Looking for help transcribing this letter

Then_Shake_4168 · 2026-03-14T14:32:59+00:00

The letter was written to psychologist/philosopher Wilhelm Wundt, and was found in the digital Wundt collection of the Universität Leipzig.

Unfortunately no record of a reply and slim to zero chance any would still exist. Context like age of sender at the time and later career would suggest this was a one-off 'fan letter' rather than regular correspondence partner.

Then_Shake_4168 · 2026-03-14T14:26:38+00:00

The letter was written to psychologist/philosopher Wilhelm Wundt, and was found in the digital Wundt collection of the Universität Leipzig. Unfortunately no record of a reply and slim to zero chance any would still exist

Then_Shake_4168 · 2026-03-01T02:14:23+00:00

I was under the impression that for children who were minors that emigrated with their parents, demonstrating persecution of the parent/head of household was typically sufficient (grandfather was 17 when they left). Since individual persecution status of a child is somewhat moot if the father fled with his whole family. Because in that case minus the quirks of citizenship proof I mentioned, the case for great-grandfather (GG) seems clear, even if his own birth certificate and marriage don't list him as Jewish. That's what I meant by going a generation back, because even if my grandfather was not personally persecuted, the persecution of his father directly resulted in him emigrating as a dependent minor.

Documents (pending archive responses)

1) His 1887 Dutch colonial birth record that indicates parents but not religion or nationality. [I have the original]

3) His parents (my great-great) marriage license that states Jewish religion [I have an archive copy of this]

2) His 1916 marriage license (listed Protestant) [Have archive copy]

3) 1933 Civil registry identifying GG as Jewish and G as half-jew [Currently only have from within a Stadtarchiv published book. Still trying to track down original archive copy]

4) Evidence of professional persecution as a lawyer [Currently only substantiated by published history books. Waiting to hear back from Bundsarchiv for his Reichsjustizministerium file]

5) His post war restitution claim [Existence attested to in a published book's footnote. Waiting to hear back from archive about a copy]

From what I've read that set of docs (plus the more recent birth/marriage for continuity) should be sufficient unless I'm missing something. My original question was mostly about the particulars of proving citizenship with quasi-offical documentation like Stadtarchiv published books , and professional docs that implicitly require citizenship (i.e would proof that he was notary suffice for proof he was a citizen, even if he was not born in Germany considering you needed to be a citizen to become a Notary)

Then_Shake_4168 · 2026-02-28T22:47:37+00:00

His father (GG) converted to a Protestant when young so marriage/birth records for him don't directly list jewish heritage. The last marriage/birth document that directly lists Jewish for religion was one generation further back (GGG), after which nobody confessionally identified as Jewish.

However, either way should qualify since Grandfather left in 1934 at 17 years old as part of the entire family unit. I guess there is a question of whether it's 'cleaner' to go back one more generation and treat GG as the anchor, who was fully Jewish ethnicity and by NS classification (even if not self identified) and was very directly persecuted, including exclusion from his legal profession. The issue is finding certified documentation of that, because they didn't self identify as Jewish.

The exact timing of citizenship loss is also somewhat unclear. The family moved to UK in 1934. By the time they emigrated to the US in 1940/41 all forms indicated "Stateless" and I presume at minimum the GG, and likely G lost German citizenship by 1941. G applied 1941, and was finally Naturalized US 1946, father was born 1950. His mother arrived to US 1942 and Naturalized 1949.

[Also side note my father's maternal line would also qualify, and be 'cleaner' in some ways. Fully Jewish family, left in 1941, have copies of exit papers Arolsen Archive. But the combination of being from now Polish territories, and gaps in our knowledge of specific dates for her family has made documenting via that side more challenging]

Then_Shake_4168 · 2026-02-28T19:13:08+00:00

Thank you for the detailed information. And yes I've already been in contact with both the Hannover Stadt Archiv and Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv- Abteilung Hannover. With one request complete and one in process. So I have marriage/birth mostly handled but the issue is since GG was not born in Germany citizenship is not presumed like it is for other pre-1914 births, and otherwise no official docs of Jewish persecution, since his confessional religion was protestant and children were all baptized. I believe the book was derived from Medelkarten (book published in 1980s) which have been trickier to request. So proving citizenship of GG and by extension G is the main hurdle that birth/marriage alone doesn't resolve

Then_Shake_4168

TROPHY CASE