Official letter sheet sent from the Berlin Tax Office (Steuerkasse). Featuring official 'MB' perfin on Mi.485. Ref: 20.06.1934 - 24/12 20th June 1934 Title Official letter sheet sent from the Berlin Tax Office (Steuerkasse). Featuring official 'MB' perfin on Mi.485. Ref: 20.06.1934 - 24/12 'MB' (Mitte Berlin) perfin from official correspondence shown above. Ref: 20.06.1934 - 24/12 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Commercial postcard sent from A. Dotterweich & Co. to Emil Israel in Oppach. Featuring two Mi.548 Hindenburg mourning stamps. Ref: 14.11.1934 14th November 1934 Emil Israel Commercial postcard sent from A. Dotterweich & Co. to Emil Israel in Oppach. Featuring two Mi.548 Hindenburg mourning stamps. Ref: 14.11.1934 What's in a name? - Emil Israel - of Jewish origin? Answers from the internet David, John, Reuben, Rachel, Sarah, Naomi, Ruth - & many, many others - are Jewish names which have been adopted by non-Jews. Some are common, some are rare. Any Biblical name can be, & in most cases has been, used by Christians. When surnames were adopted, it was quite common to use a father’s personal name plus ‘son’ - & sometimes the ‘son’ was omitted. It’s possible that your ancestors were Jewish, or converts, but the name by itself doesn’t prove anything. I have never come across anyone with the surname “Israel” who was not Jewish, but that does not mean they do not exist. Your ancestors may have converted a long time ago, or perhaps they never were Jewish in the first place. Having a surname like that in the Nazi era would certainly have been a red flag and you can be sure someone would have researched your family tree if the family was in Germany at that time. If your family was left alone by the Nazis, it can only be because any Jewish ancestors you may have are far back enough to be free of the restrictions imposed by the Nuremberg laws. All of the people I know (including some of my own ancestors!) who have the last name of Israel are Jews. Unfortunately, many Jews were forcibly converted and horrifyingly some even chose to become Christians (although a Jew is always a Jew). I know a family who changed their surname to Israel after the father converted to Judaism, based on a line in the Tanach (Jewish Bible) about people changing their name to Israel. Also, there is a Christian teaching that CHristians are the new ISrael, so I guess it is possible that Christians would take on the name Israel to emphasize that belief. I am understanding from your question that your ancestors went by that name in the early 1800s but not in the 1930s-1940s, when such a name would have landed them in the round-up bringing them to slaughter. So if they were indeed Jews in the early 1800s, they may have unfortunately become Christians. Benjamin D’Israeli is the best known example of this: Israel in his name, but sadly the family ‘converted’ to Christianity to have rights and social mobility. A word such as Israel, was given to the 3rd patriarch of the Israelite people; that is Jacob. One of Jacob's sons was called Judah. Judah is the father of the Jewish people. The two terms became synonymous, after the Babylonian return to the land that God had given to Abraham, the 1st patriarch, and his sons forever. So generally speaking Israel and Jew imply the same culture, but such only developed with the passage of time, especially the disappearance of 'the 10 lost tribes'. These tribes never disappeared. Instead they were assimilated into the main Israelite body, Judah's tribe. Interestingly enough, early Christianity, as a body referred to itself as the "true House of Israel". And so it is not impossible to have the name that preceded Judah, and have no Jewish past whatsoever. But such is highly unlikely. As I pointed out "generally speaking Israel and Jew imply the same culture", but remember that the exception is what verifies a rule. Odds that some male was Jewish are high. It’s difficult to conceive of a surname Israel that isn’t Jewish. There is a chance the name was something close to Israel and switched, perhaps someone who worked with iron - Eisenhower - but that’s a stretch. It’s doubly a stretch because a) Jews were often mis-treated, as in locked in behind gates at night and sometimes massacred, and b) Jewish last names started to appear in Germany around that time because the authorities demanded they stop with the ‘son of’ stuff. Odds that someone would choose a Jewish last name while not Jewish are really low.I’ll add some detail. My name is often considered Jewish but nearly all the people with it are Lutheran and, who knows, we all may come from the same person at some point in time. The name came to me from my grandfather Kostya (Koss) Kurtzman, who was from Kiev. (As an