Buchenwald prisoner's letter & hat

[mikeburch]

This is a white SS issued hat for a prisoner santitation worker's hat. It has a SS stamping on the inside.
Also included, is a letter that he wrote home, along with an English translation. This letter was inside the hat when I found it. I had it translated.
The camp, letter writing rules, are also included.
mikeburch

[mikeburch]

Buchenwald prisoner's letter & hat

The Enclosed letter.
mikeburch

[mikeburch]

Buchenwald prisoner's letter

Translation of letter.
mikeburch

[PHILBROWN]

lovely letter, fantasy hat ,im sorry

[mikeburch]

Buchenwald prisoner's letter

Last page of his letter and the letter writing rules, translation.
mikeburch

[mikeburch]

lovely letter, fantasy hat ,im sorry

I think that you are wrong on this.
This is nothing but a janitor's or kitchen worker's hat. It was SS issued. It is stamped on the inside.
What's the big deal in calling everything, "fake".
mikeburch

[carltiger]

Hello Mike,

A fine example of prisoner post - thanks for showing that. The written word is a wonderful way to remember the memory of the inmates who endured the Konzentrationslager system.

Unfortunately, I also have some concerns with the hat. Firstly, the "SANITATS" stamp is incorrect - I believe that the correct wording should be "SANITÄTS". There are many variants of fantasy stamp that are found on Holocaust related cloth items and some are of a similar nature to the example shown. The fine work by Alec Tulkoff covers this area well.

[max history]

I agree with Phil; a genuine letter and a fake stamp in the hat which is also suspect. As far as I am aware, prisoners were not issued with different hats for health and safety. They wore their usual prisoner hats in the kitchens.
Max.

[mikeburch]

I agree with Phil; a genuine letter and a fake stamp in the hat which is also suspect. As far as I am aware, prisoners were not issued with different hats for health and safety. They wore their usual prisoner hats in the kitchens.
Max.

Max History ..............................
I wouldn't be too sure of your statement, if I were you.
I found this photo, on WAF, submitted by "Nightnare" of a Dachau kitchen.

[Curt Steinbach]

Interesting but you should pay attention to what was said by "carltiger". The word "SANITATS" is missing the umlaut - "SANITÄTS" is the way it should be spelled so that should raise a red flag. So at the very least the stamp is bogus.

Curt

[PHILBROWN]

well the guy in the picture looks remarkably well fed and has neat shoes and trousers,i think this is a picture of the kitchen after liberation to feed the prisoners up? hense the cap for hygene, its certainly russian archive taken. certainly not issued by the ss

[max history]

Max History ..............................
I wouldn't be too sure of your statement, if I were you.
I found this photo, on WAF, submitted by "Nightnare" of a Dachau kitchen.

Mike,
I was already aware of this photo and it makes no difference to my previous statement. This photo was taken AFTER liberation in the kitchens of the former DAW workshops at Dachau. It's even possible the men are German as the camp was used post-war as an internment camp by the Allies. Other photos of kitchen workers I've seen in camps during the SS tenure all show prisoners wearing their usual blue striped hats and clothing.
Your prisoner letter appears genuine, albeit these are extremely common and are offered for sale regularly. The hat on the other hand..............
Max.

[Weweslburg]

Dachau

You can find this photo as well as hundreds of others on the Jewish Yad Vashem website. As far as I remember this photo shows the camp Dachau kitchen, but not after its liberation.

[CWP]

Nice letter. As stated above, the stamp in the hat, at the very least, is misspelled, totally inconsistent with original examples of items issued to prisoners (or any SS items at all for that matter), and obviously fake; I suspect that hat has nothing to do with the SS or any concentration camp.