1944 (20 Nov) Third Reich, Germany, Censored Red Cross Civilian Message Form from Civilian Labor Camp Erzgebirge Warvrin France, Multiple Censor Postmarks

This historical document from November 1944 consists of a Red Cross civilian message form (front) and its matching reply card (back). It illustrates the strictly monitored communication between a French national in Germany and his family in occupied or recently liberated France during World War II.

The Sender, Émile Messager was a Frenchman living in Germany. He was registered at Gemeinschaftslager Erzgebirgsperle (a civilian labor camp) in Bernsbach, Erzgebirge.
Recipient was his wife in Wavrin, Northern France.
The message was written on November 20, 1944, Émile states that he is in excellent health, hopes the same for his wife and "Jeannot," and is waiting for news. The message was strictly limited to 25 words.

The documents carry multiple markings showing how the mail was processed through neutral channels and wartime military intelligence:
Issued by German Red Cross via the Ettal / Oberbayern office (stamped 13b Ettal/Obb.).
Routed through Switzerland by international red cross in Geneva as the neutral intermediary between Germany and France.
A red Wehrmacht postmark (Geprüft) with the Nazi eagle signifies it passed military inspection and censorship and French censorship with circular military postmark (Contrôle Postal Militaire) from Lille.
There are also blue diagonal lines drawn across the blank fields of the reply card to prevent anyone from adding hidden or uncensored messages later.

Provenance: Ex Werbizky.