UNITED STATES OF AMERICA }
STATE OF NEW YORK } SS
COUNTY OF NEW YORK }
The American Consul General
Stuttgart, Germany.
Sir:
re: Application for Immigration Visas on German quota,
Mr. and Mrs. Julius Oppenheimer, Alfonsstr.1, Munich.
The above applicants inform me that additional proofs for my good
will are required before the visas can be issued. I wish to stress that
although I am not related to the prospective immigrants, the tie of friend-
ship which unites our families is much stronger than any family tie. I like
Mr. and Mrs. Oppenheimer very much indeed and I also feel that here at last, I
have an occasion to show them my gratitude for everything that their family
did in its time for my own father.
My wife, my son and myself live in a six rooms apartment and we have
set aside one room for Mr. and Mrs. Oppenheimer. Everything is prepared for
them to make them feel really at home when they come to stay with us.
I promised already to give them besides full board and lodging,
$10.00 (ten Dollars) weekly for pocket-money so that they can provide them-
selves for all their expenses. I have a very good income and I prefer this
way of providing for them, instead of putting up the money on the bank.
Please, consider once more the Affidavit and proofs submitted in
November, 1939. I feel certain that I have met with all requirements and I
will be glad to receive the news I may send them the necessary transportation.
Thanking you for your kind consideration, I beg to remain,
Respectfully yours,
Samuel Morris
200 West 86 Street [partially visible] Typed letter
Typed letter / affidavit of support from Samuel Morris to the American Consul...
This is a powerful letter from Samuel Morris, a New York resident, to the American Consul General in Stuttgart, supplementing his affidavit of support for Julius and Elsa Oppenheimer's immigration visa application. Morris emphasizes that while not a blood relative, the bond between the families is "much stronger than any family tie" — the Oppenheimer family had helped his own father in the past, and he now wishes to repay that debt. He details concrete plans: a room set aside in his six-room apartment, full board and lodging, and $10 per week in pocket money (about $215/week today). His address at 200 West 86th Street places him in the same Upper West Side neighborhood as Mina Kaufmann (145 West 86th Street), suggesting a close-knit community of German-Jewish immigrants coordinating rescue efforts. The Oppenheimers were living at Alfonsstrasse 1, Munich, at the time of this application. The letter's urgent, personal tone — and its reference to proofs "submitted in November, 1939" — reflects the increasingly desperate race against time as war had already broken out in Europe.