Immigration certificate

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The immigration certificate was a necessary document for Jewish immigrants wishing to legally immigrate to Palestine after the League of Nations gave Great Britain the mandate for Palestine .

Historical background

After the end of the First World War and the end of the Ottoman Empire , the League of Nations gave Great Britain the mandate for the Palestinian territories that were formerly part of the Ottoman Empire . Although one of the terms of the mandate was that the British should facilitate the implementation of the Balfour Declaration , in which they had promised on November 2, 1917 the "establishment of a national home for the Jewish people", they did not practice a policy of open borders, but rather tried to control immigration by issuing certificates. They did so even though the immigration numbers were relatively manageable:

“Another 35,000 or so immigrants, mostly from Poland and Russia or the Soviet Union, formed the third aliyah between 1919 and 1923 , which was motivated by the Balfour Declaration and the associated upswing for the Zionist project of a separate Jewish state. Between 1924 and 1931 another 80,000 Jews came, again primarily from the Soviet Union and Poland. "

Immigration certificates became a serious problem for potential Jewish immigrants from 1933 onwards.

“Before 1933, Zionism was a minority movement that attracted mostly young people who were ready to face the challenge of building a new life with many hardships in a contested country far from home. Most of the Jews who left Europe were too uncertain about the prospect of settling in Palestine. Their main destination was North America, where nearly three million emigrated. The situation changed when the National Socialists came to power in 1933 and openly persecuted Jews. The US, like many other countries, only provided a limited number of entry visas - not enough to accommodate the large flow of refugees. "

Nothing in this situation changed when, in the years that followed, the repression against Jews living in the German Reich assumed increasingly threatening forms.

“The Évian Conference in June 1938, convened by American President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) to discuss ways to facilitate the emigration of German and Austrian Jews, marked a low point. Despite the brutal anti-Semitic riots in Vienna just a few months earlier, none of the 32 participating nations was prepared to accept more than a few Jewish refugees. The threatening situation for Jews in Eastern Europe was not even the subject of the negotiations. Many Eastern European countries, especially Poland, pursued anti-Semitic policies in the mid-1930s and treated their Jewish citizens as de facto stateless. "

Against this background, Palestine inevitably developed into the most important country of exile for Jewish refugees from Hitler's sphere of influence. By the end of 1938, over 200,000 Jews immigrated to Palestine both from the German Reich and from Western and Central Europe. Unless they did so illegally, they had to rely on a certificate from the UK Mandate Government.

“ Aliyah Bet , illegal immigration, was a dangerous undertaking because the refugee ships could be spotted at any time by British patrol boats guarding the coast of Palestine. In not a few cases, the attempt to secretly get ashore failed and the refugees were sent back or interned. With their restrictive immigration policy, the British responded to the growing resentment with which the Arab population in Palestine was facing the increasing number of Jewish immigrants. In 1936 an armed uprising broke out, which continued in a series of acts of violence against Jews and the British mandate until 1939. From October 1939 to April 1940, the British imposed an immigration ban. During the Second World War, around 80,000 Jews came to Palestine, the majority of them illegally. "

The legal route of immigration to Palestine led through a classification of those willing to immigrate, on the basis of which it was then decided whether and which certificate he was granted.

The types of certification

The mandate agreement stipulated that the Jewish Agency and the mandate government had to negotiate the formalities of Jewish immigration. As a result of these negotiations, quotas were announced twice a year that stipulated how many people with the most varied of classification criteria were allowed to immigrate to Palestine. The Palestine offices of the departure countries were bound to these quotas, which were supposed to be geared to the economic and social needs of Palestine. In Germany, this was the Palestine Office in Berlin, which was responsible for issuing immigration certificates. Those who wanted to immigrate legally had to submit their application to the Palestine Office, where the “application was given a registration number. After a medical examination and an initial examination of the application by a preliminary examination commission, the final award of the corresponding certificate was carried out by the 'Small Palestine Office Commission'. The issued certificate still had to be presented to the British consulate, which issued the entry visa. "

Berlin memorial plaque on the house, Meinekestrasse 10, Berlin-Wilmersdorf

When issuing the certificate, potential immigrants were divided into five main categories:

