Rare document of the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (Reich Association of Jews in Germany) used to control the Jewish population. Dated in 1943 and issued to the Jew Georg Israel Engel.

Very interesting the following explanation of what this shelter association was and what obscure purposes had after being totally taken over by the Nazi police.

On June 4, 1939, all Jewish associations and Jewish communities were forcibly incorporated into the "Reich Association of Jews in Germany" due to the 10th Ordinance on the Reich Citizenship Act. All persons who were considered Jews under the Nuremberg Laws had to join and pay compulsory contributions. This reorganization marked the end of a freely chosen representation and leadership of the Jews in Germany, although the administration and staff of the Reichsvertretung der Juden in Germany, the Jewish communities and the Presidential Council were largely taken over. The board of the Reich Association was no longer elected and controlled by the association itself, but was appointed by the security police (Sipo). From the board elected in 1933, Leo Baeck was appointed as chairman, Heinrich Stahl (1868-1942) as his deputy, Otto Hirsch , Julius Seligsohn and from the administration of the Reich Representation Arthur Lilienthal and Paul Epstein (1901-1941). Moritz Henschel and Philipp Kozower were appointed as representatives of the Jewish community in Berlin.

The Reich Association was under the supervision of the Reich Ministry of the Interior and under the direct control of the Secret State Police (Gestapo), the Security Service (SD) and from September 1939 the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). She was given responsibility for the organization and funding of Jewish welfare and schooling. In addition to other tasks such as Jewish emigration and vocational training, the tightening of anti-Jewish measures resulted in the beginning of the Second World WarNew duties: The "community department" of the Reichsvereinigung was concerned with the care of community remnants and the dissolution of Jewish communities. Furthermore, all special permits, for example for the use of transport, had to be applied for through the Reich Association. The organization of care for Jewish children became necessary after all Jews capable of work were increasingly used for forced labor .

The Nazi authorities used the Reich Association as an instrument to control the Jewish population and to implement the " final solution to the Jewish question ". After the deportations began in autumn 1941, the Reichsvertretung had to provide organizational support. Her duties included looking after the people in the collective camps, keeping statistics on the Jewish communities and passing on orders from the state authorities. Despite the surveillance and the forced cooperation with the Nazi state, the Reich Association tried to provide independent aid.

In June 1942, a special action against the board and the administration of the Reich Association took place with arrests and deportations. All fully Jewish employees had to be replaced in March 1943 by "people living in privileged mixed marriages". The dissolution of the Reichsvereinigung took place on June 10, 1943. The office in Berlin was closed, the property confiscated and the remaining five members who were not "aryanized" were deported.