aside, I did not know his name until I was cleaning out my grandmother’s apartment after her death and I discovered their citizenship papers. The people I knew as Kenneth and Jean were actually Kostya and Sonya. I have his wallet and every piece of ID in it says Koss. And her name was typed as Joan (!) but I guess she preferred Jean.) I know literally nothing about my family tree on my father’s father’s side. On his mother’s side, I have my great-great-grandfather’s passport which says his last name was Racowicki (or Rackowicz, etc.). The family name is Rackoff, but the passport was issued under Polish control so Polish spelling. And the first name is something we’ve never seen. I mention this because names can change. An example, my mother’s mother’s family name became Weine but was Wanger which my uncle believes was a corruption of a descriptive for Hungarian, that they were from Magyar. Since Weine is recent, it doesn’t refer to ‘wine merchant’. In my opinion, it’s probably more like Wagner, something having to do with carts because people used carts a lot.Some of his ideas are clever reaches. Example: he traced the other last name Gelfand - which is elephant, like in Oliphant as well - to Hamburg and he thinks it may mean they lived near the zoo but I think it’s more likely a name rooted in Olaf, which refers to heritage and thus son of your heritage. This idea connects at a Jewish humor level: elephant is about memory and so is Olaf so it’s a play on heritage. It actually converts the ‘son of’ naming convention into a memory of the naming convention.A name like Schwartz is typically taken to mean dark hair or complexion but, since dark hair is common, it could also be - and more likely is, IMO - an oblique reference to a group of people who trace their origins perhaps toward Spain and other places where Jews were expelled. It could also refer to an occupation, but I think it’s more likely a preservation of that memory. That means they were generally ‘darker’ not that they were really dark-skinned, dark-haired but that they belonged in memory to that group which appeared. A physically descriptive name that makes sense is Roth and other versions of ‘red’ because, being a redhead, I know they’re relatively rare and pass down through families, so that also has a ‘tribal’ memory quality.Since Jewish last names were generally chosen, humor and oblique references are part of them. You miss that if you just read the bare descriptions. And you especially miss the extreme importance of cultural memory, which is true in all cultures and is powerful among Jews. A name like Reichman or Rich could mean they were poor: if you were picking a name and were poor, that’s a pretty good choice and a good joke. My last name probably means something like advisor or lawyer, not ‘short’ as in stature but short of tongue, as in Kurt or Conrad, so the name preserves a memory or tradition - or aspiration - as well. But for all we know, the name might have been like naming a Great Dane ‘Tiny’. There are some offensive last names and, to me, most of those indicate communal jokes - which often were dropped by later generations. We forget that some people were probably not well liked and others were not cooperative and others were weird as people are today. So someone named ‘fart’ may not have been cooperative or liked and descendants then either chose to live with the name or changed it. I don’t know why we have this idea that somehow Christian authorities lined up Jews and said ‘your last name is now Goldberg or Rosenberg’. They generally avoided dealing with the Jewish community, which suggests the communities decided and gave a list to the authorities. I picked Goldberg and Rosenberg because those are considered highly Jewish names except they are typical Christian German names as well - so I doubt Christian authorities would ‘share’ or assign their own last names to Jews. One of the highest ranking Nazis executed at Nuremberg was Alfred Rosenberg. Not Jewish.Since I can’t end with that reference, consider Norman Jewison. His last name says ‘son of a Jew’. Except they’re not Jewish. The choice of the name Israel is a blunt identification with Jewish tradition, so I have to believe it was a Jewish choice. Ashkenazi Jews had no surbanes until the European Enlightenment enfranchised them politically as well as with civic status. Concurrently in Germany in particular the Reform movement was established. Its chief aim was to ease & speed Assimilation. To many if not most of these Jews it involved a conversion to the Lutheran Church. That said, if a Jew did so they would tend to try and hide their Jewish roots. Having "Israel" as a surname would tend to point to the opposite conclusion though. Israel comes from