Concentration Camp Buchenwald – Aktion Albrecht I: Czech Hostages

At the outbreak of war on September 1, 1939, the Gestapo arrested about 2,000 prominent Czech intellectuals and sent them to Buchenwald as hostages. Their treatment was significantly milder than what ordinary prisoners experienced. Special privileges included exemption from labor, and permission to send and receive mail every week. Most mail from this group bears no evidence of censorship.