Eduard Elias – Letters

Eduard Elias, born in Vienna, Austria, on 2 June 1905

Profession in country of origin: wholesale business supplying motor car parts

Arrived in Britain as a refugee from Austria on 24 July 1939

---

Dachau Concentration Camp Headquarters                  

 Dachau 3 K 

5 January 1939

Mrs Bertha Elias

                                                                                    Vienna

                                                                                    11 Konigsegg Lane

The two powers of attorney and five passport pictures will be handed back after completion of the signature by Eduard Elias. At the same time the Reichspass No. 644533.1 and five interest coupons will be transmitted. In addition, a forwarding authority and five passport pictures will be returned after completion of the signature by Hans Friedrich Elias. An enclosed envelope will be sent. You should accompany this with a cover letter to the authorities in question.

                                                                                   Camp Commandant

Translated by a Kitchener descendant

English Translation

Engineer Otto Altmann

Auto-material                          

Telephone number U-13-207                                                                

Vienna

                                                                     14  January 1939

                                                                        Reisner Street 16

Memo:

Subject:

I hereby confirm that  Mr Eduard Elias was born in Vienna on June 2, 1905, that he has lived in Vienna  and I have known him since his earliest youth. He is the son of the respected merchant, Max Elias, who died five years ago.  After graduating from the Commercial Academy he worked for Alpine Machinery A.G. in Augsburg and then worked with much success in his father’s business.  Mr. Eduard Elias enjoys the best reputation and one can have full confidence in him.

 Engineer Otto Altmann

Translated by a Kitchener descendant

Vienna Makkabi

Jewish Gymnastic and Sport Club

February 5, 1939

We confirm that Eduard Elias, born June 2, 1905, a member of our organization, is currently in protective custody.  For that reason  we strongly urge that he leave for a foreign country with haste.

With greetings of Zion

Makkabi Gymnastic and Sport Club

Translation to English by a Kitchener descendant

"The envelope above was sent from a cousin, Alfred Luftschitz, PO Box 61 Nicosia Cyprus, which was another transit camp for those who were part of the Palestine story" 

Editor's note: From Wikipedia - "During World War II and the Holocaust, Cyprus played a major role for the Jewish communities of Europe. After the rise of Nazism in 1933, hundreds of Jews escaped to Cyprus. Following the liquidation of the concentration camps of Europe, the British set up a detention camp in Cyprus for Holocaust survivors illegally trying to enter Palestine. From 1946 until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the British confined 50,000 Jewish refugees on the island. Once the State of Israel was created, most of the refugees moved to Israel. About 2,000 babies were born on the island as they waited to enter Israel."

---

On this page: all items and translations (except where otherwise noted) have been submitted by Eric Elias for his father Eduard Elias