  • Category A: People with their own assets. This group included
    • a) so-called capitalists with equity capital of £ 1,000 (at least 50% in cash). This certificate, known as the capitalist certificate, was the only one that remained unquoted. Capitalist certificates were also “mostly issued directly by the British consulates; the Jewish Agency's Palestine Office was not concerned with it. His main task in this context was rather the distribution of the 'workers certificates'. ”This special position and, since August 1933, the embedding of the capitalist certificates in the Ha'avara Agreement , have repeatedly given rise to violent criticism, including the allegation culminated, this certificate would give an advantage above all to a “Jewish bourgeoisie” willing to emigrate. Schölch counters this: “Of the 50,000 German Jews who immigrated to Palestine from 1933–1939, 20,000 came because of 'capitalist certificates'. This was a high proportion of total immigration from Germany compared to the 'capitalist immigration' from other countries; but they weren't just 'capitalists'. During the later debate on maintaining or terminating the transfer in 1937, it was even argued that the connection between 'capitalist' and 'workers' immigration in Palestine promoted the emigration of undemanded Jews from Germany by the 'capitalists'. would be followed. At least since 1937, 'capitalist certificates' have also been used by emigrants who were only able to obtain the necessary 'showcase money' temporarily. "
    • b) Members of the liberal professions with £ 500 in cash if the Immigration Department deems the economic situation to justify their immigration;
    • c) Craftsmen with at least £ 250 in cash;
    • d) Pensioners with a minimum pension of £ 4 a month;
    • e) Persons who have a rare occupation, little represented in Palestine, and who have a minimum wealth of £ 500.
  • Category B: people with a secure livelihood
    • a) orphans under 16 years of age whose livelihood is secured by public institutions;
    • b) persons of religious professions;
    • c) Students and schoolchildren whose livelihood is secured until they can work.
  • Category C: Workers between 18 and 35 (possibly 45) years, so-called worker certificates
  • Category D: Requested Persons. For these subsequent groups, the applications had to be made in Palestine.
    • a) Wives, children and parents can obtain immigration permits if their relatives living in Palestine who request them can prove that they can support themselves;
    • b) Companies can request specialist workers in exceptional cases.
  • Youth Aliyah category : A number of special certificates were available for young people between the ages of 15 and 17, which were issued directly by the Jewish Agency .

Irrespective of the above-mentioned dispute over the capitalist certificate, there were internal Jewish disputes up until 1933 about who should actually benefit from a certificate. “The Central Office for the Settlement of German Jews within the Jewish Agency for Palestine, formed in 1933, excluded anti-Zionists as certificate applicants; 'As candidates for Aliyah [immigration], young, healthy people with some training in agriculture or a craft were preferred, as well as people with some capital; the needs and interests of Palestine took precedence over the rescue of Jews, at least until 1938. ”In plain language this meant: Those who did not admit to Zionism as Jews should not immigrate to Palestine, but should seek refuge somewhere in the world. At the latest with the failure of the Évian Conference , this ideology could no longer be maintained in practice.

In the 1920s and early 1930s Jews wishing to emigrate had hardly any problems getting an immigration certificate for Palestine, as their number was relatively manageable. That changed with the seizure of power on January 30, 1933, and even more so after the day of the boycott of the Jews on April 1, 1933.

“The Palestine Office in Berlin was faced with an unprecedented demand overnight. In contrast to the twenties and early thirties, it was no longer just convinced Zionists who came to the deliberations, but the demand for information about the possibilities and conditions of emigration to Palestine ran across all Jewish population groups. In response to the changed situation, 22 branches were set up within the year, so that there was a contact point in every country and every Prussian province. "

Of the German Jews who emigrated to Palestine from 1933 onwards, "about 36% [...] belonged to the so-called" middle class immigration "who had received the so-called capitalist certificate in accordance with category A mentioned above. About 32% of the immigrants were workers, mostly younger people, who mostly settled in the collective settlements. The other immigrants were young people, family members, pensioners, craftsmen and members of the liberal professions. "

What should not be forgotten, despite all understanding for the existentially threatened Jews who are willing to immigrate in their countries of origin: Palestine was not an uninhabited country either at the beginning of Jewish immigration at the end of the 19th century or in the 1920s, 1930s or 1940s. A partly nomadic, partly sedentary Arab population already lived here, a total of around 400,000 people. "With their restrictive immigration policy, the British responded to the growing resentment with which the Arab population in Palestine was facing the increasing number of Jewish immigrants."

swell

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jan Schneider: Historical development of Jewish immigration (see web link). Extensive figures on immigration to Palestine can also be found in Shlomo Erel : New Roots. 50 years of immigration of German-speaking Jews in Israel , p. 51 ff.
  2. ↑ a b c d Roland Paul: "It was never emigration, always just flight." Palestine as a place of refuge for European Jews until 1945 (see web link). For the restrictive immigration regulations of the various countries, see the respective country preambles in the article Schools in Exile .
  3. ↑ Tobias Brinkmann: Jewish Migration (see web link)
  4. ↑ Organizationally responsible for this was the Palestine Office subordinate to the Jewish Agency with its seat in Jaffa . ( PALESTINE OFFICE )
  5. ↑ a b c d e Maik Güneri: The Jewish Emigration to Palestine 1933–1945 (see web link)
  6. ↑ The following list of the certificate categories follows the compilation by Roland Paul: "It was never emigration, always just flight." Palestine as a place of refuge for European Jews until 1945 (see web link). It can be found in a similar way in other publications, for example in Maik Güneri: The Jewish Emigration to Palestine 1933–1945 (see web link).
  7. ↑ a b c Alexander Schölch: The Third Reich, the Zionist Movement and the Palestine Conflict (see web link)