Single franking of the 25Pf Hindenburg Medallion stamp on cover to one Norbert Gruenberg in the Jewish / German expatriate ghetto in Shanghai, China where a large population of Jews had fled from the Holocaust. At this time few countries were accepting the Jewish refugees; the US certainly wasn't. Roosevelt had ordered away a large shipload of refugees in 1939. All returned to Europe, and a majority were eventually exterminated. The 1939 Refugee Bill to allow 20,000 German (Jewish) children into the country was defeated, leaving these children at the mercy of the Nazis. [Defining America Through Immigration Policy, 2004, Bill Ong Hing and Anthony D. Romero]. Rough condition as per scan, with Shanghai circular and rolling handstamp receivers reverse. Sent via Siberia, with multiple Chinese cancels/censors and German censor marks.

From inmate in Weimar-Buchenwald back home to Sudetenland / Czechoslovakia. This is a so-called 'Geiselpost', or hostage-letter item from one of the Czech nationals rounded up in 1939 as hostages for the good behavior of the Czech nation. There is an explanatory note included to this effect from Dieter Landrock.