First day issue envelope traced to Norwegian holocaust victim

[NARVIK1940]

I spotted this envelope on E-bay recently, and thought it would be fun to add to my collection. I am not a big stamp collector, but this one I was really drawn to. It is a first day issue dated 12 October 1942, with stamps showing Vidkun Quisling, the Norwegian dictator. It commemorates the European Postal Union, established in Vienna on that date. This is a registered letter with no return address.

Stefan Weiss konvolutt.jpg

[NARVIK1940]

Last night (Christmas Eve) I had a little time so I started doing an internet search to try and find out more about the person it was addressed to. I was quickly drawn to a website that lists all of the Norwegian victims of WW2 by name. I got a hit on his name.

https://www.vg.no/spesial/2015/vaare.../?personId=156

VG Weiss.jpg

[NARVIK1940]

That intrigued me. So posted the envelope on a Norwegian Facebook site dedicated to the Norwegian experience in WW2- This morning, someone was able to look him up in the Nazi register of Jews in Norway, and posted a screen shot of his file. This bit of information leaves no doubt that the unfortunate person this envelope was addressed to was indeed Stefan Weiss, born in 1903, arrested 26 October 1942, deported on the M/V Donau to Germany on 26 November 1942, and killed at Auschwitz on 31 January 1943.

Stefan Weiss registrering.jpg

[NARVIK1940]

As can be seen in this registry document, Stefan Weiss lived at Rosenkrantzgate 15, the same address as on the envelope. He was listed as German citizen, who apparently fled from Austria to Norway as a refugee on August 29, 1938. Note that the name is spelled the same in the registry as on the envelope, whereas the internet registry has his named spelled "Stephan".



He was a businessman in Vienna, and went to the Vienna business school for his education. His occupation in Norway is listed as "handyman".



One strange thing that is revealed below in this document is that he was a stamp collector, and belonged to the Oslo Philatelist Club. One wonders what happened to his stamp collection, and if this envelope was, perhaps, the latest edition of it before he was swept away. Truly sad and disturbing. How this wound up on Ebay, and the route it traveled, remains a mystery. Likely someone grabbed it when his meager belongings were stolen by the Nazis. When I bought it I had no idea of its significance. If I had not been curious, I would have never known. Interestingly, it hails the establishment of the European Postal Union in Vienna, his hometown, on that particular day.



The envelope was registered, which was unusual and meant that it was something important. No return address, which seems odd. It may well have been from the Norwegian police, but I would expect them to have a return address on their official correspondence. We will never know who it was from, or what it contained.



The building he lived in was replaced by a more modern building after the war. It had several stories, and he likely lived above the bakery shown in this photo. Samson's bakery is a big business in Oslo today. It was founded over 100 years ago by a non-Jewish German immigrant. The address is the same, Rosenkrantz gate 15.


https://samson.no/aktuelt/oslos-eldste-bakeri

Rosenkranzgt 15 1945.jpg

[NARVIK1940]

I have walked by this address dozens of times when I lived and worked in Oslo. I have found that there were other Jews living on this block during the war.


https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/wiki/Anna_Plesansky


This all came as a shock to me. One wonders how this envelope survived the war, and where it has been in the intervening years. The Ebay seller was in the US.

[WalterB]

Fascinating!

[NARVIK1940]

First day issue envelope traced to Norwegian holocaust victim

Here is the background: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Norway


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[Simon O.]

A good piece of research on a tragic story. Thanks for posting it.

[JUNGCO]

Wow, what an interesting piece of research. Great job.