 Carl Marcuse at age 74, in his Nazi-issued Feb. 1938 passport |
Carl Marcuse (1864-1948)page
by great-grandson Harold Marcuse to
Marcuse Family homepage, created October 19, 2003; updated 7/10/2005 |
Carl Marcuse was Herbert Marcuse's father. He was born in Greiffenhagen, Pomerania (on the current German-Polish border, NE of Berlin, now Polish Gryfino), on March 1, 1864. Carl's father was Hermann Marcuse. In 1886 Carl did military service in Berlin. On 30 Sept. 1897 in Charlottenburg (now part of Berlin) he married Gertrud Kreslawsky, who was 12 years younger than he (born 1 Feb. 1876 in Landsberg an der Warthe, now Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland (map), about mid-way between Berlin and Poznan, map). The German Historical Museum's Herbert timeline says that Carl owned a textile factory. Doug Kellner's American National Biography article says Carl was "a prosperous Jewish merchant" and Gertrud Kreslawsky the "daughter of a wealthy German factory owner." (See also Herbert's Lebenslauf in his 1922 dissertation.) Carl and Gertrud's three children were born in the Berlin suburb Charlottenburg: Herbert Hermann (my grandfather, on 19 July 1898), Else (14 Feb. 1902), and Erich Ernst Günther (7 Feb. 1907). The passport images below document how Carl was able to escape from the Nazis. His November 1927 (age 63) driver's license and 1885 (age 21) military service book give some indication of his life under the preceding German governments, the "Weimar Republic" of the 1920s and the "Kaiserreich" of 1871-1918.. |
 Carl Marcuse's passport was issued on Feb. 25, 1939. As per the law passed on Oct. 5, 1938, it was stamped with a red "J." |
 As per a law passed Aug. 17, 1938, all Jewish men had to have "Israel" in their name, effective Jan. 1, 1939. Carl included it in his passport signature. |
 Carl's passport expired on 25 Feb. 1940. It was renewed by the Swiss legation in London until 25. Aug. 1940 and 25. Feb. 1941, then again until 25 Aug. 1941. |
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 On Sept. 5, 1940 he received British quota number 6074. On Sept. 28 he received an exit permit for one journey to the U.S. before Dec. 28, 1940. |
 On March 13, 1939, 12 days after his 75th birthday, two weeks after he received his passport and UK visa, and the day before he left for London, Carl was allowed to convert only 10 Reichsmarks to British currency for the trip. (detail below) |
| Carl Marcuse obtained his driver's license (at right)
on 4 November 1927 at age 63. Beginning Dec. 3, 1938 Jews' drivers's licenses
became invalid and were confiscated. Carl must have been able to smuggle
his to London. |
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 Detail of currency exchange from Carl's passport. RM10 on 3/13/1939. |
 Carl's army reserve book gives his religion as "Mosaisch" (#3). |
 He was released from the "2nd guard regiment on foot" on 1 Oct. 1886. |
 On Sept. 30, 1886 Carl was certified qualified for the reserve in shooting class II. |
