Gift of Sophie Schoen in memory of her parents, Adele and Heinrich Gerstenhaber
Id no. 179.89, Document, German
This postcard from the Polizeidirektion [Police Headquarters] in Vienna to Heinrich Gerstenhaber confirms that he has requested documentation regarding his military service, which he would need to prepare for emigration from Germany to the US.
Gerstenhaber was arrested on November 10, 1938 and released from Dachau on December 30 because of his military service. His wife Adele collected documentation that proved his military service during World War I as a road roller. The Gerstenhabers also collected documentation which they used to prove their case for emigration from Nazi occupied Germany to the United States. This document represents one step in the journey that the Gerstenhabers and their two children undertook before they were finally allowed to emigrate to the US in 1939.