Censored postcards reaching Jews in Belgium from their relatives in Nazi Poland throw some light on conditions in the occupied area.
One Polish Jew wrote: “I am without any work, but I hope the situation will improve.” The Nazi censor added the line: “No improvements should be expected by Jews.”
Another wrote: “I must say that Uncle Lechem visits us very rarely.” The word “Lechem” is Hebrew for bread, but the censor understood the implication, for he added: “We have no bread for Jews.”
A postcard sent by a Belgian Jew to Poland was returned with the notation: “Undeliverable because of epidemic.” A food parcel returned to a Belgian Jew from Poland carried the notation: “Addressee resides in ghetto, to which entrance is forbidden by authorities.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
