Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Paul Diamond's C-File (Part 1/2)

I recently received a C-File for my grandfather, Paul Diamond, via the USCIS Genealogy program which contained a lot of interesting documents as well as some photos.

While in the Neu Freimann DP camp outside Munich, he applied for a US Visa.

Paul Diamond (Pejsach Diment) Visa Application; January 1947 (page 1)
Paul Diamond (Pejsach Diment) Visa Application; January 1947 (page 2)

He states that he is 24 years old and was a driver living in Funk Caserne, Munich, Germany.  He lists some of the towns that he was in during and after the war.  He says he is fluent in 4 languages, including Yiddish, Polish, Russian and German (he was also fluent in Ukrainian which wasn't listed here) and had a small scar on his left little finger.  He also lists his parents' names.  They are incorrect here and are incorrect (but differently) on subsequent pages.  He states that his father was Abraham Diment (correct) and his mother was Szewa Diment (nee Zutelman).  While his mother's maiden name was Zutelman, his mother was Tzivia; Szewa was his mother-in-law.  He notes that he was imprisoned but that it shouldn't be used against him since it was "for political reasons and not for the commission of any crime."

Along with the visa applications were several other documents:
HIAS Guarantee of Visa Fees and Travel Expenses; 1947
Unavailable Document List
Police Affidavit on Pejsach Diment's Good Behavior
HIAS vouched that his expenses would be covered.  In addition, there was a note that many of his records were not available.  I wish there had been a birth certificate--but I'm confused why there was not a marriage certificate since he had been married in November 1945, after the war was over.  In addition, there was a statement in German from the police.  Translated it means: "We confirm that Diament Pejsach born in Biskupicz, Russia, was not charged/punished by us. Signed, the Chief of Police."

There were then two other documents, one of which seems to have the information needed to fill out the visa form, and then the visa itself:
Information For US Visa; Pejsach Diment; 1947

Pejsach Diment US Visa; 1947
The visa has a photo of my young grandfather.  It states that he was traveling with a certificate of identity in lieu of passport and that he was stateless (meaning of no nationality), although it also says he was admitted under the Soviet quota for the visa.

There were also many documents leading up to his naturalization--which will be in a future post which is here.

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