Fleeing From The Fuhrer: A Postal History of Refugees From the Nazis by Charmian Brinson and William Kaczynski; The History Press; © 2011; 191 pages including index; ISBN 9780752-461953; 17.99 British currency.
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – I must acknowledge cousins Herb and Susie Rheingruber’s kind gift of this book to me; it simultaneously furthered my great interest in Jewish history, while reigniting my childhood passion for philately.
This book carefully traces the fate of World War II refugees, particularly Jewish ones, who left Germany and other countries during the Nazi period in a search for safety. Utilizing post cards and letters with special postmarks (called “covers” by philatelists), the well-researched book traces not only where the refugees were sent after escaping Hitler’s clutches, but also documents their attempts to stay in touch with members of their families behind enemy lines.
The result is a fascinating array of envelopes stamped with the names of temporary camps where the refugees were housed, ironically as “enemy aliens” although they were as opposed to Hitler as anyone else in Great Britain or any of its Commonwealth countries. Many of the envelopes carry the heavy marks of censors.
Some of the envelopes testify to the havoc and uncertainty of war time. A letter sent to a refugee at one camp might be forwarded across the world to another camp, and back again as refugees were sometimes shuttled back and forth from Britain to, say, Uganda, or Australia, or Canada.
Kaczynski, whose collection of postal covers, provided the nucleus of this book, and Brinson carefully researched each postal cover, providing information about the places—many of them now all but forgotten—from which they were sent, and in the process sketching the kinds of stories that help San Diego Jewish World document its slogan: “There’s a Jewish Story Everywhere.”
I will admit that the book is not easy reading; it took me weeks to get through the slim volume, but it does provide eye-opening testimonies for World War II historians, and the thrill of a collection well assembled for philatelists.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com