Envelope

Envelope front — airmail letter

25.10.1941from München (Munich)between Julius Oppenheimer, Elsa Oppenheimer, Mina Weiler, Irma Fuldauer, Josef Oppenheimer2 pages

Original — Deutsch

[Anschrift — ursprüngliche Fassung, blasse Tinte, später durchgestrichen]
Fr.[?] Mina Kaufmann
622 West 141 St. Apt. 3 D        H.[?] Heller     <- diese Zeile durchgestrichen
New York City                                    <- durchgestrichen
U. S. A.                                          <- durchgestrichen

[Anschrift — Nachsendung, kräftige dunkle Tinte, von fremder Hand]
c/o [u?] Engel        (zwischen Namenszeile und alter Straßenzeile eingefügt)
4006 Norfolk Ave
Baltimore, Maryland

[Absendervermerke auf der Vorderseite]
[... illegible] nach Nordamerika
(unten links; der Zeilenanfang liegt im abgerissenen linken Rand — auf dem Schwesterumschlag 001_018_0014 lautet der entsprechende Vermerk "Via Lissabon nach Nordamerika")

[Aufkleber, gedruckt]
MIT LUFTPOST
PAR AVION
BY AIR MAIL

[Absender]
Auf dieser Seite kein Absender. Absenderblock auf der Rückseite (001_018_0019).

[Poststempel]
Ein schräg stehender Abschlag über beide Marken, Steg gut lesbar:
  oberer Bogen: MÜNCHEN 2 [?]
  Steg: 9   25.10.4[1?]
  Stempelmitte: Hakenkreuz
  unterer Bogen: HAUPTSTADT DER B[EWEGUNG]
Datum Ziffer für Ziffer: 2 – 5 – . – 1 – 0 – . – 4 – [letzte Ziffer vom Markenrand verdeckt, als 1 zu ergänzen]
Die voranstehende "9" ist als Uhrzeit- bzw. Stundenangabe zu lesen; sie steht getrennt links vom Datum.

[Frankatur]
links: [Wertziffer vom oberen Umschlagrand abgeschnitten, nicht lesbar — evtl. 25] Hindenburg-Medaillon, "Deutsches Reich"
rechts: 40 (Pf) Hindenburg-Medaillon, "Deutsches Reich", Wertziffer 40 in beiden oberen Ecken

[Zensur]
Auf dieser Seite keine Zensurspuren — kein Verschlußstreifen, kein OKW-Stempel, keine Prüfernummer. Zensurbefund auf der Rückseite (001_018_0019).

[Postvermerk, Bleistift]
4 g[r?]   (oben links; Gewichtsangabe)

[Amerikanische Nachsendevermerke]
großer blasser Buchstabe oder Zeichen (Rötel/Bleistift) rechts neben "Baltimore, Maryland" — [... illegible]
kleiner Bruchstrich-Vermerk unter "Baltimore" — [... illegible]

[Archivnummer / Bleistift, nicht original, untere Blattmitte]
425[?] –
danach ein zweiter Bleistiftzug: [... illegible]

Translation — English

[Address — original version, pale ink, later struck through]
Mrs.[?] Mina Kaufmann
622 West 141 St. Apt. 3 D        H.[?] Heller     <- this line struck through
New York City                                    <- struck through
U. S. A.                                          <- struck through

[Address — redirection, heavy dark ink, in another hand]
c/o [u?] Engel        (inserted between the name line and the old street line)
4006 Norfolk Ave
Baltimore, Maryland

[Sender's routing notes on the front]
[... illegible] to North America
(lower left; the beginning of the line lies in the torn-away left edge — on the companion envelope 001_018_0014 the corresponding note reads "Via Lisbon to North America")

[Printed label]
BY AIRMAIL
PAR AVION
BY AIR MAIL

[Sender]
No sender on this face. The return-address block is on the reverse (001_018_0019).

