Description:

AUSTRIAN JEW FLEES TO AUSTRALIA
A most interesting Third Reich-era document, an original "reisepass" ("passport"), 32pp. 12mo., issued to Alfred Bloch, a Viennese Jew. The passport was issued to Bloch on April 12, 1939 by the Chief of Police in Vienna. The front page lists the holder''s name as "Alfred Israel Bloch", and is stamped with a large red "J", indicating his Jewish background. Under a German law adopted in August 1938, all Jewish men and women were required to add "Israel" and "Sara" to their names, respectively, and all passports stamped with the red "J". Bloch''s photograph and signature are present on the second page. The passport also lists Bloch''s two-year-old son, Heinrich Martin. Only twelve days after receiving his passport, on April 24, Bloch receives a visa permitting him to immigrate to Australia via the Dutch port of Rotterdam. Ink notations surrounding the visa stamp indicate that he is traveling without his son, and that he will embark aboard the ship BALOREAN at Rotterdam. The passport is stamped at Rotterdam in May 4; the next stamp, added at the port of Colombo in Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) on June 1, allows him shore leave while his ship is in harbor. The Balorean arrives at Batavia on June 9, and Bloch embarks aboard another ship, the MANILA MARU. The final stamp, dated June 17, confirms that he arrived in Australia at Thursday Island, which lies in the Torres Strait between New Guinea and Australia. No further entries are present. All told, approximately 7,000 German and Austrian Jews fled to Australia before the outbreak of World War II in September of 1939. The passport shows minor wear, else very good.

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September 14, 2017 11:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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