Certificate Issued to the Jew Richard Ascher “Israel” Meyer, After Adding the Name “Israel” to His Marriage Certificate and Birth Registry at the Registry Office in Prenzlau. Prenzlau, March 23, 1939.
The certificate states:
“At the request dated March 20, 1939, it is recorded in the Marriage Register of the Prenzlau Registry Office from 1903, no. 95, and in the Birth Register from 1875, no. 383, that you have also adopted the first name ‘Israel.’ Mr. Richard Ascher Israel Meyer, Berlin-Wilmersdorf, Hohenzollerndamm 204.”
In August 1938, with the intensification of persecution and restrictions on Jews in territories occupied or influenced by the Nazis, stricter identification measures were imposed on Jews as part of the Nazi policy of segregation and persecution of the Jewish minority. One of these measures was the requirement for Jewish men to add the name “Israel” and Jewish women to add the name “Sarah” to distinguish Jews from non-Jews. This law was called “Gesetz über die Änderung von Familiennamen und Vornamen” – “The Law on the Change of Family Names and Given Names.” It was implemented both in Nazi Germany and in the territories it occupied.
Prenzlau – A district city in the Brandenburg state of Germany. During World War II, more than 85% of the city was destroyed.
[1] Printed page, signed by the “representative” of Prenzlau. Condition: very good.
