Language:
German
Year of publication:
2000
Titel der Quelle:
Geschichte und Gesellschaft; Zeitschrift für historische Sozialwissenschaft
Angaben zur Quelle:
26,4 (2000) 629-652
Keywords:
Jews History 1933-1939
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Economic aspects
Abstract:
Contends that private economic interests played at least as great a part in the expropriation of Jewish wealth as the antisemitic measures of the Nazi state. Boycotts of Jewish businesses were often instigated by competitors; the exclusion of Jews from trade associations also excluded them from the competition in that trade. Employees, often Nazis, could take advantage of the precarious status of their Jewish employers. Even before forced Aryanization, buyers, middlemen, lawyers, and bankers exploited the urgent need of Jews to sell. The norm was to pay less than real value, and many used threats and party connections to pay even less than the norm. Others, however, circumvented Nazi directives to ensure the Jew a fair return. Older men were more likely to uphold fair business practices; the younger were more influenced by antisemitism. During the war many firms exploited forced labor, and hundreds of thousands enriched themselves on spoils from the homes of deported Jews. Thus the Nazis bought the loyalty of the population by appeal to their basest instincts.
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