Print - The Canadian Jewish Heritage Network - Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives

Physical Description: Identification card : Paper : Ink : Grey, Black, Yellow, Blue ; Ht: 6 in. x W: 4 in.

Physical Description: Identification card : Paper : Ink : Grey, Black, Yellow, Blue ; Ht: 6 in. x W: 4 in.

Notes: Double-panel document with vertical fold down centre. Cover has large black J printed on front, under 'Deutches Reich' (German Reich, trad.) Document issued to Karl Friedrich Cahn, of Mainz, Germany, on January 4, 1939. As per Nazi racial laws, Mr. Cahn has taken on the middle name of 'Israel' as an identifying measure. There is a large yellow J printed on the inner left panel. Document numbered A 00030, expiration date January 4, 1944. Small b&w photograph of cardholder on right panel affixed with staples, 2 fingerprints in black ink on right of photo. Under photo is cardholder's signature. At bottom of panel is signature and stamp of the President of the Police in Mainz. Narrative: Karl Friedrich Cahn was the father of the donor, Frank (Franz) Cahn. The Cahn family (Frank, his 2 brothers, his parents and maternal grandmother) obtained visas and ewere able to immigrate to Canada, arriving in Halifax on March 5, 1939. The visas had been requested by William M. BIrks as a personal favor from then-Prime Minister William Mackenzie King. William M. Birks, a prominent Montreal businessman, had purchased goods from the Cahn jewelery factory before the war, and knew Frank's grandparents. As the situation for Jews in Germany grew increasingly desperate, his grandmother wrote to Mr. Birks and asked him for help. Karl had been sent to Buchenwald during Kristallnacht, and the entry visa to Canada enabled his release from the concentration camp.