On the outskirts of the town of Nordhausen, there were several Luftwaffe barracks. In January, 1945, these barracks were converted by the SS into a subcamp for ill and weak prisoners from the main camp and subcamps. These prisoners continued to be sent on work details, and the obvious goal was extermination. Death rates were 35 to 50 inmates a day at the beginning and reached 75 inmates a day by the end. At the beginning of April, 1945, the camp was hit by Allied bombs, and more than 1,000 prisoners died.
Below are thumbnails of two postcards. The first is a postcard from a prisoner at Boelke Kaserne postmarked February 2, 1945. The letters "BO" next to his prisoner number is an abbreviation for Boelke Kaserne. This postcard is identified in Lordahl as Type PO5 with a Type C12a censor mark and a Type SC16 special cachet. The second is a postcard (Lordahl type PO5) dated November 12 1944, from the Dora/Mittlebau rocket camp. The sub-camp was marked "BO" for Boelke Kaserne. The card contains a one line censor cachet (Lordahl type C12a) and a Lordahl Type SC 15 special cachet (registered, special delivery and the sending of valuables forbidden. The card was mailed through another camp, Saengerhausen in order to mask the camp. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Postcards" in the left frame to return.
Erik Lordahl, German Concentration Camps 1933-1945, History and Inmate Mail (2000). Referred to as Lordahl.
Feig, Hitlers Death Camps (1979)
Copyright © 2002 Edward Victor