Requests for Exemption from the Nuremberg Laws (1)
Request by Martin Lieblich to keep his Citizenship and Voting Rights
Source : Yad Vashem Archive 0.51/OSO/190 1. [Martin Lieblich applied to the authorities to have his citizenship reinstated. The chief of police forwarded the request to the Minister of Interior on 4 August with the following letter:] Stuttgart, 4 August 1936 Police Chief Department III No. III 1/2588 To the [State] Minister of Interior Stuttgart re: citizen rights of Martin Lieblich, merchant from Stuttgart.
Martin Lieblich, born 1 September 1893 in Stuttgart, comes from a purely Jewish family with roots in Rohatyn, formerly Austro-Hungarian, now Polish. The maternal side comes from Neustadt/Saale. According to Lieblich, his father has resided in Augsburg/Germany since 1892. His parents married in Kissingen/Main in 1883. They had been Austro-Hungarian citizens in the past. Lieblich's father acquired German citizenship by becoming, along with his family, citizens of the state of Wuertemberg on 16 December 1895. Lieblich volunteered for military service on 8 August 1914 and joined brigade 215. He served in the 10th company during the entire war. He was decorated with the Iron Cross Second Class, the silver decoration of the state of Wuertemberg and the golden decoration for having been wounded five times. In December 1916 he was promoted to non-commissioned officer. In March 1919 he was discharged from military service. His brothers Julius and Friedrich were killed by poison gas in 1918 on the Western Front. Lieblich has been married since 1922 to an Aryan wife of British nationality, who belongs to the Church of England. Their son, Harold Richard, was born in Natwich, England on 18 January 1926. He has both German and British citizenship and belongs to the Church of England. Lieblich left the Jewish Religious Community on 10 December 1917 and supposedly broke all ties to Jewish circles after that. He was baptised in Rotterdam on 5 February 1922 and joined the Catholic Church. On 21 September 1928 the Civil Court of Stuttgart 1granted Lieblich's request to change his first name from Moritz to Martin. The statements made by Lieblich in his letter to the Fuehrer of Christmas 1933 were checked and found to be true. The Wuertemberg Political Police has given its opinion as to political issues. The mayor of Stuttgart has no stand. Lieblich was convicted in Stuttgart on 3 June 1929 for acting in opposition to article 17 of the law against unfair competition. He was fined 150 Marks or 15 days in jail. Beside this and another charge in matters of import there are no other charges against Lieblich. I submit the file for consideration.
Signed: Bohnenberger
[The State of Wuertemberg's Minister of Interior referred the case to the Reich Minister of Interior on 21 September 1936:] The Minister of Interior of Wuertemberg 21 September 1936 To the Minister of Interior of the Reich and Prussia
...I believe there are grounds for an exception in the request filed by Lieblich for the following reasons: He proved to be a brave soldier at the front during the World War, and was decorated for having been wounded five times. He is married to a British woman of Aryan origin who still holds British citizenship. His wife was brought back to England by her parents after some incident in August and will not return until his circumstances are cleared. Should there be a possibility to exempt him, I would like to have the files returned to me for further action.
The Minister of Interior of the Reich and Prussia Berlin, 6 October 1936
...With regard to the request by Martin Lieblich of Stuttgart to have his citizenship rights reinstated: in the name of the Fuehrer and Chancellor of the Reich, I reject the request, due to the fact that the petitioner is a Jew.
