1940 (18 Jun) Third Reich, Germany, Censored Cover from Auschwitz Concentration Camp to Lublin (Poland), Censorship Postmark, More Details in Description

An official prisoner cover (Gefangenenpost) from Auschwitz Concentration Camp to the district of Lublin in the General Gouvernement
Left section is printed with camp regulations (Lagerordnung) dictating strict censorship rules (e.g., maximum of two letters per month, 15-line limit, no cash or packages allowed).
A faded censor stamp (Zensurstempel) from the camp's mail inspection unit (Postprüfstelle), which cleared the letter for delivery after vetting.

It features a later-applied red 12-pfennig German Reich stamp with the portrait of Adolf Hitler, canceled with an official "Auschwitz (Upper Silesia)" postmark from 18 Jun 1940. To the right of the later-applied stamp, remnants of an old stamp are still visible. Furthermore, parts of the original Auschwitz postmark are still present on the envelope.

Sender was Gustaw Matejko, born February 20, 1910 with prisoner Number: 8620.
He was marked as a Polish political prisoner (Schutzhäftling Pole) and was located in Block 15 in Auschwitz.

He arrived at Auschwitz on January 9, 1941, as part of a mass transport of 525 men transferred by the Nazi security police from prisons in the Lublin District (Lublin and Radom).
Historical records show he was assigned to the Bauhof (camp construction yard), the Baubüro (camp construction office), and later forced into labor for the construction of the massive IG Farben chemical plant in Auschwitz-Monowitz (Auschwitz III).
The postcard is addressed to his relative/wife, Franciszka Matejko, in Terespol am Bug (Lublin District, occupied Poland). It is part of at least five surviving letters he managed to send between July 1942 and July 1943.

Provenance: Ex Werbizky