“Jewish Edict” issued by Fredrick William (‘Friedrich Wilhelm’) [Prussia; Present-day Germany, Poland, Russia]: “We, Fredrick William […] have decided to grant the Jewry (Jewish coreligionists) of Our monarchy a new […] constitution, [and] declare all current laws and ordinances for Jews revoked and void by the power of this current edict, and order [instead] as follows: 2) The continuation of [such privileges] can only be permitted if the following obligations are met: that they (Jews) keep [specific] chosen family names, and that they not only maintain their trade books but also their contracts and wills in German or any other living language* and not to use any other letters (alphabet) but either German or Latin to sign [one’s name]. 3) Within 3 weeks of publication of this edict, each protected Jew […] must declare to the authorities of his place of living which family-name he wishes to take on from now on. […] 6) Those Jews, who act against §8 and §3, shall be treated as foreign Jews. […] To what [extent] – as to how Jews are to be admitted to public and state offices […] we reserve the right to decide in the future […]” [Researcher’s note: This edict contains 39 paragraphs and has been abbreviated to fit the allocated space. *Hebrew was not considered a ‘living language.’]
Sammlung der im Gebiete der inneren Staats-Verwaltung des Königreichs Bayern bestehenden Verordnungen aus amtlichen Quellen geschöpft und systematisch geordnet von G. Döllinger, König. bayer. geheimen Hausarchivar und wirklichen Rath. Sechste Band; (München; 1838); (Collection of Regulations/Ordinances Existing in the Territories of the Internal State Administration of the Kingdom of Bavaria from official sources and systematically arranged by G. Döllinger, Royal Bavarian Secret House-Archivist and True Advisor; Volume VI), (Munich; 1838); Researched and Translated by Ziba Shadjaani 6/7/2018