Passport : Paper : Printed, Handwritten : Ink : Beige, Black, Brown, Red ; Ht: 6,5 in. x W: 4,25 in.
Other Title Information
Documentary Artifact
Date
July 31, 1939
Physical Condition
Excellent
Language
German
Notes
32 pages, bound with staples. Soft brown cover with Reichsadler in centre. First page has J stamped in red ink to designate the subject as Jewish. Subject's name has been modified to include the middle name Israel as another identifying measure. Second page has b&w photograph of subject at top left corner, affixed with a metal grommet. Signature beneath photo also has the second name Israel added. Third page contains physical description of subject and lists his occupation as merchant. Passport numbered 86539, issued July 31, 1939 Pages 6-7 contain multiple stamps needed to leave Germany and enter England. Narrative: The middle name Israel is added to passport holder Edgar Strauss' name as per the Second Ordinance on the Implementation of the Law on the Amendment of Surnames and Family Names of 17 August 1938. This law aimed to identify German Jews by their first names. Unless they already had a name “viewed by the German people as a typical Jewish name", they had to take the name Israel or Sara starting in January 1939. The Law on the Amendment of Surnames and Family Names and its amendments were prepared by the Ministry of the Interior and written by Hans Globke. The implementation of this regulation is seen as "the first attempt at a general, external marking of the Jews" (See reference: Uwe Dietrich Adam: Judenpolitik im Dritten Reich. Unv. Nachdr. Düsseldorf 2003, ISBN 3-7700-4063-5, S. 120.) Edgar Strauss, was born in 1909 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany. He was forced to stop his studies, and then lost his job due to Nazi anti-Jewish laws. During the Kristallnacht pogroms in 1938, he was arrested and interned in Dachau. Upon release, he fled to Luxembourg but returned to Germany for fear of reprisals against his father. In August 1939, Edgar obtained this passport and the necessary visas to leave the country. He travelled to England, arriving in Harwich, where he worked in a machine shop. After the Battle of Dunkirk in June 1940, the UK interned all Germans as enemy aliens. Edgar was sent first to the Isle of Man, and then to internment camps in Canada. He spent time in Camp T in Trois-Rivières, Quebec; Camp B, in New Brunswick, and Camp I, Île aux Noix, Quebec. He was released in 1942, and settled in Montreal.
Receipt : Cardstock : printed, handwritten
: Ink : beige, black ; Ht: 4,25 in. x W: 1,5 in.
Other Title Information
Documentary Artifact
Date
November 30, 1938
Physical Condition
Good
Language
German
Notes
1 page. One-sided receipt for 15 RM sent to Edgar Strauss while he was interned in Dachau concentration camp. Narrative: Edgar Strauss, was born in 1909 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany. He was forced to stop his studies, and then lost his job due to Nazi anti-Jewish laws. During the November pogroms (Kristallnacht) of 1938, he was arrested and interned in Dachau concentration camp (Germany). Upon release, he fled to Luxembourg but returned to Germany for fear of reprisals against his father. In August 1939, Edgar obtained this passport and the necessary visas to leave the country. He travelled to England, arriving in Harwich, where he worked in a machine shop. After the Battle of Dunkirk in June 1940, the United Kingdom interned all German citizens as enemy aliens. Edgar was sent first to the Isle of Man, and then to internment camps in Canada. He spent time in Camp T in Trois-Rivières, Quebec; Camp B, in New Brunswick, and Camp I, Île aux Noix, Quebec. He was released in 1942, and settled in Montreal.
Edgar Strauss was born on June 11, 1909 in Ludwigshafen, Germany, to a Conservative Jewish family. He was unable to complete law studies because of antisemitic laws and was dismissed from the Civil Service due to the Weiderherstellung des Berufbeamtentums (Nazi reorganization of the Civil Service to eliminate Jews). In November 1938, Edgar experienced Kristallnacht and was interned at Dachau concentration camp. After his release one month later, he went to Luxembourg but returned for fear of reprisals against his father. Edgar obtained a passport and visa and on August 15, 1939 he left for the United Kingdom where he worked in a machine shop. His father was deported to Gurs; he survived the war in that camp because he was in the hospital when deportations to Auschwitz took place. In June 1940, after Dunkirk, Edgar was interned by the British as an enemy alien. He was sent to the Isle of Man and from there to Trois Rivières, Québec; New Brunswick; and Ile -Aux- Noix, Québec, respectively. In 1942, the Canadian government began to release internees to work. Edgar settled in Montreal.