Passports Exhibit
Passports are formal documents issued by a government that state that an individual is a citizen of a particular country, with the rights of that country. Passports are primarily used for travel and/or identification. The Nuremberg race laws of September 15, 1935, stated that Jews were no longer Reich (German) citizens. Yet, Jews still had German Passports. On October 5, 1938, the Reich Ministry of the Interior invalidated all German passports held by Jews. Jews had to turn in their passports so they could have the letter “J” (for Jew) stamped on them. By August of 1938, German authorities declared that Jews with a “non-Jewish” first name had to add “Israel” or “Sara” to their name. Jews in Nazi-occupied countries also had these requirements.
Studying Holocaust-era passports can be fascinating. One can see the stamped “J” and the added Israel/Sara that show compliance with the laws. One can also see a photo and a name, which enables us to relate to the individual. We learn other information such as birthdate, birthplace, height, weight, eye color, and hair color. We can also analyze the handstamps to see where an individual has traveled, and we can assume that the person remained in the country that made the last handstamp in the passport. During the Holocaust when Jews and other persecuted groups were desperate to leave Nazi-occupied lands, passports marked with a “J” could be a death sentence while some passports, issued by free countries, could be lifesavers. Explore the passports in this collection.
HELENI S. POUTTIDOU
WWII Passport of Heleni S. Pouttidou, issued by Greek Authorities to a 46-year-old Jewish woman who managed to escape to the USSR following the Nazi takeover of Greece in April 1941. She went to Turkey and then by train via Syria and Lebanon to Palestine. As an illegal immigrant, she did not get permanent permission to stay but was considered a temporary resident. Permission was extended seven times, from August 1942 until February 1947 as evidenced by the many Palestine hand stamps. This passport shows dozens of visas, transit and consular handstamps, including many permits of the Greek Consulate in Jerusalem as well as about 15 Greek and Turkish adhesives. This passport shows a woman’s unending quest to escape WWII and the ultimate reward of getting to safety.
MAZALTOB LEVY
United Kingdom passport issued by the British Consulate in Lisbon on March 24, 1941, to Mazaltob Levy, a “British Subject by Birth”. The passport claims she was born in Lisbon, on December 23, 1911. We will never know if she was British by birth. Many Jews from Nazi-occupied lands went away from Germany. Some went east to Russia and became trapped there and were unable to escape. Many others fled west to the free part of France. From France, many continued to go on foot across the heavily guarded border of Spain and then across the dangerous Pyrenees to Portugal. In Portugal, many Jews were able to obtain exit visas and leave mainland Europe.
KURT SCHNEIDERMANN
German passport with “J” handstamp of Kurt Schneidermann of Breslau, Germany.
Details: Kurt Schneidermann
Passport issued: December 17, 1934, and expires December 16, 1939, unless extended. He is a businessman, born in Breslau, Germany on January 12, 1893. He is of medium height, with an elongated face, grey eyes, and black hair. He has no distinguishing marks.
We see from the hand stamps that on November 22, 1938, Kurt crossed the Austria/Slovenia border at the Rosenbach German Border Police Post Station by train on the way out of Germany.
A Palestine Tourist visa was granted in Berlin in early 1939, just after Kristallnacht (November 9/10, 1938). He has permission to remain in Palestine until April 30, 1939, on the condition that he neither seeks work nor accepts work.
MELANIE BRÜGL
Born in Vienna, Austria on June 7, 1899
Residence: Vienna, Austria
Nationality: Deutsches Reich (German)
Profession: physician
Height: short
Facial features: oval
Eye color: grey
Hair color: brown
Passport issued in Vienna on March 2, 1939, and expires on March 2, 1940.
Valid for domestic and international use
Stamped: Passport holder is allowed to take 10RM (reichsmark) out of the country.
Stamps: Entry into Sillian, Italy on May 5, 1939, and exited from Sillian, Italy on May 10, 1939.
The German border crossing (exit stamp), dated May 5, 1939, is from the Austrian town of Sillian. After the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938, Sillian was Nazi Germany's border with Italy.
The passport is stamped with an entry visa for China. She was going to Shanghai. In the 1930s and early 1940s, Shanghai was an International City without entry restrictions. Feng-Shan Ho, the Chinese Consul-General in Vienna, issued thousands of “official” entry visas to Shanghai so that Jews could obtain a Nazi exit visa. Shanghai and the Dominican Republic were the only places that admitted an unlimited number of Jews. Living in Shanghai was very different from living in Europe, plus the city was in chaos as thousands of refugees arrived monthly. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and Shanghai’s wealthy Jewish Iraqi families, spent massive amounts of money to set up housing, soup kitchens and assist immigrants with finding jobs.
SIEGFRIED BRESLAUER
Page 1: Photo of Siegfried Breslauer
Page 2:
Issuing authority: President of the Police, Department II Berlin, February 21, 1939
Children’s Passport Nr. B449/38
(Only valid until age 15)
Family name: Breslauer, is certified on March 23, 1939, by the Chief of the 88th Police Station. Signed Albrecht
First name: Siegfried Israel (note that the Nazis added the name “Israel” as a middle name for all Jewish males.)
Born: December 16, 1927, in Berlin
Citizenship: Stateless (Jews were not allowed to be citizens after 1933)
Permanent Residence: Berlin, Germany
Page 3:
Entry stamp into Italy. March 28, 1939
Entry stamp into Palestine. March 31, 1939, in Haifa
Page 4:
Government of Palestine, Department of Migration: Allowed to stay until April 3, 1941, while attending Maaleh Secondary School.
Handwritten: Delivered five packages of personal items on June 7, 1939.
This is a child’s passport for “stateless” German Jew Siegfried Breslauer, age 12 in 1939. Siegfried was able to emigrate without his family. Siegfried was enrolled in a school for immigrant children in Jerusalem, Palestine. Founded in the early 1930s, the Maaleh School had primary and secondary education and Hebrew classes for immigrants.
Page 5:
I hereby declare that I agree that my son Siegfried Israel Breslauer will emigrate to Palestine in a group transport led by Mr. Kurt Eisinger leaving Berlin on Monday, March 27, 1939. Dated and signed: Berlin, March 2, 1939, by Josef Israel Breslauer.