The Holocaust: Letter from Rosa Oppenheim to the Mayor of Bayreuth

Bayreuth, 1 November 1938

To the Mayor of the city of Bayreuth

Re: Application of the Nuremberg Laws.

Mrs. Margarete Nuetzel, age 27, Elias Raenzel St. Bayreuth, was employed in my household until the promulgation of the Nuremberg Laws.

After that, her mother, Mrs. Ries, aged 45,…came to work for us for several hours every day. She is still employed by us.

The members of our household included my husband, Selmar, myself and our daughter, Paula Oppenheim, until my husband was arrested several months ago.

My husband was sentenced to a prison term of one year and three months in late August for attempting to commit Rassenschande (Race Defilement). He is still detained and was not yet transferred to a prison because he submitted an appeal. My husband is therefore not at our home, and only my daughter and I reside there.

Our help, Mrs. Ries is very often unable to perform her work. She would like to have her daughter, the aforementioned Mrs. Nuetzel, replace her when she cannot come.

I believe the employment of Mrs. Nuetzel in my household was forbidden because of my husband's presence, as stated in the laws. I submit the request to permit the employment of Mrs. Nuetzel for the period until my husband returns home. I would be grateful for notification should her employment be possible without official authorization.

My husband, myself and my daughter are full Jews. There are no male tenants in our household.

Source: The Central Archive for the History of the Jewish People, Jerusalem. D/Ba 28/329.

Source: Yad Vashem