This week in FYS 183, we looked at some last letters that were sent by people in World War II.
One thing I found particularly interesting when reading the two letters was the tone. They both seemed to be rushed and filtered. The first letter I read was said to be written by someone else but signed by the person sending it.
When reading the background information on the second letter I sent, I learned that there was a group of people who helped camp inmates during WWII and also smuggled adults and children into Switzerland. I found this very intriguing and I even looked more into this.
Something that I found strange when we were having our class discussion on these letters was the reoccurring theme of filtering, whether it be self-censorship or third person censorship (which was very popular in concentration camps).
One question I had was why was the letter from Meier Vieirja not written in his own handwriting but signed by him? I’m curious as to what he was going through personally, during this time.
Another thing that raised a question was the filtering itself within the letters. I am wondering how many letters were written per day. Did the guards spend a lot of their time censoring the letters?
An AHA moment for me was when I saw that there was a part that was censored out that expressed condolences on the death of Meier’s uncle. This was also the same letter that was not written by the sender but signed in his handwriting.