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Letter
Montreal Holocaust Museum · small copy hosted here (www.cjhn.ca blocks its images elsewhere)
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Letter

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Held by
Montreal Holocaust Museum via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)
Dates
June 12, 1939 (indexed as 1939)
Level
item
Scope & content
Page with two holes punched on left edge, top edge torn, creased three times horizontally, addressee contact information on back. Letter from the Metropolitan Police to Mr. Isak Isselbacher, inviting him to a tribunal appointed to examine the position of all Germans and Austrians and to determine which persons pose a threat to national security. He was required to provide his police registration certificate. Narrative: Isaac Herbert Isselbacher was born 1919-11-20 in Isselbach, Germany. His brother was Helmut Isselbacher, born 1921-12-20. Their father was Jacob Isselbacher, born 1883-08-05. They had an uncle and aunt, David and Betty Loewenstein, who lived in New York City with their two children. Isaac left Germany on 1939-07-29, hoping to join his relatives in NYC. He only had the time to get to London, England before the war broke out and started working in a factory. He was arrested at his workplace as an ‘enemy alien’ and sent to Canada for internment in 1940. Isaac was interned in Camp N in Sherbrooke, Quebec. He was drafted into the Works Program Division for woodworking and net-making. In 1940, he received a last letter from his parents which suggested their imminent deportation. After his release, circa November 1942, Isaac worked as a locksmith. He married Fanny Azeff on 1943-12-26 at the Bnai Jacob synagogue in Montreal. Fanny was born on 1921-12-23 in Canada, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Azeff. Isaac was naturalized as a Canadian citizen on 1946-06-08. Fanny was naturalized on 1946-08-30 (she had lost her citizenship by marrying Isaac). Isaac’s brother, Helmut Isselbacher, was deported with Transport XXII A from Dossin casern in Mechelen (Malines), Belgium to Auschwitz Birkenau, Poland on 1943-09-20. Of the 2,450 people on the transport, 100 men were selected to work –including Helmut- and the remainder prisoners were gassed. Helmut was made to work as a welder, and was soon fitting new pipes for the gas chamber. He suffered a nervous breakdown as a result. As he was a valued welder, he was transferred to a labour camp in Upper Silesia (Poland) where he remained for two years. As the Russian army advanced, the 6,000 prisoners of this camp were evacuated by train. Helmut remembered being forced to march as the other prisoners died from exhaustion. When liberation was announced, the survivors travelled by ship from Luebeck, Germany, to Sweden with the aid of the Red Cross. After recovery, Helmut decided to remain in Sweden as a welder. Upon learning of his brother’s survival, Helmut travelled to New York in April 1946 to meet with him and their Loewenstein relatives. Afterwards, Helmut travelled to Canada bringing with him a washing machine and bras as late wedding presents for his brother and Fanny. By 1946-08-12, their parents were presumed dead and the two sons inquired into their estate. They received a deed for the land and travelled to the estate to discover that the current owner of their house was their old maid and her son had become the town mayor. Various disputes arose with the current ‘owners’ who believed the Isselbacher family dead. Isaac wished to discuss a settlement, but the mayor’s mother –not realizing Fanny understood German- called the neighbours at work to warn them not to come home as the Isselbacher sons had resurfaced. Payment for the land had reportedly been sent to Israel, though no documentation could be provided.
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CourtDocumentGovernmentLetterLetterheadMilitaryPolicePrintedSignatureStampTaxationTypewrittenTagged automatically by a vision model; may contain mistakes.
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Extent
Letter : Paper : Printed : Ink : Beige, black ; Ht: 27 cm x W: 19 cm
Genre / form
textual record
Format
Document
Text in the image
METROPOLITAN POLICETo Mr Isak Herbert ISSELBACHER 16, Dumont Road, N.16.The Presbyterian Church Hall, Manor Road. N.16.ALL DOCUMENTS PLEASE.Secretary,Aliens Tribunal No.Friday 9th DecemberC2W66/12/39Tribunals have been appointed by the Secretary of State to examine the position of all Germans and Austrians over the age of 16 in this country, and to consider which of them can properly be exempted from internment and which of those exempted from internment can be exempted also from the special restrictions which are imposed by the Aliens Order on enemy aliens, i.e., the restrictions on travelling without a travel permit, on change of residence without the permission of the police, and on the possession without a police permit of certain articles including motor cars, cameras, etc.Your case will be considered by the tribunal sitting atYou should attend there on Friday 8th December at 9-30 a.m. and you should bring with you your Police Registration Certificate.If you are well-known to a British subject or to someone who has lived here a long time or are in the employment of such person, you should ask such person to state in writing what he or she knows about you, and you should bring the statement with you. You can also invite such a person to attend in case the tribunal wants to put any questions to him or her.Legal representatives (solicitors or barristers) will not be allowed to act as advocates before the tribunal.If you are unable to attend in accordance with this notice, you should send me without delay a statement in writing explaining the reason.Read automatically; may contain mistakes.
Language
English
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2026-10-19T03:21:16Z · source datestamp n/a · andornot

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