the Hebrew Yisra’el and far predates anything European. As a surname it began with the Jews so its oretty likly you have Jewish ancestors at some point in history. Im sure over time peoole with that name left the Jewish faith at times and chose other faiths. It happens as people marry and move about. Some apparently became Lutherans. Israel is the name God gave to Jacob, that’s why Eretz Israel , or “Land of Israel/Jacob”. Since Christians adopted a part of Jewish Torah as the Old Testament, many Jewish names were incorporated into Christian culture. For example, John ( Yohanan ), Rafael ( Rafa’el ), Gabriel ( Gavri’el ), etc, all are Hebrew names, from characters of the Torah that also became part of the Bible. So, no, Israel is not an exclusively Jewish name. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

28th January 1934 Gerhard Zucker Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

31st July 1933 turnfest 1933 stuttgart Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Propaganda postcard featuring the image of Adolf Hitler, sent from Vienna to Burghausen. Featuring mixed postage stamps, including the Austrian Mi.567 & 600. Ref: 04.04.1938 Index Page Stamps of Austria Propaganda postcard featuring the image of Adolf Hitler, sent from Vienna to Burghausen. Featuring mixed postage stamps, including the Austrian Mi.567 & 600. Ref: 04.04.1938 Also see 27/98 (mixed franking inc. 6 Pf & 24 Pf) WPIA 1933 overprints (used 1938) - see 28/50 AUSTRIA - stamps within the Brief History collection Mi.508 - 50 groschen (Landscapes, 1930). Ref: 02.01.1933 - 14/54 Mi.567 - 1 groschen (Tradition Costumes, 1934). Ref: 04.04.1938 Mi.600 -15 groschen (Aircraft over Landscape, 1935). Ref: 04.04.1938 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Berlinische Verlagsanstalt printing and publishing house. Jewish business. Founded in 1903 and ceased trading in 1937. 3rd November 1934 Title Berlinische Verlagsanstalt printing and publishing house. Jewish business. Founded in 1903 and ceased trading in 1937. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Commemorative postcard (Mi.P250) in remembrance of Hitler's accession to power (30th January 1933). Featuring a 1 Pf Hindenburg Medallion postage stamp (Mi.512) together with the 8 Pf (Mi.485) that was issued in April 1933. Ref: 30.01.1934 4th December 1933 Mi.512-528 Commemorative postcard (Mi.P250) in remembrance of Hitler's accession to power (30th January 1933). Featuring a 1 Pf Hindenburg Medallion postage stamp (Mi.512) together with the 8 Pf (Mi.485) that was issued in April 1933. Ref: 30.01.1934 Mi.512 - 528 Definitive Stamps: Paul von Hindenburg Medallion (III) Notes: Engraving: Prof. Goetz. Letterpress printing. Sheets 10 x 10. Swastika watermark (X = upper hook of the swastika to the left, Y = upper hook of the swastika to the right - with a significantly higher commercial value) Perf. 14 x 14¼. Quantity issued: unknown. Valid until May 1945 Mi.512 X (1 Pf - issued 04.12.1933). Ref: 30.01.1934 Mi.512 X 'Pink' (1 Pf). Ref: 01.04.1935 - 17/65 Mi.513 X & Y (3 Pf - issued 01. 1934). Ref: 12.12.1936 Mi.514 X (4 Pf - issued 02. 1934). Ref: 01.12.1934 Mi.515 X (5 Pf - issued 02. 1934). Ref: 11.04.1934 Mi.516 X (6 Pf - issued 02. 1934). Ref: 28.07.1936 Mi.517 X (8 Pf - issued 02. 1934). Ref: 22.04.1936 Mi.518 X & Y (10 Pf - issued 02. 1934). Ref: 11.06.1937 Mi.519 X (12 Pf - issued 02. 1934). Ref: 29.01.1935 Mi.520 X (15 Pf - issued 04. 1934). Ref: 15.02.1937 Mi.521 X (20 Pf - issued 04. 1934). Ref: 25.08.1937 Mi.522 X (25 Pf - issed 04. 1934). Ref: 24.12.1935 Mi.523 X (30 Pf - issued 02. 1934). Ref: 30.12.1941) Mi.524 X (40 Pf - issued 02. 1934). Ref: 01.03.1935 Mi.525 X (50 Pf - issued 09. 1934). Ref: 24.12.1935 Mi.526 X (60 Pf - issued 05. 1934) 29.03.1935 - 2/103 Mi.527 X (80 Pf - issued 02. 1936). Ref: 13.06.1942 - 19/136 Mi.528 X (100 Pf - issued 09. 1934). Ref: 31.07.1936 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Postcard featuring Mi.479, the cover picture depicting a 'generic' image of either the General San Martin or General Artigas of the Hamburg-Amerika Line. The printed correspondence text states, 'An Bord....' with blank space to add the ships name. Ref: 21.10.1933. 