Passport of a German Jew. Deutsches Reich Reisepass. Marked with the Letter "J"

Passport of a German Jew. Deutsches Reich Reisepass. Marked with the Letter "J"

Passport of a Jew named Ernst Salomon Kopolowitz, born in Warsaw, marked with the letter "J" [Jude]. The name Israel was also added, per the racist anti-Semitic laws of the Nazis. Kopolowitz miraculously escaped the Nazi claws. He fled from Poland, traveled through a number of European countries, until he reached Palestine. Includes all the stamps from the countries that he passed through on his journey.

The stamp "J" was added by the Nazis when he was still in Warsaw, only two months after the Nazi law went into effect demanding that Jews mark their passport with this letter, on 16/12/1938. [The law was passed on the 5th of October of that  year.] Kopolowitz left Warsaw on the 31st of December, 1938. On the 15th of January, 1939 - about two weeks later - he reached Riga, Latvia. Two days later he arrived in France and, on the 25th of February, he reached Italy. About a month later, on the 20th of March 1939, he arrived in Palestine [the passport bears the stamp of the "Government of Palestine" and of the city of Haifa.]

On the 5th of October 1938, as a supplement to the Nuremberg Laws introduced to isolate the Jews, the Reich issued a law invalidating the passports of Jewish citizens until they were marked with the letter J. On January 1, 1939 another clause was added obligating Jews with "non-Jewish" names to add the name "Israel' or "Sarah."

This is a unique passport where the anti-Semitic additions are clearly marked. The letter J appeared on the 16th of December 1938, before the institution of the law demanding the name "Israel." When the second law came into effect on the 1st of January, 1939, the name "Israel" was added. This name was added to the passport between the first and last name of the passport holder. It was added above the first and last name, obviously after the passport was initially processed. This is different than most known Jewish passports from the era,  in which the names Israel and Sarah were included when the passports were first issued. Both Jewish identity marks, the letter J and the name "Israel" appear. There are very few known passports with the letter "J" that were held by Jews who managed to escape the Nazi claws and reach Palestine.

Includes: Eight Nazi Reich stamps with the eagle on top of a swastika, passport picture of Kopolowitz, 10 Latvian stamps, stamps and seals from various European countries where the passport holder fled and Palestine stamps.

The front jacket is partially detached. Fine condition.