Rajsko was the site of a "Hygiene Institute" operated by the SS as part of a separate command. The following description is from an article by Henry Schwab, German Postal Specialist, P. 279 June, 1999:
"[It] was established for horticultural experiments in the Spring of 1941 in this small town 2 miles south of the main camp. Rajsko began as an Auschwitz Work Command, made up of prison bacteriologists, biologists and botanists, doing genuine research at a plant nursery. However it was also directly involved with medical experimentation of various forms on Jewish prisoners, particularly women. The prisoners were first housed in the basement of the Auschwitz Stabgebäude, until on June 12, 1943 an auxiliary camp was established numbering about 350 women prisoners."
Below are thumbnails of a folded letter (Lordahl type F1a) postmarked November 16, 1943. The mail is identified as from Rajsko by the designation "Block R", F.L. Auschwitz (women's camp). Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Folded Letter" in the left frame to return.
Erik Lordahl, German Concentration Camps 1933-1945, History and Inmate Mail (2000). Referred to as Lordahl.
Copyright © 2005 Edward Victor