Language:
English
Year of publication:
1994
Titel der Quelle:
Jahrbuch für Antisemitismusforschung
Angaben zur Quelle:
3 (1994) 254-281
Keywords:
Jews History 1933-1939
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Economic aspects
;
Jews Economic conditions
Abstract:
Traces the attitudes of the leading German industrial and financial corporations and retail chains to dismissal of non-Aryan board members and employees, and to opportunities to take over Jewish businesses. Until 1937 most of the corporate executives opposed all these forms of Aryanization and convinced the Nazi authorities that they would harm the economy; this was also the position of Finance Ministers Kurt Schmitt and Hjalmar Schacht. The Nazis drove many small Jewish firms out of business, but generally refrained from touching large corporations. In November 1937, as part of Hitler's program to mobilize Germany for war, Nazi policy changed radically. Corporations were forced to dismiss Jewish executives, and were induced to participate in the acquisition of Jewish firms. The banks, especially the Dresdner, competed for the financing of these transactions, which were closely supervised by the authorities to make sure that the payment to the Jewish owners was not too high; but also not too low, for most of it was confiscated, so that in the end it was the state which profited most.
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