Jewish Agency For Palestine In Berlin
Jewish Agency For Palestine In Berlin
In 1929, the Jewish Agency for Palestine was officially created by the 16th Zionist Congress, held in Zurich, Switzerland. The agency included several Jewish non-Zionist individuals and organizations interested in a Jewish settlement in Palestine. They were philanthropic rather than political, and many opposed talk of a Jewish State.
The document shown is significant as it reflects the work of the Jewish Agency for Palestine in Berlin during the Nazi regime and the Holocaust. The house in Berlin where the office was located was purchased in 1925 by the “Jewish Review.” She was the central organ of the Zionist Federation of Germany and, until their ban in 1938, the most critical communication organ of the Jews living in Germany. The Jewish Agency for Palestine in Berlin was closed in 1941. Still, it was able till then to support immigration for around 50.000 people to Palestine, which means saving Jewish lives on certain death due to the Holocaust.
The document confirms to Mr. Gustav Liebling, a German Jew, that a travel credit letter to immigrate to Palestine until January 1937 was granted. The letter itself was issued in December 1936. Since April 1933, just a few months after the Nazis came into power, several “Jewish” restrictions were already in force. Mr. Liebling, I guess, has foreseen that life for Jews in Germany will become impossible and took early actions for an emigration.
Just a few months later, from July 1937, the Nazis issued only under very tight circumstances passports for Jews. From October 1938, passports of Jews were marked with the infamous big red “J,” and after the beginning of WWII, it was almost impossible for Jews to leave Nazi Germany.
As said earlier, the Jewish Agency For Palestine In Berlin documents are rare to find, and I am glad to share this important document with you.
