On 10 October 1941 Gisela Kahn explains her emigration plans and asks to be exempted from the announced deportation to Łódź1ANLux, FD-083:26, Transfert de ressortissants juifs à Litzmannstadt/Pologne: Instructions diverses (16 Oct. 1941); contacts à établir; Listes des déportés vers la Pologne, 1941–1943. This document has been translated from German.
Handwritten letter from Gisela Kahn,2Gisela Kahn, née Süsskind (b. 1903); born in Lorraine; emigrated to Luxembourg in 1927; on 28 July 1942 taken from Fünfbrunnen camp to Theresienstadt; on 29 Jan. 1943 deported to Auschwitz, where she perished. Luxembourg, to the State Security Police, Luxembourg, dated 10 October 1941
The undersigned, Gisela Kahn, née Süsskind, entreats the following: I am planning to emigrate soon. One year ago, my brother Sig. Süsskind of Cincinnati, Ohio (USA), 353 Rockdale Avenue, deposited a financial guarantee at the consulate in Marseilles for me, my child,3Juliana Kahn (b. 1928); on 28 July 1942 taken with her mother to Theresienstadt and on 29 Jan. 1943 deported to Auschwitz, where she perished. and our parents, Mr and Mrs Sigmund Süsskind,4Siegmund Süsskind (1870–1942); born in Lorraine; fled with his wife to Luxembourg in 1938; deported on 28 July 1942 from Fünfbrunnen camp to Theresienstadt, where he perished; Regina, also Régine, Süsskind, née Hoffmann (b. 1874); born in Steinach/Saale; survived, and took up residence in Bamberg in 1945. who live with me. Since my parents are over 68 years old, they had always been against emigrating & so, sacrificing myself and my child, I stayed at their side to take care of them. Because a separation is possibly imminent, I have been able to persuade my parents to emigrate with us to the USA. Yesterday I wired my aforementioned brother, whose financial circumstances are very good, to make all necessary arrangements so that we can emigrate as soon as possible. I myself have 3,956 dollars in the USA at The Capital Bank, 1011 Huron Road,5The bank was located in Cleveland, Ohio. as stated in the declaration of assets I submitted to Dept. IVa.6This reference is to the Department for the Administration of Jewish and Emigrant Assets, also called the Department for the Administration of Jewish and Other Assets, which was established in Dec. 1940 under the chief of the civil administration. It was responsible for the Aryanization of the Luxembourg economy and the liquidation of Jewish assets. See also Doc. 210. My child & I have a Luxembourg passport. My parents’ state of health does not allow them to emigrate on their own, & it would only be possible if we could depart from here together, therefore I kindly request that you either allow me and my little daughter to stay with my parents in a home for the elderly until then or to grant us permission to travel with my parents to the unoccupied part of France, so that we can wait there until we can emigrate to the USA for good.
Since what I have stated is genuinely the truth, I hope that my request will be granted.
Respectfully,