A new decree issued by the Ministry of the Interior instructs the authorities to comply with requests made by Jews before Oct. I for permission to change their first names to one of the names included in the list of those permitted to Jews published by the Ministry. Such persons, it is understood, will not be forced to adopt the name Israel or Sarah after Jan. 1.
With regard to revocation of previous changes of first names, the decree states that as a rule it should take place only in such cases where the new name has been adopted in order to camouflage Jewish origin, particularly when the original name was one of those mentioned in the official list.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
