Description
Wartime incoming civilian mail / Detention Camps: 22 FEB 1945 registered cover from ROUSSE Bulgaria to "Camp 5"/JERUSALEM, franked 20 Leva & tied by 3 strikes of local postmark; backstamped 27-2-45 ISTANBUL(?) transit; opened & passed Palestine censor in JERUSALEM KK/27788 (Sacher unlisted) & tied by octogonal handstamp KK/3 (Sach-Q22); backstamped REG JERUSALEM (most missing as flap tip torn off) but re-routed: 9 MR 45 JAFFA-REGISTERED (GD-26) arrival. Cut open at top, piece missing front. As postal relations between Palestine & Bulgaria renewed on 28 Feb. 1945, this may be one of first covers received since re-establishment of postal service. "Camp 5" ("care of [Palestine Police] Assistant Inspector General Criminal Investigations Department" - AIG CID) was detention camp for German civilians, in Wilhelma near Jaffa; oddly, the sender's name ("Pincas") is Jewish. Scarce origin & rate; well documented.
