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»Meine Eltern waren Schweizer Bürger«

Joseph Meerstein | »Meine Eltern waren Schweizer Bürger« | self-evidence | General Government | March 8, 1944 | voi_00036

Rights held by: Joseph Meerstein | Provided by: Federal Department of Interiour – Swiss Federal Archives (Bern/Switzerland) | Archived under: E4264 #1988-2 #15579* / P054461 / Meerstein, Josef / 14.04.1894 / 1934-1944

Joseph Meerstein | »Meine Eltern waren Schweizer Bürger« | self-evidence | General Government | March 8, 1944 | voi_00036 Rights held by: Joseph Meerstein | Provided by: Federal Department of Interiour – Swiss Federal Archives (Bern/Switzerland) | Archived under: E4264 #1988-2 #15579* / P054461 / Meerstein, Josef / 14.04.1894 / 1934-1944
Joseph Meerstein | »Meine Eltern waren Schweizer Bürger« | self-evidence | General Government | March 8, 1944 | voi_00036 Rights held by: Joseph Meerstein | Provided by: Federal Department of Interiour – Swiss Federal Archives (Bern/Switzerland) | Archived under: E4264 #1988-2 #15579* / P054461 / Meerstein, Josef / 14.04.1894 / 1934-1944

SENDER
Josef Meerstein
Drohobycz
Langestr. 108
District of Galicia
General Government

To the
Federal Justice and Police Department
(Registry Office)
[crossed out by receiver and replaced with Police Department]
Bern
Switzerland

Drohobyz on 8 March 1944
I received a letter from St Gallen that said my passport is in Bern.
I would kindly request that you notify me if my passport has arrived? I was born in Geneva in 1894 – 14 April and my parents were Swiss citizens. I left my parents at an early age and my parents died.
I am a musician and performer.
I request that you notify me as quickly as possible if my passport is there, because I need it urgently. If needed, I can present documents that belonged to my father.
Respectfully yours,
Joseph Meerstein

Paul Bowman (2) (Translator German-English)

English

ABSENDER
Josef Meerstein
Drohobycz
Langestr. 108
Distrikt Galizien
Gener[alg]ouvernement

An das
Eidgen[össische] Justiz- u. Polizeidepartement
(Abt[eilung] Zivilstandsdienst)
[vom Empfänger durchgestrichen und ersetzt durch Polizeiabteilung]
Bern
Schweiz

Drohobycz am 8. März 1944
Ich bekam einen Brief von St. Gallen[,] dass mein Pass in Bern ist.
Ich bitte h[öflich] mich zu benachrichtigen, ob mein Pass bei Ihnen angekommen ist? Ich bin in Genf geboren 1894 – 14[.] April und meine Eltern waren Schweizer Bürger. Ich bin von meinen Eltern klein weggekommen u[nd] meine Eltern sind gestorben.
Ich bin Musiker und Künstler.
Ich bitte mich schnellstens zu benachrichtigen, ob mein Pass dort ist, denn ich benötige denselben dringend. Auf Wunsch kann ich Papiere von meinem Vater vorlegen.
Hochachtungsvoll
Joseph Meerstein

German

BIČHALUTNO
Josef Meerstein
Drohobycz
Langestr. 108
Galacijako Distrikto
Generalno themutnipe
Dži ko
Federalno čačipasko thaj policijako šorutnipe
(Registracijaki Kancelarija)
[fiza kerdi kotar o lelutno, thaj pharuvdo kotar e Policijaki Kancelarija]
Bern
Švajco

Drohobyzon 8. Marto 1944 berš
Me lijem lil kotar o St. Gallen kote si hramosardo kaj miro pasporto si ko Bern.
Me rugiv tumen te šaj den ma informacija, reslas li miro pasporto vaj na? Me sem bijando ande Ženeva po 14. Aprilo 1894 berš thaj miro dad vi mi daj si švajcake themutne. Me mukhlem mire dades thaj me daja dumultan thaj von si akana mule.
Me sem muzičari thaj artisto.
Me rodav tumendar te den ma informacija majsigo so šaj, si miro pasporto kote vaj na, soske sigo kamelpe mange. Te trubul, me šaj te sikavav me dadeske dokumente.
Respektosa,
Joseph Meerstein

Romani

Credits

Rights held by: Joseph Meerstein | Provided by: Federal Department of Interiour – Swiss Federal Archives (Bern/Switzerland) | Archived under: E4264 #1988-2 #15579* / P054461 / Meerstein, Josef / 14.04.1894 / 1934-1944

Playlist

Lesung des Selbstzeugnisses von Joseph Meerstein
0.45 min
voi_00096
Lesung des Selbstzeugnisses von Joseph Meerstein | Spoken word | Germany | 2018 | voi_00096
EN

Contextualisation

Without protection in the District of Galicia

Aged almost 40, Joseph Meerstein wrote this postcard in April 1944 to the Federal Justice and Police Department in Bern to obtain his Swiss passport. Why and how the musician and performer came to be in the District of Galicia and under what circumstances he lived there are unknown. It can only be presumed that he was hoping to get to safety by referring to his Swiss citizenship.

Formerly part of Poland, Eastern Galicia was occupied by Soviet troops in September 1939 under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and, following the invasion of the Soviet Union, by the German Reich, incorporated as the District of Galicia into the General Government for the Occupied Polish Territories. There Roma were among the victims of the murders committed by German Army soldiers, members of the SS and the gendarmerie and they were exposed to forced labour and ghettoisation.

The Bern Police Department showed little interest in helping the Swiss citizen. On 24 March 1944, a staff member answered that the agency was ‘unable to undertake the necessary inquiries’. This letter was returned to the agency stamped ‘at present undeliverable’ and then filed away. Whether Joseph Meerstein was still alive when the Red Army occupied Drohobycz (Drohobych, today in Ukraine) on 6 August 1944 and thus witnessed its liberation is unknown.

Karola Fings (2017)

Playlist

Lesung des Selbstzeugnisses von Joseph Meerstein
0.45 min
voi_00096
Lesung des Selbstzeugnisses von Joseph Meerstein | Spoken word | Germany | 2018 | voi_00096
EN

Details

übersetzer Titel
»Miro dad thaj miri daj sas švajcoske themutne «
übersetzer Titel
»My parents were Swiss citizens«
übersetzer Titel
‘My parents were Swiss citizens’
Country
Production
March 8, 1944
Credits
Production Credits
Object Category
Material
Technique
Object Number
voi_00036

Archive Section

Related Terms

people Josef Meerstein, subjects Galizien, Poland, Nationality, Bern, Geneva, Ukraine

Associated Terms & People

subjects massacre, ghettoisation, forced labour, period 1933 - 1945