Hermann van Pels placed on the waiting list for emigration visas

Several members of the Van Pels family came to the Netherlands with a desire ultimately to move elsewhere. Hermann's brother travelled from Amsterdam via Liverpool to New York in the summer of 1938,^[1] and his sister would leave for Chile in late 1939.^[2] Hermann's family also opted for the United States and applied for the necessary visas. On 25 April 1939, consul R.S. Huestis confirmed that the application of Hermann and his family had been processed; despite having Dutch nationality, this application was registered on 10 February 1939 on the waiting list of 'immigrants under the German quota'.^[3] For emigration to the United States, it was not so much nationality or passport that was decisive, but the country of birth.

They had to start building their case, which required numerous official documents. But at that point, the waiting list was already so long that their chances were slim. Moreover, all the papers were subsequently lost in the bombing of 14 May 1940.^[4] Whether they subsequently tried to collect new documents to continue the proceedings is not known.