by The Destruction of the European Jews, Vol. 1-3 (Third Edition) Yale University Press (2003) (pdf)
buyer, the trustee was to collect the highest possible price—the actual
value. The difference was to be pocketed by the Reich.115 That is why
Goring did not want “little chauffeurs” among the purchasers. However, the scheme did not work, since the German buyers were not disposed to pay more under forced Aryanization than they had paid
under voluntary Aryanization. As a consequence, the enterprises were
actually sold for as “little as possible," and the Reich had to collect the
difference from the purchasers instead of the trustees. That was not so
easy.
Under the decree of December 3, 1939,'the beneficiaries of Jewish property were made liable to the payment of an “equalization” tax in the amount of the supposed difference between purchase price and
actual
value. The tax affected only those purchasers whose transactions had been subject to official approval under the decrees of April 26 and December 3—in short, no Aryanization concluded prior to April
26, 1938. On February 6,1941, a circular order by the Economy Minister retroactively subjected the pre-1938 transactions to the same levy.
However, the Ministry decided not to be “petty” in the enforcement of
the tax.1“ That the enforcement was not “petty” is shown by the following figures, indicating the meager “equalization” receipts during three fiscal years:1“
1942
RM
34,530,483.87
1943
RM
9,156,161.17
1944 (estimate)
RM 5,000,000.00
In addition to this tax, the acquisitors of Jewish enterprises had to
undergo still another tribulation: the removal of Jewish trademarks and
firm names. This measure was demanded first by Goring during the 123 124 125 126
123. Minutes of conference of November 12, 1938, PS-1816.
124. RGB11, 1709.
125. Der Deutsche Voiksmrl 15 (February 28, 1941): 820-21. For detailed instructions see Reichsbauernführer. Dienstnachrichten, 1941, p. 418, NG-1678.
126. Liquidation Administration of the German Finance Ministry (signed Dr.
Siegert) to Control Commission of Germany/Brilish Element/Finance Division. November 14, 1946, NG-4904. There is no indication of any receipts prior to fiscal year 1942.
130
ARYANIZATIONS
conference of November 12, 1938. Pointing out that many Aryans had
been so “clever” as to keep the Jewish designations, Goring stressed
that many of these Aryanized firms had been looted during the November riots by mistake. From now on, the “names of former Jewish firms shall have to disappear completely, and the German shall have to come
forward with his or his firm’s name.... All that is obvious.”1”
But the matter was not so obvious to the German businessman. A
trademark or a firm name that sold goods was an asset, and an asset
was worth money. TVue, the Aryan buyers had not paid for this particular type of asset, for that was part of “good will” and Jews were not supposed to have any “good will,” but then again, no one likes to lose
something valuable just because he did not pay for it. Accordingly, the
merchants and industrialists were not satisfied when, under the decree
of December 3, 1938, the trustees were empowered to remove Jewish
firm names, and they were even less gratified by the decree of March
27, 1941,which required every purchaser of a Jewish enterprise that
still carried the name of the Jewish owner to remove such a name
within four
months. To
make
himself
absolutely
clear, the Justice
Minister (who was responsible for this measure) pointed out in an
explanatory instruction that the names of all former Jewish owners had
to be removed, whether such names sounded Jewish or not, whether
they were whole or abbreviated.,s This regulation gave rise to petitions, correspondence, and conferences.
On April 18, 1941, the Rosenthal-Porzellan A. G. sent a letter to
Goebbels requesting that the honored Reichsminister persuade the Justice Ministry to make an exception for the name “Rosenthal,” since in this case “it was not a question of a name, but a symbol of a product
[Sachbegrtff]”
The
founder
of
the
firm,
Generaldirektor
Geheimrat
Philipp Rosenthal (a Jew) had retired in 1933, and the Rosenthal family
had never controlled more than 20 percent of the shares. The name
itself had been for fifty years a recognized trademark all over the
world,
particularly
in
foreign
countries,
where "Rosenthal”
had
become the symbol of the “epitome in quality” of porcelain. Moreover,
the firm name had already been changed in 1938 from “Porzellanfabrik
Philipp Rosenthal A. G.” to “Rosenthal-Porzellan A. G.”IW
The Propaganda Ministry sent the petition with a favorable recommendation to the Justice Ministry.15' Encouraged, the porcelain firm 127 128 129 130 131
127. Minutes of conference, November 12, 1938, PS-1816.
128. RGBt 1, 177.
129. Allgemeine Verfügung des Retchsjustizmmisters, March 27, 1941, Deutsche
Justiz, Heft 15/16, p. 459.
130. Rosenthal-Porzellan A. G. to Goebbels, April 18. 1941, G-64.
131. Ministerialdirigent Dr. Schmidt-Leonhardt to Ministry of Justice, April 26,
1941, G-64.
