Objects

The passport was issued on 4 May 1911 by the Austro-Hungarian authorities in Tarnów in the name of Naftali Rubin. The holder of the document, a resident of Tarnów born in 1837, was a merchant. The document is in the form of a small book, in German and Polish, with 16 numbered pages, printed at the State Printing House in Vienna. It was issued during the reign of Franz Joseph I (1848–1916), by the Tarnów Regional Board (Bezirkshauptmannschaft). On the front cover in a circular medallion is the coat of arms of Austria-Hungary. The document lacks a photograph and the owner's signature in the space provided for it, but on the page next to it in the lower right corner, there is a faded signature: "Rubin" (?). The passport was issued for a period of three years. It is likely that Rubin's destination was made clear when the document was issued: Palestine. There are seals stamped inside, including: k. & k. of the Tarnów Regional Board and the Consulate General of Turkey in Vienna. Next to it, there is a stamp with a phrase stating that the Consul General of Turkey is aware of the intention of a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to enter Palestine. The fact that such information existed on the passport was due to the fact that Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1918.

Karolina Fudyma