Object numberM2018/008:036
DescriptionIn March 1938, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in the “Anschluss”. From May 1938, the racist Nuremberg laws applied in Austria, and Austrian Jews were steadily ostracised from their societies during the process of “Aryanisation.” This tension came to a climax in the Kristallnacht pogrom from 9th-10th November.
In the meantime, Hardy Brothers, a British jewellery-making firm, offer young Leo Steiner from Vienna employment in Sydney, Australia as a jewellery mounter in July 1938. However, the Gestapo threaten to arrest Jews issued with travel documents who do not leave within a short time. Whilst Leo’s Australian landing permit is pending, it is therefore prudent to seek temporary refuge in a third country. Before he is discharged from his erstwhile firm Vienna Art Designs, Leo’s employer Oscar Fastlich writes that his stay in Switzerland is necessary for business. In July, Leo moves to Zurich on a temporary stay visa, leaving his parents, Adolf and Hermine, and brother Paul, behind in Vienna.
Once established in Australia, Leo makes various applications to the Australian government for landing permits on behalf of his parents and Paul, all of which are denied. All three family members would eventually perish during WWII. This letter from the Swiss federal foreign police in Bern clarifies their rejection of the request for a permit for Paul Steiner, accompanied by a draft typed response from Leo. The Swiss authorities restate that it is impossible for them to approve the request unless Paul’s exit from Switzerland is guaranteed by a visa for a third country. Leo’s response includes an offer to provide a formal letter of guarantee that he will financially support his brother in the meantime. He pleads with the foreign police department to thus offer Paul Steiner asylum from dangers of the German Reich, and states that the approval of Paul’s application for a landing permit in Australia is expected.
In the meantime, Hardy Brothers, a British jewellery-making firm, offer young Leo Steiner from Vienna employment in Sydney, Australia as a jewellery mounter in July 1938. However, the Gestapo threaten to arrest Jews issued with travel documents who do not leave within a short time. Whilst Leo’s Australian landing permit is pending, it is therefore prudent to seek temporary refuge in a third country. Before he is discharged from his erstwhile firm Vienna Art Designs, Leo’s employer Oscar Fastlich writes that his stay in Switzerland is necessary for business. In July, Leo moves to Zurich on a temporary stay visa, leaving his parents, Adolf and Hermine, and brother Paul, behind in Vienna.
Once established in Australia, Leo makes various applications to the Australian government for landing permits on behalf of his parents and Paul, all of which are denied. All three family members would eventually perish during WWII. This letter from the Swiss federal foreign police in Bern clarifies their rejection of the request for a permit for Paul Steiner, accompanied by a draft typed response from Leo. The Swiss authorities restate that it is impossible for them to approve the request unless Paul’s exit from Switzerland is guaranteed by a visa for a third country. Leo’s response includes an offer to provide a formal letter of guarantee that he will financially support his brother in the meantime. He pleads with the foreign police department to thus offer Paul Steiner asylum from dangers of the German Reich, and states that the approval of Paul’s application for a landing permit in Australia is expected.
Production placeBern, Switzerland, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Production date 1939-05-06 - 1939-05-06 1939-07-01 - 1939-07-01
SubjectHolocaust, Nazi political activities (1933-1939), refugees, refugees, family life, visa application, Visa Refusal, landing permit, refugee experiences in Australia, Jews in Vienna
Object nameletters
Dimensions
- letter length: 226.00 mm
letter width: 295.00 mm
letter (draft) length: 264.00 mm
letter (draft) width: 206.00 mm
envelope length: 223.00 mm
envelope width: 114.00 mm
Language
- German Federal Foreign Police.
Mr Leo Steiner,
167 Parramatta Road,
Annandale,
Sydney,
Australia.
We are writing in regards to your correspondence of March 16 1939 to the Foreign Police Zurich Canton which regards to the situation of your brother Paul Steiner. The refusal of an entry permit was conveyed to your brother on December 8 1938; he did not appeal this decision. It is very questionable whether the justice and police departments could issue a permit on the basis of the current situation. According to the current practice, this is only possible if the departure date from Switzerland is guaranteed by a visa for a third country.
We hope to have responded to your concerns with this letter and send regards,
Yours respectfully,
Federal Foreign Police.
German 167 Parramatta Road, Annandale, Sydney. 1st July, 1939. Foreign Police Canton, Zurich, Kaspar Eschenhaus. I received your response from May 6 last year with regards to the rejection of the request of my parents and my brother for an entry permit. In the meantime several circumstances have changed. Since, however, the appeal deadline for the initial decision has passed, I necessarily made a new request without the regards to the first. I will now allow myself to elaborate upon the changed circumstances. As can be seen from my lately updated address, I am living in Sydney since my arrival five months ago. I am here thanks to a work contract signed in Vienna with the Hardy Brothers jewellery firm at 60 Castlereagh Street. My work as a jewellery mounter is renumerated with a weekly sum of 7.10 pounds. At the time of the first request, I was still in the refugee camp Fällanden (Zurich Canton). In my first request I applied for an entry permit for my brother and my parents, however from now on I am only enquiring about my brother. I handed in the required documentation for an Australian permit for my brother in February and am therefore justified in expecting to receive a permit for him in the foreseeable future. As such I am pursuing the application for a Swiss temporary stay visa for my brother with the sole purpose of protecting him from the dangers of a prolonged stay in Germany. As I promised in my last letter to provide for my brother financially in Switzerland, I would like to note that I am happy to accompany my promise with an official letter of guarantee. In hoping that the Federal Foreign Police shall take these changed circumstances into account, and are sympathetic in concluding this matter for me, I sign, Yours respectfully, [Leo Steiner] (letter not signed)
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Pauline Shavit