131
EXPROPRIATION
deluged the Justice Ministry with additional memoranda pointing out,
among other things, that the Vorstand of the company had been fully
Aryanized by 1933, that the Aufsichtsrat had been cleared of Jews by
1934, that the Generaldirektor had died, to be replaced by his fully
Aryan widow during that same year; and that the Rosenthal family had
transferred its shares to Aryan interests by 1936.m The Justice Ministry
gave in. It decided that the order did not apply to the firm because
under the decree of June 14, 1938, defining a Jewish business, Rosenthal was not a Jewish enterprise!1“
The
case
of
Rosenthal
is
particularly
interesting
because
the
Aryans who had taken over the enterprise and its name were the kind
of people who inserted anti-Jewish advertisements in the press. The
case is significant also for its postwar implications. The new management was right when it claimed that the name "Rosenthal” was known abroad. After the war the firm shipped its china to many a Jewish
department store in New York, which, in turn, sold the merchandise to
many a Jewish customer who was under the impression that he was
buying a Jewish product.
The Rosenthal method of obtaining individual exemption did not
satisfy the business sector. The businessmen wanted to do away with
the ordinance altogether. On May 29, 1941, representatives of the
ministries and of business met to discuss the problem. In his opening
remarks, the chairman, Ministerialrat KUhnemann of the Justice Ministry explained that the purpose of the decree was to smother the Jewish firm names, so that the German merchant could in the future sell his
wares
without these "reminders of the supremacy of Jewish business sense in the German economy." The rep
resentative of the Reichsgruppe
Industrie
(Reich Industrial
Association), Dr.
Gerdes, proposed
without ado that the decree be postponed until the end of the war.
Oberregierungsrat
von
Coelln
of
the
Economy
Ministry
supported
him,
as
did
Kammergerichtsrat
Dr.
Heinemann
of
the
Agriculture
Ministry and Dr. Grosse of the Reich Chamber of Commerce. Only the
Party Chancellery (Staatsanwalt von Kaldenberg) supported the chair- 132 133 134
132. Rosenthal-Porzellan A. G./Vorstand (signed Klaas and Zöllner) to Justice
Ministry, May 27, 1941, G-64. Rosenthal-Porzellan A. G./Vorstand to Justice Ministry,
June?, 1941, G-64.
133. Justice Ministry (signed Quassowski) to Rosenthal-Porzellan A. G./Vorstand,
August 25. 1941, G-64. Schmidt-Leonhardt to Goebbels, July 10, 1941, G-64. Under the
June 14, 1938, decree a business was Jewish if in 1938 one-fourth of the shares were in
Jewish hands or if on January 1, 1938, a Jew was a member of the Vorstand or Aufsichtsrat.
134. Summary of firm names conference (signed Sunner). May 29, 1941, G-59.
132
ARYANIZATIONS
In
subsequent
correspondence,
too,
the
weight
of
opinion
was
against
the
Justice
Ministry,
The
Reichsgruppe
Industrie
wanted
wholesale exceptions for all famous firm names. One business representative, Hunke, writing to the Propaganda Ministry, pointed out that the decree had a fatal defect. The ordinance affected only those firms
that had taken over Jewish enterprises. What would prevent some little
porcelain factory in Thüringen from registering a world-famous name
such as “Rosenthal” as soon as the owners of that name were divested
of its use? The “quickest" firms would be rewarded, whereas the primary object of the ordinance—the “extinction” of the names of former Jewish
owners—would
remain
unfulfilled.155
The
whole
decree
was
simply impossible. Nobody wanted it. Only the Party Chancellery continued in its support of the harassed Justice Ministry. The Party Chancellery wanted an extension of the decree to cover all Jewish names, the
names
of
freemasons,
non-Germanic
(artfremde)
trademarks,
and
so on.1“ The result of the controversy was the complete defeat of the
Justice
Ministry. In
September
it
was decided that nothing further
would be done about the removal of Jewish names during the war.'57
As we review the Aryanizations, we find that the business sector
had
swallowed
a
great
many
Jewish
enterprises
and
that
it
had
benefited from a large number of forced liquidations. We have no overall figures showing the extent of these gains. We know only that the purchaser of a Jewish business rarely paid more than 75 percent of its
value and that often he paid less than 50 percent. We know also that the
German beneficiaries of Jewish liquidations invested little or nothing.
The profit to the business sector must therefore be reckoned in billions
of reichsmark.
What about the Reich? What about Goring’s pronouncements that
the Reich, and only the Reich, was entitled to profit from the Aryanizations? The Finance Ministry had few receipts indeed. Apart from a few major penalty confiscations (which did not yield so much when the
purchaser was Goring) and apart from the Aryanization equalization
tax (which did not yield much either), the ministry registered no receipts at all. But, indirectly, the Reich did take a huge bite out of the leftovers of Jewish property values. It collected the vast amounts of
cash and other liquid assets that the Jews had acquired in the course of
the Aryanizations as payment for their enterprises. This money was 135 136 137 * *
135. Präsident des Werberates der deutschen Wirtschaft (signed Hunke) to Propaganda Ministry, July 11, 1941, G-59.
136. Party Chancellery to Justice Ministry, July 16, 1941, G-59.
137. Regierungsrat Dr. Hilleke (Propaganda Ministry) to Präsident des Werberates
der deutschen Wirtschaft, September 22, 1941, G-S9. Announcement by the Economy
Ministry, Ministerialblatt des Reichswrtsckaftsministeriums, January 14, 1942, p. 15.
