Bidspirit auction | German “J” passport from the

German “J” passport from the Nazi occupation, belonging to a Jew who immigrated to Eretz Israel on the ship Champollion - Viennese passport (Reisepass) issued in Vienna for Feiwel Nebenzahl, a Jew born in Gorlice, Poland, who lived in Vienna and immigrated to Eretz Israel on the ship “Champollion.” The passport bears the large red “J” stamp, which was added to the passports of Jews in Germany and Austria beginning in October 1938 in order to mark them and restrict their movement. Passport no. 71040. Date of issue: January 3, 1939. Feiwel Nebenzahl was born on May 29, 1873, in Gorlice, Galicia (today in Poland). He resided in Vienna, and his occupation, as recorded in the passport, was “commercial agent.” The passport documents Feiwel’s rapid race to obtain permits and leave Europe under Nazi rule. Vienna (January 19–20, 1939): Feiwel receives a business visa for travel to Belgium, valid for fifteen days. On the same day, he receives the long-awaited visa to Eretz Israel from the British Consulate in Vienna. The visa is of the “Category A” type (persons of means/self-employed). He travels from Vienna via Prague toward Western Europe - a transit stamp appears from Ruzyně Airport in Prague. In March 1939 he arrives in Marseille - an exit stamp from the Port of Marseille appears dated March 9, 1939. At the front of the passport is affixed a stamp of the shipping company Messageries Maritimes with an illustration of the ship “Champollion, ” one of the well-known ships that brought thousands of immigrants to Eretz Israel (numerous testimonies of Holocaust survivors, partisans, and illegal immigrants mention their journey to Eretz Israel aboard the “Champollion.” Perhaps the most notable among them is that of Haim Nahman Bialik, who sailed on the Champollion in December 1930 from Alexandria to Marseille, and the events of that voyage gave rise to his final story, “The Man of the Deck”). On March 21, 1939, he arrived at the Port of Haifa - a blue entry stamp of the Mandate Government at the Port of Haifa: “Permitted to remain permanently in Palestine as an immigrant.” A week later, on March 27, 1939, he arrived in Tel Aviv - a Tel Aviv Customs House stamp appears (Tel-Aviv Custom House). Feiwel managed to leave at the very last moment. Two months after his arrival in Eretz Israel, the British published the “White Paper” (May 1939), which severely restricted immigration, and half a year later the Second World War broke out. On the last page of the passport appears a rare document in its own right - a certificate from the Tax Office in Vienna (Finanzamt Innere Stadt-Ost) attesting to the payment of the “Reich Flight Tax” (Reichsfluchtsteuer) - this is a critical bureaucratic document from the period of the Third Reich, and it represents one of the most difficult economic obstacles placed before Jews who sought to emigrate. The document states: issuing authority: the “Reich Flight Tax” office for the State of Austria (after the Anschluss). Concerning: Feiwel Nebenzahl, residing at 30 Heinestraße (2nd district, Vienna - then a central Jewish district). The confirmation: the tax was paid on October 12, 1938. On the bottom line it is stated that an “Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung” (certificate of no objection) may be issued to him. This certificate was an essential document (a kind of financial “certificate of good standing”) proving that the individual had no outstanding debts to the state, and that an exit visa could be issued to him. This tax was originally introduced in Germany in 1931 (during the Weimar Republic) in order to prevent capital flight, but the Nazis turned it into an effective tool for the systematic expropriation of Jews. The tax rate required was 25% of the assessed value of all the emigrant’s assets (if these exceeded a certain amount). Feiwel paid the tax in October 1938, precisely around the time the passport-marking laws with the letter “J” were implemented. Only after this payment was he able to continue the process of obtaining visas. The fact that this document is affixed inside the passport shows how critical it was to his rescue - it served as the official proof for border officials and immigration police that Feiwel had been “cleared” of his assets according to Reich law and was therefore permitted to leave. In March 1938, Austria was annexed to Germany (the “Anschluss”). Following the annexation, approximately 200,000 Jews were added to the Reich, and they too were subjected to the Nuremberg Laws. The German Office for Jewish Affairs, headed by Adolf Eichmann, was responsible for enforcing the laws against the Jews and for their expulsion from Austria. Jews were dispossessed of their property and forced to emigrate beyond the borders of Germany, or even beyond territories under German control, in accordance with Nazi policy. The confiscated funds were used to finance their expulsion, and the remainder was transferred to the German treasury. In March 1938,