Sara and Israel Middle Names

When Hitler was elected to power on March 22, 1933, he immediately started to change German laws to take things from the Jews, including citizenship, property, and professional degrees. On August 27, 1938, he finally gave the Jews something: He required the Jews to assume a middle name. All female Jews were to take the middle name of Sara, and all male Jews, Israel. This addition had to appear on all documents: passports, land titles, court papers, and so on. With regards to the postal system, this made it easier to identity Jewish mail for censorship.

This cover was sent air mail from Martha Sara Lipmann in Hannover, Germany, to Cleveland, Ohio, on September 11, 1939.

This cover contains an example of the Israel middle name: Max “Israel” Schlesinger. This letter was sent from Vienna to Shanghai, China, on July 11, 1941.

This letter was sent via air mail from Vineland, NJ, to Paul “Israel” Herzberg in Essen, Germany.

It was postmarked October 21, 1941, before the US had entered the war. The marking Zurück (Return to sender) sent it back to New York, and it arrived on August 31, 1942, after the US had entered the war.

Back Next