133
EXPROPRIATION
confiscated by
the Finance Ministry in pursuance of two property
taxes: the so-called Reich Flight Tax and the so-called Atonement Payment.
P R O P E R T Y T A X E S
The flight tax was first decreed on December 8, 1931,' more than one
year before Hitler came to power. Originally, the measure affected all
emigrating Reich nationals who on January 31, 1931, had property
worth more than 200,000 reichsmark or whose income during the
calendar year 1931 was more than 20,000 reichsmark. On May 18,
1934, the effect of the decree was widened by making it applicable to all
emigrating Reich nationals who on January 31,1931 (or any time thereafter), owned property worth more than 50,000 reichsmark or who in 1931 (or any subsequent year) earned more than 20,000 reichsmark.2
“Property" included all values taxable under the regular property
tax laws plus such assets (ordinarily not taxable) as shares in personal
partnerships and certain Reich loans. The tax consisted of one-fourth
of the current value of the property (that is, value at time of emigration). There were no exemptions and no allowable deductions. The eligible emigrant had to pay a full fourth of his current taxable assets.
What did this mean? A Jew whose taxable property on January 1,1931,
was worth 60,000 reichsmark and who at the time of his emigration,
say in 1938, still owned 16,000 reichsmark paid a tax of 4,000
reichsmark. A Jew whose taxable property never rose above a value of
50.000 reichsmark but whose income during the single year 1932 was
25.000
reichsmark paid a fourth of whatever taxable property assets he
had at the time of emigration. If these assets were 5,000 reichsmark, he
paid 1,250 reichsmark.2
Obviously, the amendment introduced in 1934, and the administrative rules enacted for the implementation of this decree, reflected not only a change of effect but also a change of purpose. The original
measure was designed to deter emigration, particularly the emigration
of well-to-do people who desired to take their wealth out of the country
in the form of commodity shipments or money transfers. The amended
measure was designed to take advantage of emigration—this time, the
1. RGB1I.699, pp. 731-33.
2. RGB 1 1, 392.
3. For details of administration of this law, see Heinz Cohn, Auswan-
derungsvorschrifte
nfurJuden in Deutschland (Berlin, 1938), pp. 61-68.
134
PROPERTY TAXES
emigration of Jews who were leaving the country in order to begin a
new life abroad.* The effect is shown by the following figures of receipts in five fiscal years, one pre-Nazi and four Nazi years:4 5 6
1932-33
RM
1.000,000
1935-
36 RM
45,000,000
1936-
37 RM
70,000,000
1937-
38 RM
81,000,000
1938-
39 RM 342,000,000
Although we have no data for fiscal years 1933-34, 1934-35. and
1939-40, we can make some estimates for these periods on the basis of
emigration statistics. On such a basis, the Finance Ministry should
have collected approximately 50,000,000 reichsmark during fiscal years
1933-34 and 1934-35, and roughly 300,000,000 reichsmark during fiscal
year 1939-40 (the last significant emigration year).5 The total yield of
the Reich Flight Tax was consequently in the neighborhood of
900,000,000 reichsmark.
We have already examined some of the circumstances that led to
the implementation of the second property tax: the "Atonement Payment" (Suhneleistung) imposed on the Jews after the assassination of Gesandtschaftsrat vom Rath in Paris. We have seen that after a struggle
between Goring and Goebbels, the Finance Ministry, rather than the
party, was designated as the recipient of the fine. During the argument.
Hitler, Goring, and Goebbels had also fixed the amount of the tax: the
round sum of a billion reichsmark. The collection of that sum posed an
interesting problem.
A tax collector can never tell in advance precisely how much revenue a certain tax will yield. A tax is almost always expressed as a fixed percentage of income, property, or property turnover values. If income, property values, or property turnover changes from one fiscal 4. The Economy Office tWirtschaftsamtj of Frankfurt am Main reported on February 27, 1934, that of forty-two persons assessed for the tax in the city area, forty-one were non-Aryans. Dokumente zur Geschichte der Frankfurter Juden 1933-1945 {Frankfurt am Main, 1963), pp. 178-79.
5. Deutsche Bank (published by the Deutsche Bank/Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung), May 30, 1939, pp. 144-45. Fiscal year 1938 (or 1938-39) refers to the year beginning on April 1, 1938. The exchange rate set by the German government for purchases of mark in the Reich wasil = RM 2.40. The RM 2.40 were worth less than a dollar when sold outside Germany.
6. Emigration statistics for the Old Reich (boundaries of 1937) are given by Hans