Jewish Reisepasses?

[reidii]

Could you guys help me out here? So these look like these would be Jewish passports of people getting out - I see 41 already I am quite new to this - so please be easy on me here - thanks for any help with details and figuring these out. Sincerely.

These are being mailed to me - I found them at a cheap price. I also saw Uruguay so I thought that would be one of the places to leave to - thanks!

[OKW]

The last lady must have had some pull. or been very rich. Visiting the police in Berlin in 1941 to get her papers stamped and not being concerned about being 'evacuated to the east'. The stamp for Templehof, don't know whether its coming or going, but to beable to get a flight from Berlin in September 1945 shows great influence somewhere. Berlin just after the battle and the Soviet occupation when food was short, no power, heating or transport and the currency cigarettes.

[SteveR]

On all legal documents for Jews in Nazi Germany the females had to add the name Sara after their legal name and the men had to add Israel. I do not think they are Jewish folks.

[OKW]

I think you'll find they are. Classic escape route probably through Italy which didn't have an anti Jewish policy, day trip boat to Malta, then under British control, next step Harwich another British port with a visa for transit only conditions, you ain't staying here mate, to Uruguay, which to its credit was one of the few countries prepared to take Jewish refugees at the time

[Historiker]

Hello,

Numbers one and two predate the Nazi decree dated August 17, 1938 requiring the use of the middle names "Sara" and "Isreal" for Jews, so the fact that they do not have those middle names in them does not rule out the possibility that their original bearers were Jewish. I believe that number one is defintely Jewish, primarily because the visas indicate a one way journey only. OKW is also correct when he states that Uraguay was one of the few countries accepting Jewish refugees from Germany. This visa trail is what you would expect to see for Jewish Germans leaving at that time.

Number two is problematic for me, as it was issued at a German Consulate abroad, meaning at the time it was issued the bearer was not resident in Germany. I see indications that the location of residence (Wohnort) was changed to Berlin, but cannot offer an opinion on this one without studying the entire document.

Number three is also problematic for me. I had a Jewish passport in my collection from 1941 for a woman who was able to get out to the USA, but that passport had the middle name "Sara" and the large Gothic "J" on it that characterizes post-1938 passports for Jews. In addition, if memory serves it was only valid for six months, just long enough for her to organize her trip (by boat from Hamburg) and get gone, while this one has the standard five year validity period for German passports of that time. The notation on the last page temporarily extends the passport's validity after the War and is sealed with what looks to be an adminstrative stamp, probably from the Tempelhof district (area around the airport). I don't believe it has anything to do with air travel or the airport. There is the fact that her last name is "Stein", although I find it hard to believe she escaped deportation and survived the War inside Germany, as this poassport clearly indicates was the case, unless she went underground. Also, I'm puzzled by the fact that it was issued for "Inland" travel and did not authorize her to travel abroad. Her profession is listed as a teacher, yet by 1941 Jews were long barred from the teaching professions. There are too many puzzling questions on this one, and I can't make a determination either way without further information.

Historiker
Bill B.

[huddyhuddy]

Hi,

If the passport is dating from before 1938, the end of the year, then the holder could have been Jewish but one could not tell since the names Sara and Israel where not added before August, or lets say after Kristalnacht, at the request of the Swiss. Yet, an earlier passport made use of to get out of Germany after 1938, would have had the "J" applied on the front page or cover later on.

I added a sample here from such a passport used to escape to China, Shanghai in 1939, issued to a Jew from Berlin.

Neil.

[huddyhuddy]

Here is a document where the Jewish person was added the name SARA (she was deported to Lodz Ghetto on 23.10.41).