12th April 1933 Mi.479-481 Postcard featuring Mi.479, the cover picture depicting a 'generic' image of either the General San Martin or General Artigas of the Hamburg-Amerika Line. The printed correspondence text states, 'An Bord....' with blank space to add the ships name. Ref: 21.10.1933. Mi.479 - 481 Opening session of the new Reichstag in Potsdam Notes: Design: After a painting by A. von Menzel entitled 'Der Alte Fritz' (The Old Fritz). Photogravure printing . Sheets 10 x 10. Watermark : Mesh. Perf. 14 x 14¼ (Harper & Scheck = 14½). Quantity issued: unknown. Valid until 31.12.1935 See Germania Vol.6/1 pp.39-43 Mi.479 - 6 Pf Deep blue green - Friedrich the Great (Ref: 21.10.1933) Mi.480 - 12 Pf Carmine - Friedrich the Great (Ref: 28.07.1933) Mi.481 - 25 Pf Ultramarine - Friedrich the Great (Ref: 17.05.1933 - 10/6) Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Postcard with caption 'Aus dem Schwarzwald', sent from Lauterbach. Featuring a special cancellation (ref: JB:Lauterbach1/462). Ref: 08.06.1934 8th June 1934 Bochmann Lauterbach Postcard with caption 'Aus dem Schwarzwald', sent from Lauterbach. Featuring a special cancellation (ref: JB:Lauterbach1/462). Ref: 08.06.1934 LAUTERBACH cancellation as featured in the Bochmann catalogues (1952) JB:Lauterbach1/462 - 'Kurort/ Gedächtnishaus/ a.d. Fohrenbühl/ des Württ. Schwarzwaldvereins'. Ref: 08.06.1934 This cancellation was used from 1925 until 1937. It is the only special cancellation used in Lauterbach during the Third Reich period. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Cover sent from Austria to Switzerland featuring a propaganda vignette (measuring 72 x 50 mm) to the reverse stating '1933 3.Verbandsturnfest Saaz' on a 'Turnerkreuze'. Ref: 02.01.1933 - 14/54 2nd January 1933 Turnfest Cover sent from Austria to Switzerland featuring a propaganda vignette (measuring 72 x 50 mm) to the reverse stating '1933 3.Verbandsturnfest Saaz' on a 'Turnerkreuze'. Ref: 02.01.1933 - 14/54 The 3rd Gymnastics Festival, Saaz, held between 13th - 16th July 1933, was staged by the Sudeten German politician Konrad Henlein. The event saw some 20,000 Turnerbund members perform carefully choreographed displays. Henlein would later declare the Turnerbund as the 'educational body of Sudeten Germans' . After the Saaz rally Henlein was widely viewed as the 'man of the hour', and knowing that the Czechoslovak authorities were about to ban two main völkisch parties in the Sudetenland as treasonous, Henlein took advantage of the ensuing political vacuum. On 1st October 1933, Henlein founded the Sudetendeutsche Heimatfront (Sudeten German Home Front). [Also see Hans von Tschammer und Osten] The advertising stamp above celebrates the 1st Turnfest in Linz, 1922. It is noted that the symbol being held in the eagles claw is similar but not quite the same as the vignette on the present cover. The original symbol is circular and constructed of four interlocking 'F's. It could easily be construed as an early form of Nazi swastika. The term for this symbol is 'Turnerkreuze' and the 'F's represent the initial letters of the organisations motto, 'Frisch, Fromm, Fröhlich, Frei' (Fresh, Pious, Cheerful, Free). The vignette produced for the Saaz event is overtly designed to reflect the German nationalist sentiment prevalent at the time in the Sudetenland. Turnfest vignettes from the 12th festival held in Leipzig 12th - 16th July 1913 Ref: 15.07.1913 - 10/70 Ref: 15.07.1913 - 10/70 Ref: 15.07.1913 - 10/70 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

4th November 1933 Mi.P224 Mi.P224 - See 05.01.1934 - 24/7 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Official postcard of the Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen depicting the cruise ship 'General von Steuben'. Ref: 16.09.1934 SS General von Steuben was a German passenger liner and later an armed transport ship of the German Navy that was sunk in the Baltic Sea during World War II. She was launched in 1923 as München (after the German city, sometimes spelled Muenchen), renamed General von Steuben in 1930 (after the famous German officer of the American Revolutionary War), and renamed Steuben in 1938. During World War II, the ship served as a troop accommodation vessel, and from 1944 as an armed transport. On 10th February 1945, while evacuating German military personnel, wounded soldiers, and civilian refugees during Operation Hannibal, the ship was torpedoed by the Soviet submarine S-13 and sank. An estimated 4,000 people lost their lives in the sinking. Source: Wikipedia 16th September 1934 Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen Official postcard of the Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen depicting the cruise ship 'General von Steuben'. Ref: 16.09.1934 SS General von Steuben was a German passenger liner and later an armed transport ship of the German Navy that was sunk in the Baltic Sea during World War II. She was launched in 1923 as München (after the German city, sometimes spelled Muenchen), renamed General von Steuben in 1930 (after the famous German officer of the American Revolutionary War), and renamed Steuben in 1938. During World War II, the ship served as a troop accommodation vessel, and from 1944 as an armed transport. On 10th February 1945, while evacuating