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Accession Number: NEKHC:2013.37 Object: Envelope Physical Description: Paper envelope, stamped with red ink, handwritten address in black ink. Complete  Information: This Red Cross Envelope forms part of the Ellen Rawson Collection. It was used by Ellen's parents to send Ellen a letter after she had settled in England.

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Further Information:

This Red Cross envelope forms part of the Ellen Rawson Collection, Ellen was born in 1922 in Königsberg, East Prussia. The family lived there happily during Ellen’s early childhood. They kept many of the Jewish holidays, and religion was an important part of family life.

As the family were Jewish, their business and home was taken from them during the Holocaust. Ellen survived as she was sent away from the increasing persecution to England on the Kindertransport, and  accordingly this envelope is addressed to Ellen, who at the time was living in Nottinghamshire. The letter within it was written by Ellen's parents, Hans and Margarete, who had been forced into a Ghetto with Ellen's youngest brother, Heinz.

The envelope is stamped 'British Red Cross and St. John War Organisation', as the Red Cross facilitated communication between people as far as it found possible during the Second World War. Communication was difficult though, letters were restricted for length and content, and subject to Nazi scrutiny. Ellen's parents were able to maintain contact for a short time and establish that Ellen was safe in England. However both her parents, Hans and Margarete, were murdered during the Holocaust.

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