Two identity documents of a Jew named Oskar Schweitz – Romania under Nazi occupation – 1942. (Today in Chernihiv, Ukraine, then part of Romania) Marked with a Yellow Star of David and the designation “Hebrew”.
Identity document issued for Oskar by OFICIUL JUDETEAN AL EVREILOR CERNAUTI – “The Regional Office for Jews of Chernivtsi” on a background featuring a Yellow Star of David. On the left, Oskar’s photograph appears. A registration certificate from the Jewish community of Chernivtsi, issued in accordance with state law from 1942. 14×8.5 cm.
Another identity document for Oskar, also issued in 1942 (February 10) by the Bukovina Regional Directorate – Chernivtsi Police Station, Population and Land Registry Office. The document bears the special ink stamp for Jews: “EVREU” – “Jew”.
Jewish identity documents were issued during the period when the Romanian government under Ion Antonescu collaborated with Nazi Germany and was deeply involved in widespread anti-Jewish policies. In 1941-1942, under Romanian control of the region, numerous measures were taken against the Jewish population, including mandatory carrying of special identity papers, deportations to labor or extermination camps, and confiscation of property.
Chernivtsi was part of the area where Jews were deported to Transnistria.
The first orders regarding the Yellow Star in Romania were issued by local authorities. On July 4, 1941, instructions from the local police chief were displayed on the walls of buildings in Bacău. In response to inquiries from military commanders, Mihai Antonescu, the deputy of Ion Antonescu, ordered the Minister of the Interior to enforce the wearing of the Yellow Star by Jews across Romania. The Interior Minister issued a circular implementing this directive from August 7, a full month before Nazi Germany made a similar decision. At the same time, an order was given to mark Jewish identity documents in Chernivtsi with a Yellow Star of David.The Chernivtsi Ghetto was established in October 1941, and at its peak, according to Jewish community records, it housed 75,000 people. One of the decrees that particularly characterized Romanian Jewry, especially in Bukovina, was the requirement to mark Jewish homes with the word “Jew”. The ghetto was liquidated in October 1943, when restrictions on Jewish movement in the city were lifted.
A similar document marked with a Yellow Star of David can be found in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, record no. 15894.
Both documents are in good condition.
