Okay; now we’re in my territory!
I began collecting militaria 33 years ago, after reading some of the more famous WW2 escape books; I have always had a particular interest in POW-related items, and especially in escape-related aids (both smuggled in, and camp-made).
First off: Red Cross parcels were never, ever used for contraband–the main reason being that the IRC knew that if anything was ever found by the Germans (and there was a long period where they insisted on each and every tin being opened in their presence), then they would no longer allow the food parcels in. During the last winter of the war (1944-45), the rail lines and road in Germany (including occupied Poland) were so badly disrupted that the flow of parcels slowed to a trickle, and many Allied POWs became malnourished.
Since the Germans were feeding Allied prisoners on a bare minimum basis (very watery soup, erzatz coffee, mint tea, bread with a proportion of sawdust, etc.), the POWs relied on the food parcels to get appropriate calorie levels. The ideal plan was one parcel per man per week. parcels were not sent to POWs by name, but rather were sent in bulk. Each parcel contained roughly 15 items, tinned milk, meat, fish, eggs (dried), prunes, dehydrated vegetables, a bar of soap, a bar of chocolate, etc.
Here’s a detailed list (and photo) of the contents of a British Red Cross Food parcel.
Various countries packed and sent the parcels through the IRC; the contents of each nation’s parcels differed slightly, according to national taste or availability. The Canadian parcel was a favourite; it contained a 1-pound tin of real butter (Eatonia brand), whereas all the other countries contained margarine. The Canadian parcel also contained an 8-oz tin of “KLIM,” a powdered whole milk that was useful in cooking, but the tin itself was turned into cooking utensils, cooking pots, crucibles for melting lead (for fake German badges) and most famously, provided the air ducts in escape tunnels.
I have been able to get three (empty!) WW2 Red Cross food parcel boxes; one each of the Canadian, British and Scottish Red Cross; there are also US, Australian, New Zealand and South African ones, and although I have never heard tell, I assume that there must have been an Indian version, meeting the dietary needs of Sikh/Hindu troops, captured in North Africa and held in Italy (later Germany).
Now: contraband. This was received in the camps by three main methods:
i) concealed in uniforms (that is, the POW already had these hidden on him when captured); examples are the various small compasses concealed inside brass buttons, or as fly buttons, among other ruses.
ii) sent in parcels from spurious POW welfare agencies (which were in reality “fronts” for MI9), such as the “Prisoner’s Leisure Hours Fund.” Such things as German money (contraband for a POW to possess), was hidden inside phonograph records, as were well-produced false papers (blank, to be filled in as and when required). In some cases (such as in Colditz), the POWs were forewarned when to expect “naughty” parcels, and steal them out of the parcels store before the Germans examined them. (Roughly one in ten British officers had been taught a simple method for sending coded messages in letters home).
iii) obtained illicitly by black market activity or blackmailing German guards.
(there is a fourth category, escape aids manufactured within the camp itself–like crude wirecutters made from bedframe parts, fake documents, lockpicks, etc).
Here are the playing cards the OP mentioned, along with a phonograph record containing money, wire saws contained in shoelaces, etc. The illustrations are from a book titled “Per Ardua Libertas,” which reprints a 1945 Royal Air Force manual of escape aids. Escape equipment. I have seen a set of these cards on display at the RAF Museum in Hendon, London. I’ve never been lucky enough to find any in my searching, though!
I have been fortunate enough to find several button-type compasses, a short hacksaw blade hidden inside a little rubber ruler, fly-button compasses, a mini-telescope (sent into camps inside the handle of badminton racquets), and a number of silk maps (which actually aren’t rare).
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