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HEYDRICH JEWISH “STAR OF DAVID” REGULATIONS
SS and Police General Reinhard Heydrich, Head of the Sicherheitsdienst
INCREDIBLY RARE REINHARD HEYDRICH NAZI
POLICE DECREE OF 15 SEPTEMBER 1941
REGARDING THE DISPLAY OF THE
STAR OF DAVID ON THE CLOTHING OF JEWS
Nazi Schnellbrief
On the first of September 1941, Nazi SS and Police General Reinhard Heydrich, Head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD or Nazi Security Service) in Berlin issued a decree which required Jews to wear a yellow 6-pointed “Star of David” on their clothing in both public and certain private circumstances. The original decree raised more questions than it answered as implementation of it began throughout Großdeutschland or Greater Germany and Occupied Territories.

The item offered here is the follow-up 12-page decree with two attachments dated 15 September 1941, once again over the signature of Heydrich. The fourteen pages are all A4 size (8-1/4 x 11-5/8 inches).
SS and Police General Reinhard Heydrich
Page 1 is bordered by a bright red quarter-inch stripe on all four sides and bears the return address of the Reichsminister des Innern (Ministry of the Interior) in Berlin where the offices of the Reichsführer-SS, Sicherheitsdienst and Police were located.

The Schnellbrief or Urgent Directive is marked “Confidential! Hurry! Timely Material! Not To Be Seen By The Public !” and has as its subject “Police Decree Regarding The Identifying Emblem for Jews of 1 September 1941”. There are two attachments. The following is a translation of the most important parts of this decree.
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich,
author of the Schnellbrief shown above left.
TRANSLATION
Here are my guidelines for the enforcement of the Police Decree Regarding The Identifying Emblem for Jews dated 1 September 1941. In those cases where the use of the emblem is related to transportation I have the agreement of the Reichsminister of Traffic, Reichsminister of Mail and the Reichsminister of Aviation.

I) Identifying Emblems for Jews.

a) the Emblem for Jews must be worn by all Jews sewed to the garment on the left chest at heart level so it is obvious. In addition to being worn in public it must also be worn in places like private air raid shelters where problems might occur if Jews were not identified. Jews are required to care for these emblems and keep them clean. This Central Agency for Jewish Emigration is charged with the distribution of Jewish Emblems. The State Union of Jews in Germany and the Jewish Cultural Community in Wien (Vienna) and Prag (Prague) will be involved in those cities.
Polizeiverordnung Kennzeichnung der Juden
b) Violations of this decree are punishable by law. Violations by Jewish minors will be dealt with by the Jewish Education Establishment. The Nazi Party Chancellery wants those in the government sector to do all that they can to avoid unlawful offenses against Jews who are wearing their Emblem, and will intervene in a severe manner in such cases.
II) The Gestapo is responsible for each decision that allows Jews to leave their residential communities or to use public transportation. Employees of recognized Jewish organizations traveling for business purposes may for example, qualify. In the capital of the Reich [Berlin] only the Central Office of Jewish Emigration under the Head of the SD may issue permits for Jewish business travel. The State Police may issue permits in some less populated areas with the local police issuing them in rural areas.
a) In order to obtain the travel permit, German Jews are required to present the following forms of identification: passport, internal identification document, child identification document or official picture ID. To qualify for the travel permit one must need to travel for work, travel for a recognized Jewish organization, travel on commercial business or travel for important personal reasons such as illness, death of a family member, etc. Proof is required for the need.

b) Local authorities will decide which methods of public transportation Jews may use. In general they may not travel on rivers, canals or in airplanes. Taxis and rental cars may be approved for doctors, midwives, the handicapped (especially war wounded, amputees, etc.). The use of rental busses by Jews will ordinarily be allowed only for work details. Travel by Jews on trains, trams and city busses must be limited. Officials of the Post Office and Railway may exclude Jews from travel on certain days, hours and sections of the network. Travel by Jews on airplanes is allowed only in exceptional cases and only when approved by the police and by Lufthansa in writing.

 Jewish Emblem Decree
Star of David - Jewish Emblem
Permits are issued free of charge to Jews. In the case of group travel a group permit will be issued locally and all permits must have a strict time of validity. They can not be issued for a period of longer than three months. Extensions are forbidden, new permits must be issued. All permits must be dated, officially stamped and signed by the issuing authority. Permits expire when travel is completed and Jews must return them to the issuing authority. The issuing authority must keep a list of all permits issued, and retain the Jewish proof submitted in requesting permits. Traffic officials may forbid Jews from using certain forms of transportation. Jews must sit on seats set aside for them and may only use the washrooms and restaurants of the transportation system they are using.

III) The permit rules apply to German Jews and do not apply to Jews of foreign nationality except Jews from Eupen-Malmédy and Morsenet with Belgian nationality, and Jews from the East Prussian area Bialystock who have Russian nationality.
MUSTER Jewish Travel Document
IV) These rules are subject to change. You may expect additional rules from the Traffic, Mail and Aviation Ministries. In the Protektorat of Bohemia and Moravia special rules of the Reichsprotektor will apply. The attachments to this Schnellbrief are examples A and B of the police permits required of Jews who wish to leave their residential communities or travel on public transportation. END OF TRANSLATION

This incredibly rare document bears the 35 mm stamped seal of Der Reichsführer-SS und Chef der deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern 39 (Heinrich Himmler’s Office) and a blue stamped signature of SS and Police General Reinhard Heydrich. The first three pages of this document contain the names of the 27 different categories of offices to which it was distributed. Most are Sicherheitspolizei, SD, Kriminalpolizei (Kripo), Ministerial and Reichskommissar offices.
This may very well be the only copy of this enormously historical document to survive World War II! The entire document is in very good original condition and is from the collection of authors Ray & Josephine Cowdery. It comes with a signed and dated Certificate of Authenticity.
For more Kripo, Gestapo and SS documents, click HERE.
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