[Postmark]
One strike set at an angle across both stamps, the date bridge clearly legible:
  upper arc: MUNICH 2 [?]
  bridge: 9   25.10.4[1?]
  centre of the mark: swastika
  lower arc: CAPITAL OF THE M[OVEMENT]
Date digit by digit: 2 – 5 – . – 1 – 0 – . – 4 – [final digit hidden by the edge of the stamp, to be completed as 1]
The preceding "9" is to be read as the hour; it stands separately to the left of the date.

[Franking]
left: [value figure cut off by the upper envelope edge, not legible — possibly 25] Hindenburg medallion, "Deutsches Reich"
right: 40 (Pf) Hindenburg medallion, "Deutsches Reich", value 40 in both upper corners

[Censorship]
No censorship traces on this face — no sealing tape, no OKW handstamp, no examiner number. Censorship evidence on the reverse (001_018_0019).

[Postal note, pencil]
4 g[r?]   (upper left; weight)

[American forwarding marks]
large pale letter or sign (crayon/pencil) to the right of "Baltimore, Maryland" — [... illegible]
small fraction-like note beneath "Baltimore" — [... illegible]

[Archival number / pencil, not original, lower middle of the sheet]
425[?] –
followed by a second pencil stroke: [... illegible]

Historical context

This is the address side of a Munich airmail cover posted on 25 October 1941 to Mina Kaufmann at 622 West 141st Street in New York and then redirected, in an American hand, to 4006 Norfolk Ave, Baltimore, Maryland — the Baltimore connection recorded for her in the family finding aid. The reverse (001_018_0019) bears a New York arrival mark of 13 November 1941, so the letter took some three weeks over the Lisbon route. The date matters: 25 October 1941 falls two days after Himmler's ban on all further Jewish emigration from the Reich, and less than four weeks before the first mass deportation of Munich Jews to Kaunas on 20 November 1941, so this appears to be among the last letters the sender could still get out of Munich. The sender, Elsa Sara Oppenheimer of Arcisstraße 29/II, writes under the compulsory "Sara" middle name.

On this transcription

Machine transcription (claude-opus-5) — not yet checked against the original scan. 8 passages marked doubtful in the text.

Re-read from the original scan on 2026-07-28. Legibility: good. [?] marks are deliberate gaps, not transcription errors. Postmark, digit by digit: "2" and "5" are firm, the point, "1" and "0" are firm, the "4" of the year is firm; the second year digit is physically covered by the edge of the 40 Pf stamp and is NOT visible — I record it as 4[1?] and it is only the New York arrival of NOV 13 1941 on the reverse and the folder metadata that make 1941 the reading. Do not let "25.10.41" be quoted as fully read. The "9" standing left of the date is read as the hour; it could alternatively belong to the office designation, so the time should be treated as unconfirmed. Office name: "MÜNCHEN 2" — the "2" is clear, any further letters (a station abbreviation) are covered. Street number "141" in the struck-out line: this is the clearest writing of the number on either envelope and is what I used to settle the same number on 001_018_0014. Honorific: read "Fr." (Frau); "Mrs." cannot be excluded. "c/o [u?] Engel": there is a small letter, apparently "u", between "c/o" and "Engel" that I cannot account for. The struck-out word at the end of the street line is read "H.[?] Heller" — heavily cancelled; "Heller" is supported by the clean "c/o Heller" on 001_018_0014, the preceding initial is not. Left stamp value: the numeral is sliced off by the envelope edge; only the lower half of one digit survives. I do not assert 25 Pf — that is only an inference from the 40 Pf partner and the 65 Pf total franked on the companion cover. Lower-left routing note: only "nach Nordamerika" survives, the opening words are torn away. Pencil marks "4 g[r]" and "425[?] –" plus the scrawl beside it are the least legible things on the face. Revised readings: The struck-through lines initially looked like a single cancelled address block; on closer reading two ink campaigns are distinguishable — the sender's pale original address (name, 622 West 141 St., c/o Heller, New York City, U.S.A.) and a later dark-ink American redirection (c/o Engel, 4006 Norfolk Ave, Baltimore, Maryland). I have kept them separate rather than transcribing one continuous address. I also first read the pencil at the upper left as a number "49"; it is the weight note "4 g".