Passport

This is my grandfather's passport, issued in August 1903 in Kishinev, then part of Bessarabia, now the capital of Moldova. The name on the passport is Iosif Itskov Dorfman. He became Joseph W. Hoffman when he immigrated to the United States at age 19.

In the Spring of 1903, there was an infamous pogrom lasting three days in Kishinev, with at least 47 Jews killed and 700 homes destroyed, convincing tens of thousands of Russian Jews to leave to the West and to Palestine, my grandfather among them. He worked in the steel mills outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and slowly brought the rest of his family to the U.S.

Translation

Thanks to Walter Richmond!

Passport

Issued by: Kishinev Public Administration

Left hand side

1. Religious affiliation: Jewish

2. Birthdate or Age: 19

3. Occupation: Service [literally; it may mean civil service]

4. Married now or previously: bachelor

5. Present with him [I’m not sure what this means, but underneath is a scribble in quotation marks; it seems to mean “is there anyone with him?”]

6. Relationship to completion of military service [followed by the same scrible in quotes as question 5]

7. Signature (of the possessor of the passport) Yosif Dorfman

In case the presenter is illiterate, the following physical characteristics are noted:

Height: medium

Hair color: black

Unusual marks: none

Right Hand side

The presenter of this Bessarabian Guberniya, the city of Kishinev (Administrative Territory), Iosif Itskov [son of Isaac] Dorfman is free [permitted?] in various cities and towns in the Russian Empire from the date assigned below until August 5, 1904. [two words obscured on the page] of its stamp, August 5, 1903

[The final, long handwritten passage is an attestation to the veracity of the passport, signed “Kishinev Administration.”]

The round stamp on the upper right says: Free. Good for one year only.

The round stamp below the long, handwritten passage says “stamp of the administrative body issuing the passport,” and behind it is the stamp of the Kishinev Public Administration.

Below the line

Extension Free

given [blank]

Passport is extended until [blank]

At the bottom are instructions to the issuing body on how to fill out the extension.

Rodney Hoffman (rodneyhoffman@gmail.com)