prisoners of the Stalag began to organize community life: they shared food packages with each other, produced various cultural events, established Hebrew classes, and more.
On several instances, Jewish POWs encountered groups of Auschwitz prisoners, from whom they gained first-hand knowledge of Nazi prosecution and annihilation of European Jewry. On some occasions, they tried to help the concentration camp prisoners by smuggling food packages with the aid of non-Jewish British POWs.
In 1943, the Germans re-organizes their network of POW camps, and Stalag VIII-B was re-named Stammlager 344.
Throughout the war, several prisoners had managed to escape the camp, and some prisoners were exchanged for German soldiers, and returned to Palestine. As the Eastern Front drew near, the camp's POWs were evacuated westwards. Some were liberated by the Red Army (the camp was liberated by the Russians on March 17, 1945,) and some were only released when the war in Europe was won in May 1945.
For Further reading, see: "Palestinian POWs in German Captivity", by Yoav Gelber (available online on the website of Yad Vashem.)
17 letters, approx. 34.5X15 cm. Good overall condition. Stains. Fold lines. Minor tears to edges and along fold lines, with minor damage to text in several letters. Two of the letters missimg tab used to seal the letter sheet.
