Card of Identification
Object numberM2018/025
TitleCard of Identification
DescriptionCard of Identification issued to Norbert Priefer, by the International Committee for Granting Relief to European Refugees. It certifies he is a bona fide emigrant, born in Vienna and that his passport was issued in Vienna.
Norbert Priefer was born July 13, 1906 and died in February 1979. He had one son, Peter Priefer born 26 July 1936. Norbert and a large number of his family members (around 50), managed to escape to Shanghai and many came to Australia in 1948. Peter Priefer married Alice Loeb; he died in 2013.
The International Committee for Granting Relief to European Refugees (I.C.) was established in Shanghai on the 7 August, 1938 to accommodate and assist with the influx of Jewish refugees.
Part of a collection of 48 letters and postcards dating from 1939 to June 1942, donated by Alice Loeb (nee Czaczkes), written by her maternal grandparents, Matilda and Adolf Brull in Vienna, to their daughter and son-in-law, Rosa and Zygmund (Sigi) Czaczkes, in Zurich.
Matilda Brull (nee Schlesinger) (born 19 November 1877, Hungary) and Adolf 'Dolfi' Brull/Brüll (born 11 April 1880, Hungary) married in September 1909. They had four children: Alfred (1910-1911), Fritz (1912-2002), Jacob ('Jack', 1913-1967) and Rosa (1914-1990).
After Anschluss (the incorporation of Austria into Germany, 12 March 1938) life changed immediately for Jews living in Austria. Their citizenship was revoked, jobs were lost and they became desperate. Rosa and Sigi left Vienna and fled to Switzerland for safety. As the train was pulling out of the station, Rosa saw her brother Fritz and pulled him onto the train, thus saving his life. Around 25,000 Jewish refugees were permitted into Switzerland during the war.
The first thing Rosa and Sigi did was to get married, first in the Registry Office and then in the Synagogue on 15 July 1938. When they wrote to her parents to say they were married, Matilda baked a chocolate torte and sent it to them. When they cut the cake, they found gold wedding rings inside to replace the wrappers of Swiss chocolates they had been using as wedding bands.
They lived in an internment camp (some of Switzerland's famous ski resorts were the sites of these camps). They remained stateless and had to report to the police. Rosa worked in a laundry, doing washing and ironing for the Swiss army while Sigi did harsh manual labour and Fritz worked in a sewing room.
Alice was born in December 1943 and her brother Phillip in 1944. Alice's German birth certificate identifies that she was born 'stateless'. The family was not particularly religious but her father would say "we have to know about where we are from."
Meanwhile in Vienna, Matilda and Adolf had by law to adopt the Jewish middle names of Sara and Israel respectively. They kept in touch with their children in Switzerland through frequent letters; receipt of the letters were signs that they were still alive.
The writings are often divided in different paragraphs to address each person individually. When addressing a few lines to his children, Adolf would write their names in Hebrew. Some of the letters are in Kurrent script (an old form of German based on late medieval cursive writing). Translations into English are challenging as the handwriting is condensed and difficult to read. Nevertheless, information can be gleaned from the correspondence about everyday life in Vienna and their rapidly changing circumstances. The letters reveal their numerous attempts to escape, having bought a suitcase and sold their belongings in preparation. They confirm the receipt of food parcels or money sent by their children, as Matilda and Adolf couldn't afford flour, meat, wine or coffee. Many letters deal with food in general, and advice to her daughter regarding cooking and baking, telling her "Don’t give up putting effort to it, even though some baking might fail…in the end it will work out." She writes about baking matza for Passover and how much they appreciate the tins of sardines sent to break the fast on Yom Kippur. A constant theme in the letters is a lack of response from Rosa's brother Jacob who had escaped to Denmark in 1938. Another is Adolf's health; as a veteran from World War I, he suffered pain from injuries received during captivity.
Then in June 1942, Rosa received the last postcard from her parents. It was postmarked 10 June 1942, the day of her 28th birthday. The postcard stated, "Regret to tell you that we go to Tante Pepe. You won't hear from us for a while." 'Tante Pepe' was the family code word for deportation. Rosa didn't want to celebrate her birthday after that for years to come.
On 14 June 1942 Matilda (aged 64) and Adolf (aged 62) were deported to Sobibor death camp on Transport 27 and murdered immediately upon arrival on 17 June, together with around 950 Jews on the transport. They were not the only family casualties: Sigmund's three brothers David, Leo and Juda were also murdered.
After the war, with support from the JOINT and fares paid for by the Australian Jewish Welfare Society, Rosa and Sigi and their two children immigrated to Australia. They arrived on the Johann de Witt on 16 March 1947 - a migrant ship carrying over 700 Jewish refugees.
They changed their name from Czaczkes to Crant. Alice recalls, "We always craved a family. Grandparents were missing from our lives." The family lived in Kings Cross. Alice shared a bedroom with her brother for 19 years, until she married. She went to Woolloomooloo school but at 15 had to leave school to go to work as a secretary. Later as an adult, aged 33, she went to secretarial school with 16-year-olds. Alice volunteers at the Sydney Jewish Museum, talking to groups about her family's experiences during the war, to "teach love and tolerance so that these things never happen again."
