As a head of barrack 34, I take the liberty of addressing you with the following plea, in the name of my comrades, Yugoslav officer inmates of Mosaic faith resident in this camp:
In accordance with the order of the German police in Belgrade, on December 12, 1941, all Jews in Belgrade, regardless of age, sex, and health condition, were interned in the camp at Sajmište, by the Zemun bridge. This horrific measure affected many of us, inmates in this camp, who left our women and children, brothers and sisters, and elderly parents in Belgrade, since with this development any connection we had with them has been severed. Since December 12 last year, only twice have any news reached us from Sajmište, and the majority of us have had no information whatsoever for almost six months about our loved ones in Sajmište, even though we are sending mail regularly to that camp.
Desperate because of uncertainty about the fate of our loved ones in the said camp, after a difficult winter without firewood and anyone's protection, I have, on two occasions, as an elder of the barrack and in the name of my comrades, addressed the Serbian Red Cross, and on one occasion the Department for Prisoners of War, asking them to 1) allow for the reestablishment of postal connection between us and our loved ones at Sajmište, and 2) that aid that we get as officers be delivered to our families, that is, be given as food by the Red Cross, because they are certainly starving at the camp. Unfortunately, neither of these two institutions had any sympathy for us officers who, like other Serbian comrades, remained faithful to the King and the Fatherland, and they did not reply to my appeals, leaving us in despair and uncertainty.
For these reasons, General, I kindly ask you to intervene on our behalf with the Serbian Red Cross in Belgrade: to make sure that our letters and postcards are delivered to our families at the camp, as well as allow them to reply to them; that the Red Cross deliver to our families, against our officer aid, which [our loved ones] have not received since December of last year, aid in goods—food, to the extent possible.
Certainly the Red Cross should inform us whether our loved ones in the camp are alive and well.
In case, however, that the camp at Sajmište has been relocated, we ask that the above be considered in that case as well, so that we can reestablish contact with our hapless families forgotten by everyone—the elementary right of prisoners of war, according to the [Geneva] Convention.
Reminding you of your verbal promise that you would help us in this matter, I am imploring you, General, to have sympathy for us, suffering unspeakably for our families, and I am also conveying to you, in the name of my comrades, our deepest gratitude.
Eversheide, May 26, 1942