Language:
English
Year of publication:
2010
Titel der Quelle:
Yad Vashem Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
38,1 (2010) 167-194
Keywords:
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
;
Antisemitism History 1945-
;
Jews
;
Holocaust survivors
;
World War, 1939-1945 Refugees
Abstract:
In postwar Germany of 1945-49, in particular in Munich with many DP camps on its outskirts, the black market was rampant. Its activities brought about an upsurge in anti-DP and anti-Jewish sentiments among the Bavarians, who largely identified the black market with Jews and regarded every DP as Jewish. The newly acquired "freedom of speech" in the U.S. zone of occupation allowed many Bavarians to vent their feelings through the press and otherwise. Many regarded the Jews as "work-shy" and born criminals, as a privileged group in the eyes of the U.S. military administration, and as the main obstacle to Germany's economic recovery. Notes that the main black market of Munich, that in Möhlstrasse, had existed even before May 1945, when Germany had been declared "judenfrei"; not only Jewish, but also non-Jewish DPs operated there; and the main role in the illegal trade belonged to Germans. In June 1949 two Bavarian mercantile associations submitted letters of complaint to various Bavarian and American military authorities, demanding to put an end to the Jewish "criminal trade" and to turn over the DPs to the German authorities. The letters reveal the true motivation of the Bavarian men of trade: to remove the DP competitor and to clear the field for the German black marketeer. Anti-Jewish and anti-DP sentiments of the Bavarians were caused less by the criminal activities of Jews than by Nazi indoctrination and deeply ingrained anti-Jewish stereotypes.
Note:
English and Hebrew.
URL:
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