Three personal and life-saving documents from Nazi Germany, belonging to the Jewish businessman and entrepreneur Michael Pollak, owner of the Eretz-Israeli cement factory “Nesher”.
Emergency Certificate – No. 12, issued on December 18, 1941, to Mr. Michel Polak – a life-saving travel permit issued by the Government of Sind (British India), allowing travel to Palestine via Iraq. At upper left appears Polak’s passport photograph. The certificate reads: “I hereby certify that Mr. Michael Polak has declared before me that he is a Palestinian subject, and I have no reason to doubt his statement. This certificate is valid only for the purpose of travel to Palestine via Iraq, Transjordan, and India, in order to return to his home, and is valid until arrival at destination, upon departure from Karachi around December 19, 1941, en route to Palestine. This certificate must be handed over to the immigration officer at the place of arrival.” Signature of the Passport Officer, Government of Sind. Date: December 18, 1941. Karachi. In the margins of the document appears the following note: “Mr. Michael Polak is holder of Palestinian passport No. 89680, dated August 2, 1937. This Emergency Certificate has been issued in addition, as there is no space left in his passport for further endorsements or stamps.” Stamped with official ink seals of the Government of Sind (oval stamps bearing the British emblem). At the back of the certificate are endorsements by the Iraqi Consulate in Karachi as well as the Karachi Police, including documented fee payments in the form of revenue stamps. Stamped by the Royal Consulate of Iraq in Karachi – granting permission for passage through Iraq. This approval was received approximately two weeks after Polak left Sind, on January 3, 1942. Signed in Arabic by an Iraqi consular official.
According to the following document, he had left Nazi Germany shortly beforehand.
A rare card representing one of the control mechanisms used by the Nazis to monitor foreign nationals (and, in other cases, Jews and “enemies of the regime”), requiring daily appearances at the local police station or another authority office. This measure was designed to enforce restricted stays and often preceded deportation, arrest, or intensified surveillance. In the case of nationals from enemy countries—such as Britain during this period (as the war had begun in September 1939)—this served as a tool for state supervision and control over foreign subjects. The card bears the name of Polak and reads: “No. 44 – Michael Polak is a British citizen, and he has been ordered to report daily at 9 a.m. This card must be presented at each daily report.” On the reverse side appear dated records of Polak’s required appearances before the local authorities during the months of July–August 1940, along with an official Nazi ink stamp.
Foreign Identity Certificate (CERTIFICAT D’IDENTITÉ) issued by the Paris Police Prefecture (PRÉFECTURE DE POLICE) in France, dated February 16, 1924, intended to serve as a substitute for a passport or identification document for a stateless person or refugee. Valid until February 16, 1925. Alongside Polak’s passport photograph appear his personal details, stating that he is of Russian origin and currently exiled in Paris, with official stamps from the Paris Police dated at the time of issue. This document reflects a period in Michael Polak’s life following his flight from Soviet Russia after the revolution. During the interwar period, he, like many others, was effectively stateless and required special transit permits for travel within Europe—even for brief stopovers. On the reverse side are border control stamps from France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy, with annotations by the respective authorities noting that the document is valid for transit only, not for residence in the issuing country.
Michael Polak (March 1864 – March 21, 1954) – businessman, entrepreneur, and industrialist during the Yishuv period; founder of the Nesher cement factory, a senior figure in the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association (PICA), and a shareholder in the Palestine Potash Company.
Polak was born in the city of Slutsk in White Russia. He was active in oil exploration and transport in southern Russia and amassed considerable wealth after selling his shares in an oil company to the American energy conglomerate Shell. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, he fled to Palestine with his family. He was a personal friend and confidant of Baron Edmond James de Rothschild and, in 1923, was appointed to the board of directors of PICA. In the 1920s, together with engineer Boris Goldberg, he founded the Nesher cement plant, leading a group of Jewish investors from Russia and Germany who established the factory as part of a Zionist-economic vision to build national infrastructure for the Jewish Yishuv. Between 1920 and 1924, Polak lived intermittently in France and Germany, most likely engaged in entrepreneurship and raising funds for industrial ventures. He used the travel documents presented here during his journeys between countries, including Belgium, Germany, and Italy, for business purposes. In 1932, the French government awarded him the Légion d’honneur for his role in establishing the Palestine Pavilion at the Colonial Exhibition. In 1940, Polak was in Germany as a British subject. At that time, Britain was already at war with Nazi Germany, and British nationals were considered enemy aliens by the authorities. As a result, he was required to obtain a special residence permit, which included a system of daily reporting as a form of movement control and surveillance. In December 1941, he managed to leave Germany and reached Palestine via Iraq. Upon his return to Palestine, Polak continued to manage the Nesher plant until November 1945, when it was purchased by Solel Boneh. He passed away in 1954 and was buried at the Hof HaCarmel Cemetery in Haifa. Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael is named in his honor, as is the main road leading to the Nesher cement factory.
[3] Documents. Very good condition.
