Description

In order to ensure that Jews cannot change their name, a procedure is put in place by the Vichy administration : a certificate of non-belonging to the Jewish race must be produced by any applicant.

March 13, 1941 – Circular for the establishment of a regulation allowing the transmission of civil status documents from one zone to another : “As a result of the division of the territory into two zones,… negotiations with the occupying authority having made it possible to overcome certain difficulties, … anyone who wishes to obtain, from one zone to another, the extract of a civil status document, can request it and pay the fees related…”.

October 6, 1942 – The Governor General of Algeria instructs the Prefect of Constantine of the procedure to be put in place : persons requesting a change of name must obligatorily attach to the file a certificate of non-belonging to the Jewish race, and only the General Commissioner for Jewish Questions in Vichy has the capacity to issue such a certificate. The documents to be provided must make it possible to establish – either that three of the applicant’s grandparents were not of Jewish race, – or that at least two of the grandparents were not of Jewish race and that the applicant never belonged to the Jewish religion or ceased to belong to it before June 25, 1940, and that if he is married his spouse is not a Jew. “This evidence should be provided by regular baptismal certificates issued within the past year, with the signature of the issuing authority to be legalized. In addition, you must establish, by means of the original civil status documents or their photograph, your filiation vis-à-vis your parents and grandparents as well as, where applicable, your status as a single person” .

October 20, 1942 – The President of the Special Delegation of the Municipality of Sidi-Mérouan informs the Prefect of Constantine that there are no Jews in his Municipality.