Language:
English
Year of publication:
2011
Titel der Quelle:
Yad Vashem Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
39,1 (2011) 31-70
Keywords:
Jews Economic conditions 1933-1945
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Jews
;
Jews
;
Jews
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Economic aspects
;
National socialism Economic aspects
Abstract:
Due to special conditions and factors at work in the big cities, the process of the destruction of Jewish commercial activities by the Nazis took a rather long time - the last Jewish businesses were liquidated only in 1942, when their owners were deported. Examines Nazi policies concerning small and medium-sized businesses owned by Jews in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, and Breslau, as well as the struggle of Jewish business people for economical survival. In the early stage of Nazi pressure, many Jewish business people left rural vicinities and small towns for big cities, where perspectives to survive economically were better. The very size of the Jewish communities in the large cities permitted them to set up an extensive network of relief and welfare organizations to support victims of Nazi persecution. The cities sustained a critical mass of Jewish consumers, which permitted Jews in business to target a specifically Jewish market, on which they could rely for support. A mortal blow to Jewish business was dealt by the Nazi decrees of 1937-38, and even more by the "Kristallnacht" pogrom; the process of "Aryanization" speeded up in 1938. Even after that, the liquidation process for Jewish firms in the large cities dragged on over a long period. The small Jewish business came to its end together with the Jewish community of Germany.
Note:
English and Hebrew.
,
An abridged French version appeared in "Éclairer au pays des coupables (2018) 81-96.
URL:
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