Norbert Priefer was born July 13, 1906 and died in February 1979. He had one son, Peter Priefer born 26 July 1936. Norbert and a large number of his family members (around 50), managed to escape to Shanghai and many came to Australia in 1948. Peter Priefer married Alice Loeb; he died in 2013.
The International Committee for Granting Relief to European Refugees (I.C.) was established in Shanghai on the 7 August, 1938 to accommodate and assist with the influx of Jewish refugees.
Part of a collection of 48 letters and postcards dating from 1939 to June 1942, donated by Alice Loeb (nee Czaczkes), written by her maternal grandparents, Matilda and Adolf Brull in Vienna, to their daughter and son-in-law, Rosa and Zygmund (Sigi) Czaczkes, in Zurich.
Matilda Brull (nee Schlesinger) (born 19 November 1877, Hungary) and Adolf 'Dolfi' Brull/Brüll (born 11 April 1880, Hungary) married in September 1909. They had four children: Alfred (1910-1911), Fritz (1912-2002), Jacob ('Jack', 1913-1967) and Rosa (1914-1990).
After Anschluss (the incorporation of Austria into Germany, 12 March 1938) life changed immediately for Jews living in Austria. Their citizenship was revoked, jobs were lost and they became desperate. Rosa and Sigi left Vienna and fled to Switzerland for safety. As the train was pulling out of the station, Rosa saw her brother Fritz and pulled him onto the train, thus saving his life. Around 25,000 Jewish refugees were permitted into Switzerland during the war.
The first thing Rosa and Sigi did was to get married, first in the Registry Office and then in the Synagogue on 15 July 1938. When they wrote to her parents to say they were married, Matilda baked a chocolate torte and sent it to them. When they cut the cake, they found gold wedding rings inside to replace the wrappers of Swiss chocolates they had been using as wedding bands.
They lived in an internment camp (some of Switzerland's famous ski resorts were the sites of these camps). They remained stateless and had to report to the police. Rosa worked in a laundry, doing washing and ironing for the Swiss army while Sigi did harsh manual labour and Fritz worked in a sewing room.
Alice was born in December 1943 and her brother Phillip in 1944. Alice's German birth certificate identifies that she was born 'stateless'. The family was not particularly religious but her father would say "we have to know about where we are from."
Meanwhile in Vienna, Matilda and Adolf had by law to adopt the Jewish middle names of Sara and Israel respectively. They kept in touch with their children in Switzerland through frequent letters; receipt of the letters were signs that they were still alive.
The writings are often divided in different paragraphs to address each person individually. When addressing a few lines to his children, Adolf would write their names in Hebrew. Some of the letters are in Kurrent script (an old form of German based on late medieval cursive writing). Translations into English are challenging as the handwriting is condensed and difficult to read. Nevertheless, information can be gleaned from the correspondence about everyday life in Vienna and their rapidly changing circumstances. The letters reveal their numerous attempts to escape, having bought a suitcase and sold their belongings in preparation. They confirm the receipt of food parcels or money sent by their children, as Matilda and Adolf couldn't afford flour, meat, wine or coffee. Many letters deal with food in general, and advice to her daughter regarding cooking and baking, telling her "Don’t give up putting effort to it, even though some baking might fail…in the end it will work out." She writes about baking matza for Passover and how much they appreciate the tins of sardines sent to break the fast on Yom Kippur. A constant theme in the letters is a lack of response from Rosa's brother Jacob who had escaped to Denmark in 1938. Another is Adolf's health; as a veteran from World War I, he suffered pain from injuries received during captivity.
Then in June 1942, Rosa received the last postcard from her parents. It was postmarked 10 June 1942, the day of her 28th birthday. The postcard stated, "Regret to tell you that we go to Tante Pepe. You won't hear from us for a while." 'Tante Pepe' was the family code word for deportation. Rosa didn't want to celebrate her birthday after that for years to come.
On 14 June 1942 Matilda (aged 64) and Adolf (aged 62) were deported to Sobibor death camp on Transport 27 and murdered immediately upon arrival on 17 June, together with around 950 Jews on the transport. They were not the only family casualties: Sigmund's three brothers David, Leo and Juda were also murdered.
After the war, with support from the JOINT and fares paid for by the Australian Jewish Welfare Society, Rosa and Sigi and their two children immigrated to Australia. They arrived on the Johann de Witt on 16 March 1947 - a migrant ship carrying over 700 Jewish refugees.
They changed their name from Czaczkes to Crant. Alice recalls, "We always craved a family. Grandparents were missing from our lives." The family lived in Kings Cross. Alice shared a bedroom with her brother for 19 years, until she married. She went to Woolloomooloo school but at 15 had to leave school to go to work as a secretary. Later as an adult, aged 33, she went to secretarial school with 16-year-olds. Alice volunteers at the Sydney Jewish Museum, talking to groups about her family's experiences during the war, to "teach love and tolerance so that these things never happen again."
Production date 1938 - 1948
Object nameidentity cards
Materialpaper, ink, photographic emulsion, paper, paper
Dimensions
- width: 57.00 mm
height: 97.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Alice Loeb