Concentration Camp Stutthof

Stutthof, on the Baltic seacoast about 35 kilometers east of Danzig, grew in stages, beginning immediately after the German invasion of Poland. The majority of inmates were Poles, including many members of illegal underground resistance organizations. The Red Army approached within 40 to 50 kilometers of Stutthof by January 25, 1945, but bypassed the marshy terrain on its march to Berlin, so the camp was not liberated until May 9, 1945.

Beginning in April 1943, a generic formular prisoners’ lettercard appeared, printed on flimsy paper for use in every concentration camp, with rules applicable to all that permitted two letters or cards per month to and from each prisoner. The printer’s notation at the lower left, “KL/75/4.43 5.000.000,” indicates a total quantity of five million for a single press order, which gives an indication of the enormous number of inmates held captive in camps by then.

This example was canceled June 30, 1944, at Stutthof.