1. Autograph letter signed by Teofil Przybylowicz (1905-1945), to Maria Przybylowicz. Auschwitz, [Poland], 30 May 1943. 2 pages, on Konzentrationslager [Concentration Camp] Auschwitz lettersheet. With Auschwitz cancel, 12-Pfenning Postage Stamp, and censor's stamp.

2. Three fragments of barbed wire. 

A rare letter written home by an Auschwitz inmate on official letterhead used by the concentration camp. Writing to his "Dear Marysia," Przybylowicz thanks her for the packages, hopes for more letters, and writes general sentiments of well-being for various family members. The letter is signed "Tolek" and his prisoner number is recorded as "396139".

Przybylowicz was originally interred at Auschwitz, from where he wrote this letter, but was moved to Flossenbürg Concentration Camp in Bavaria, arriving on 17 October 1944. He was classified as a Polish civilian worker (PZA), indicating that he was likely not Jewish but possibly a member of the Polish underground resistance or was a political prisoner. He died at Flossenbürg on 13 March 1945, only a month before the liberation of the camp by the 358th and 359th US Infantry Regiments on April 23rd.  

The letter is presented with three fragments of barbed wire, grim reminders of the horror of concentration camps. Although the author writes only of family health, the realities of life at Auschwitz are inescapable. 

[Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [World War II, WWII, Nazi Germany, Holocaust] [Judaica, Jewish History]