Postal communication in the General Government

Postal communication in the General Government, previously provided by the Polish Post (Poczta Polska), were taken over by the German postal service (Reichspost) after the invasion of Poland and the establishment of the General Government in 1939, and then in 1941 in additional areas of eastern Poland.

Despite postal service being available to all individuals in principle, in practice the ability to send and receive mail was at times either interrupted or totally stopped.

C-I, agreed that the Judenrat would handle all mail within the ghetto (coming in to and leaving) and that the Germans would establish a special post office (Postaustauschstelle) for use in exchanging letters and parcels further on.

As German resettlement and deportation plans intensified following the invasion of the Soviet Union, so too did disruptions and in some places suspensions of the mail service.

Additionally, inmates had to provide their full name, date of birth, and location within the camp in the address.

In addition to these explicit regulations, prisoners were also often obliged to include the line “I am in good health and everything is fine here” in their postcards.

After sending, any letters would be subject to strict censorship by both the camp post office,[15] and the High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW).

While these regulations would have been intended for use across all camps, their application and enforcement was up to the local SS officials, and as a result were not always implemented uniformly.