1943 (14 Nov) Third Reich, Germany, Censored Folded Letter from Dachau Concentration Camp to Posen Generalgouvernement, Censorship Postmarks, More Details in Description

this is a complete letter written by the Polish prisoner Stanislaus (Stanisław) Bentkowski (Prisoner No. 47821, born December 3, 1895) while interned at the Dachau Concentration Camp (Block 19, Room 3). The document is addressed to his wife, Anna Bentkowska, in Posen (Poznań), which was then part of the German-occupied "Reichsgau Wartheland."
Per strict camp regulations, the correspondence had to be written in German and passed through the camp's mail censorship office, marked with two of the camp's central mail censorship postmarks (Postprüfstelle or Postzensurstelle K.L. Dachau). Every piece of incoming and outgoing mail was read line-by-line by designated SS censors. Because any depiction of the brutal reality, hunger, or mistreatment would result in the immediate destruction of the mail, the text focuses entirely on mundane family matters, health, and standard reassurances of well-being.

The front of the folder serves as the official envelope. It displays the sender details (Dachau 3K, Block 19, Room 3), his prisoner number, and the recipient's address in Posen. It also features the printed, strict rules of the camp commandant regarding mail restrictions.

Writing to his wife he acknowledges the hardships of their separation, stating that a "heavy time has fallen upon us which we cannot change." The core of this letter is a meticulous list of life-saving care packages received from home:Package 1 (Oct 26, 1943), like three loaves of bread, 5 rolls, 1 onion, marmalade, butter, sausage, a pack of cigarettes, tobacco, vitamins, and ointment.

The document reflects a critical shift in the concentration camp system between the earlier years and late 1943. By late 1942, the SS increasingly permitted prisoners to receive food and medicine packages from relatives. This policy change was not humanitarian; it was a pragmatic measure to counter catastrophic food shortages and keep prisoners physically capable of forced labor for the German armaments industry. For thousands of inmates like Stanislaus, these packages from home became their primary means of survival.

Provenance: Ex Werbizky.