Help from the Duke

German passport Nr. 1281/39, issued to Alfred Israel Meyer dated 19 January 1939, Frankfurt. Alfred was arrested in Frankfurt on "Kristallnacht" and sent to Buchenwald. His head was shaved on arrival. His wife, Gertrud, wrote to the Duke of Wellington in England for help, drawing on Meyer family history to support her plea. Calmon Meyer, Alfred’s great-great grandfather, had fought under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Gertrud argued that her husband’s ancestor had helped the Duke’s ancestor win the Battle of Waterloo. She asked that the Duke help her husband now by assisting them to leave Germany. The Duke of Wellington arranged for the visas shown in these two passports. As a result, Alfred was released from Buchenwald in January 1939 and escaped to England.