Two postcards handwritten by Mala Zimetbaum. Sent from Auschwitz-Birkenau (one from the punishment barracks) to Antwerp, [1942-1944]; five photographs of Mala taken before her deportation to Auschwitz.
1-2. Two postcards written by Mala Zimetbaum in Auschwitz-Birkenau, addressed to a friend in Antwerp (written in German). One postcard was sent from Block 11 (the punishment barracks) in Auschwitz I, presumably in 1944, after Mala's escape from the camp, before her execution.
In her letters, Mala laconically reports on her situation and inquires about her family: "You are surely glad to receive a sign of life from me… I am healthy and think about you a lot, and hope to hear good news from you"; "I already wrote to your parents… but I did not receive a reply. Please write to me where my dear parents are". The postcards were clearly written under the constraints of censorship.
The postcards were written in pen and pencil, and bear various inked stamps. One bears a German postage stamp with a picture of Hitler.
3-7. Five group photographs featuring Mala Zimetbaum; taken before her deportation to Auschwitz.
Mala (Malka) Zimetbaum (1922-1944) was born in Poland. As a child, her family relocated to Antwerp. In 1942, some two years after Belgium was conquered by the Germans, she was deported to the Kazerne Dossin transit camp in Mechelen, from where she was transported to Auschwitz. After the initial selection, she was sent to the women's camp at Birkenau. Due to her proficiency in languages – German, Flemish, French, Italian and Polish – she was assigned work as a translator, a position which gave her a certain freedom of movement, and helped her earn the trust of both the S.S. guards and the inmates. Unlike other prisoners who held official positions in the camp, Mala did not abuse her privileged standing. Testimonies of her activities in the camp depict her as a courageous, generous woman, who attempted to help the camp inmates to the best of her ability, at great risk to her life. According to several reports, Mala was involved in underground activities in Auschwitz – smuggling arms and money from "Kanada" (the camp's warehouses, used to store the stolen belongings of prisoners) into the camp itself, accumulating documents providing proof of the extermination in order to reveal to the world the Nazi crimes (as two other inmates who escaped Auschwitz successfully – Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, likewise did).
On Saturday, 24th June 1944, Zimetbaum succeeded in escaping the camp together with her partner Edek Galinski, a Polish political prisoner. There are several different accounts of their escape, including a first-hand testimony delivered by Raya Kagan during the Eichmann trial, as well as a hearsay testimony recorded in the book The Drowned and the Saved by Primo Levi. The facts in both testimonies are similar: Mala and Edek escaped together, disguised as S.S. guards (it is uncertain whether they smuggled documents out of the camp attesting to the mass-murder taking place there). Two weeks later, they were caught by the Slovakian border control and were taken to Block 11 in Auschwitz I, the punishment barracks, where they were tortured. They were later returned to Birkenau and executed at the same time.
Raya Kagan reported in her testimony that she came close to Mala's barrack while she was awaiting interrogation, and inquired how she was, "serenely and heroically she said, somewhat ironically: 'I am always well'".
The prisoners were assembled to witness Mala's execution. Reputedly, Mala succeeded in disrupting the execution. She smuggled a razor, which she used to cut her veins while she was being brought to the gallows. When a S.S. guard tried to stop her, she slapped him in the face with her bloody hand, proclaiming "I will die like a hero, and you will die like a dog".
Two postcards, 10.5X15 cm. Fair-poor condition. Closed and open tears to margins, slightly affecting text. Tears across both postcards; one postcard torn into two. Wear. Text partially faded and difficult to read.
Three photographs – approx. 6X9 cm; two photographs – approx. 14X9 cm (with postcard backs). Good condition. Minor blemishes.