Employment certificate (ausweis) by Jakób Sobel

The form of the registration card is similar to the identity document. The paper document is folded into three parts. Its cover shows the employee's basic data (name, surname, date of birth and place of residence) as well as his photo. After unfolding, a table appears where, in the following columns, the place of employment, the day of commencement of work and the type of work performed are entered. This time the headers are not only in German, but also in Polish and Russian. Here, however, the construction company 'A. i H. Rygol' with its seat in Sanok at Göring (Hermann Wilhelm)- Str. 1. The date of commencement of employment is also 30 September 1941. In the 'type of employment' field, only 'worker' (Ger. Arbeiter) was entered. The document also bears stamps of the Labour Department in Drohobycz (Ger. Arbeitsamt Drohobycz). On the verso of the card, there is an additional instruction for the cardholder, also in three languages: German, Polish, and Russian.

In 1956, the Sobel family emigrated to Vienna. Even though the transport they were travelling with was heading for Israel, they decided to settle in Austria, as Stryj had formerly been part of the Austrian partition. (https://sztetl.org.pl/en/glossary/zabor-austriacki), thus many of its inhabitants (including Jakub Sobel) knew German. The family considered that it would be much easier to make a new life in the capital of the former partition, whose culture and language were not alien to them, than in Israel, which appeared to be a completely exotic place. Another argument in favour of staying in Vienna was the fact that Jakub's brother lived there and could help the family adapt to the new conditions.

Marta Frączkiewicz