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.”
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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.