German military personnel, wounded soldiers, and civilian refugees during Operation Hannibal, the ship was torpedoed by the Soviet submarine S-13 and sank. An estimated 4,000 people lost their lives in the sinking. Source: Wikipedia NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD BREMEN Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20th February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was instrumental in the economic development of Bremen and Bremerhaven. On 1st September 1970, the company merged with Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) to form Hapag-Lloyd AG. From 1928 to 1939, the volume of passengers travelling between the US and Europe declined sharply. In 1928, the NDL transported about 8% of a passenger volume of 1,168,414 passengers; in 1932, 16.2% of the 751,592 passengers transported; in 1938, around 11% of 685,655 passengers. In addition, there was significant new competition from new Italian, French and British superliners: the Italian Rex (51,062 GRT) and Conte di Savoia (48,502 GRT), the French Normandie (79,280 GRT), and the British Queen Mary (80,744 GRT). Postal stationery of the NDL Bremen with 25 Pf Hindenburg medallion tied with the cancellation of the SS Bremen. Ref: 13.11.1933 The 1929 economic crisis which began in the US affected the German shipping companies. The NDL and the HAPAG therefore entered into a cooperation agreement in 1930, and beginning in 1935, instituted joint operations in the North Atlantic. The first signs of a merger were visible. By 1932, the NDL was in an economic crisis, with about 5,000 employees let go, salary cuts, and red ink. Glässel was dismissed. The government placed both NDL and HAPAG in trusteeship under Siegfried von Roedern, and following the death of Stimming, Heinrich F. Albert briefly became head of the NDL, followed after some eighteen months by the National Socialist Rudolph Firle. Bremen State Councillor Karl Lindemann was chairman of the board from 1933 to 1945. A programme of economic recovery by divestments and restructuring was initiated. HBAL and the Roland Line became independent companies once more, and other lines took over services to Africa and the Mediterranean. The Nazi regime ordered both NDL and HAPAG to relinquish ships to other lines which were to operate in their regions without competition from other German companies, in particular to Hamburg Süd, the Deutsche Afrika-Linien and the Deutsche Levante Linie. In 1935, the Scharnhorst , Gneisenau , and Potsdam , each with about 18,000 GRT, were placed in service for the Far East. The modernisation of the fleet continued and in 1937 the line made modest profits. In 1939 the Erlangen slipped out of Lyttelton Harbour (New Zealand) on 28th August, on the eve of World War II, ostensibly for Port Kembla, New South Wales, where she was to have filled her coal bunkers for the homeward passage to Europe. She then headed for the subantarctic Auckland Islands, where she successfully evaded the cruiser HMNZS Leander , and re-stocked with food and wood. The freighter then made a desperate and successful escape, using jury-rigged sails, to Valparaíso, Chile, in South America. She then made her way into the South Atlantic where, on 24th July 1941, she was intercepted off Montevideo by HMS Newcastle and scuttled by her crew. In 1939 NDL had in service 70 vessels with a total of 562,371 GRT, including the sail training vessel Kommodore Johnsen (now the Russian STS Sedov ), 3 daytrip ships, 19 tugs and 125 small ships, and employed 12,255, 8,811 on vessels. Nine further freighters were completed after the outbreak of World War II. This entire fleet was either lost during the war or awarded to the Allies as reparations. Columbus had to be sunk in 1939; Bremen burned in 1941; Steuben was sunk in the Baltic in 1945 with the loss of some 4,000 lives; Europa , claimed by France, became the Liberté in 1947. The Reich was the primary stockholder in the company, but in 1941/42, NDL was once more privatised and cigarette manufacturer Philipp Reemtsma became primary stockholder. Dr. Johannes Kulenkampff, a board member since 1932, and Richard Bertram, a board member since 1937, became Chairman in 1942. At the end of World War II the company's headquarters (which had in any case been sold in 1942) had been severely damaged by bombing and all its large vessels either destroyed or seized. It was left with only the freighter Bogotá , which was in Japan. Relicensed by the American military administration on 29th November 1945 as a 'coastal shipping and stevedoring company', it started again, as after World War I, practically from zero, offering tugboat and day-tripper services. Source: Wikipedia Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page