Siegfried Marcus was the middle son of Emma (née Gassenheimer) and Simon Marcus, born 1893 in Dessau. He completed his Abitur/High School in Dessau in 1912 and moved with his family to Halle an der Salle sometime during the First World War. He studied law and returned to Halle to practice. In the mid-1920s, he married Emma Becker and they had three sons, all born in Halle.
We have just started to understand the story of Siegfried’s life and cannot yet tell the full story of the family of Siegfried and Emma Marcus and their three sons. But the story of Siegfried’s departure from Germany in October 1938 and eventual safe entry in the United States speaks to the exciting synergy between the burgeoning availability of historical online resources and personal collections and memories, and so we will start here.
Siegfried’s life was immediately threatened when the Nazis came to power in January 1933. The boycott of 1 April 1933 not only targeted Jewish businesses but also professions such as doctors and lawyers.
Like many of his colleagues, Siegfried sought to leave Germany and he succeeded. The three records included below, available to us in the huge online databases, tell us that Siegfried Marcus left Germany alone in October 1938 and arrived in New York November 1938; that he was recorded in the 1 April 1940 USA Federal Census; and that he reentered the United States in April 1941.
Document #1: Siegfried Marcus, b. ap 1893/94 in Dessau Germany, entered the United States in November 1938.
Document #2: The 1 April 1940 Federal Census recorded Siegfried Marcus, last resident in Halle Germany, living as a lodger with his brother, Erich, in the Bronx, New York City.
Document #3: Siegfried Marcus, b. in Dessau, Germany, entered the United States from Havana in April 1941. 1941; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 6541; Line: 15; Page Number: 109.
It was the April 1941 record — Document #3 above — that puzzled us: why was there an immigration record showing a Siegfried Marcus, lawyer, b. in Dessau, last resident in the Bronx, NY, entering the United States in April 1941 from Havana? Was he not already there? The databases could not provide a definitive answer.
Then into the confusion came clarity — the voice of Dieter Marcus, one of Siegfried’s sons who explained in an email:
„As far as Siegfried Marcus goes, he did not actually immigrate to the USA, but rather escaped the Gestapo by booking a passage (round trip) to New York from Rotterdam , arriving as a Visitor. After 6 months the US asked him to leave the US and he went to Cuba, and from there he re- entered the US with a legal Visa.“