Collection of Passports and Documents from the Holocaust Period – Jewish Family from Vienna that Fled to Palestine

Collection of Passports and Documents from the Holocaust Period – Jewish Family from Vienna that Fled to Palestine
Twenty two passports and documents chronicling the progress of the Mieses family from Europe to Palestine during the Holocaust period. Vienna, Antwerp, Toulouse, Madrid, Haifa and elsewhere, beginning-middle of the twentieth century.
The documents show that the family came from the city of Lviv in Poland, and in 1920 decided to immigrate to Vienna, where the father of the family opened a shoe store. After Austria's annexation to Germany in 1939 the family fled to Belgium and then to Grenade in the south of France, where it stayed until 1943. Somehow the family managed to cross the border to Spain, reaching Madrid, and in 1944 they set sail for Palestine and arrived in Haifa Port.This collection includes an interesting account of the various stops on the family's journey to Palestine:
1-2. Two German passports issued in Vienna for the parents, Nachman and Bronia Mieses, on February 15, 1939. Appearing on each is the stamp "J" (Jewish) and the additions "Israel" and "Sarah" to their names. Also appearing on the passports are stamps permitting free border crossings from February 17, 1939, and passport extension stamps from the German consulate in Antwerp, issued on April 10, 1940.
3. Austrian passport issued to Siegfried Mieses, son of Nachman and Bronia, on December 21, 1929. According to the stamps, the passport was used by Siegfried after Austria's annexation to Nazi Germany, and it is marked with special signs for Jews. The stamp "J" appears on the first page, and transit permits from Nazi Germany appear on the last pages. A cancellation stamp appears on every one of the passport's pages.
4. German passport issued to Siegfried at the German consulate in Antwerp (apparently immediately following the cancellation of his Austrian passport), on May 16, 1939. Stamped with the letter "J", with the addition of the middle name "Israel".
5. Confirmation of Submission of Request for Identity Card (Résépissé De Demande De Carte D'identite), issued to Nachman Mieses in Toulouse on January 26, 1942, with his picture and personal details (apparently used as a temporary residence permit in France). Appearing on verso are extension stamps from the city of Grenade in the south of France.
6-7. Two "Certificates of Identity" issued to the couple Bronia and Nachman by the British Consulate in Madrid on 20-21.5.1943. On the front of the certificates are their personal details and ink stamps of the consulate; on the back is a travel visa to Palestine, from 22.5.1943, permit stamps of the Spanish authorities, entry stamps to Palestine through Haifa from 4.2.1944 and additional stamps.
8-18. Eleven documents of members of the family from the pre-war period: birth certificates for Nachman and Siegfried from the Jewish community in Lviv, an Austrian certificate of citizenship from 1920, permit to engage in wholesale trade for Nachman Mieses, and other documents.
19-22. Four documents issued to the family members after the war: identity card for Bronia Mieses issued by the British Mandate government, from March 30, 1947; certificate of "Victim of the Nazi Regime" (Opferausweis) in the name of Siegfried Mieses, issued by the Austrian government on May 18, 1955; and others.
Total of 22 passports, documents and certificates. Size and condition vary. Good-fair overall condition. Stains, creases, folding marks and blemishes. Tears and open tears to some of the items (some of them restored).
Provenance: Rimon Family Collection.