GERMANY: Non-Christian Names

A century and more ago when census takers began to go through the ghettos of German cities, Jews were obliged for the first time to adopt surnames. Sometimes allowed to pick, they chose names of the prettiest things that they could think of—Goldstein (nugget of gold), Rosenblum (blossom of the rose), etc. Last week the German Government again decreed that Jews would have to take names, not cognomens but praenomina, and told them what names to take. The decree ordered that any German Jew who has not an Old Testament given name which identifies his race must before next January 1 take the name, “Israel” if a male, or “Sarah” if a female.