by The Destruction of the European Jews, Vol. 1-3 (Third Edition) Yale University Press (2003) (pdf)
was the distribution of the property to buyers. It is characteristic of the
entire destruction process that it was easier to take away Jewish property than to determine who should get it. There were always many takers for things to be had for nothing, and Poland was no exception.
The incorporated territories in particular had a major distribution
problem. The territories were the scene of huge upheavals. Jews were
being sent into the ghettos, Poles were being expelled, Reich Germans—whether
officials
or
fortune
hunters—were
arriving
by
the
178. Unsigned memorandum daled January 16, 1940, ibid.. 52-54.
179. See order by Gouverneur Zômer for establishment of the Lublin ghetto,
March 24, 1941, Krakauer Zeilung, March 30, 1941, p. 8. Zômer directed the Jews to
offer their excess properties to the branch office of the Trusteeship Division in Lublin.
180. It should be pointed out that Polish property, too, was confiscated. In the
incorporated territories the Germans confiscated Polish land, real estate, enterprises,
and, above all, the properties “abandoned" by Poles who had been shoved into the
Generalgouvemement. See decree of September 17, 1940, RGB11.1270. In theGeneral-
gouvemement), Polish properties were subject to confiscation only in cases of “political
or economic necessity." See Dr. Helmut Seifert (Thisteeship Division, Generalgouvemement) in Krakauer Zeilung, October 11, 1942, p. II.
242
POLAND
thousands, and ethnic German resettlers from the Baltic states and
Volhynia were coming too. In addition, we must not forget the local
ethnic Germans, who felt that they had first claim on everything. The
distribution of the confiscated properties in the incorporated territories
was therefore a very complex business.
The Jewish and Polish enterprises were subjected to a thorough
liquidation process. It was estimated that in 1930 the incorporated
territories held 76,000 minor firms, 9,000 medium enterprises, and 294
major concerns.m It did not take long before the Main Trusteeship
Office, in close cooperation with the industrial associations (Reichs-
gruppen),
separated
the
wheat
from
the
chaff.
In
the
L6di
area
alone, 43,000 nonmanufacturing firms were reduced to 3,000.'” The
liquidated companies had been in possession of large stocks of raw
materials and finished products, which were rapidly channeled through
the confiscatory machine. The raw materials and half-finished items
were seized by the army (Oberbefehlshaber Ost / Plenipotentiary for
Raw-Materials
Seizure,
Generalmajor
Bilhrmann)
for
delivery
to
war
industries.'” The army thus killed two birds with one stone: it relieved
shortages of raw materials and it profited from the sale of the materials
to industry. To dispose of the finished products, the Main Trusteeship
Office East set up an “Administration and Disposal Company" (Verwal-
tungs- und VerweriungsgeseUschaft), which, as its title implies, first
seized, then sold the Jewish goods.'*4
The surviving enterprises were the subject of the greatest interest
in
Himmler’s
Siabshauptamt
fur
die
Festigung
deutschen
Volkstums
(Staff Main Office for the Strengthening of Germandom). The Stab-
shauptamt was one of the twelve main offices of the SS and Police. Its
primary task was to Germanize newly occupied territories by strengthening the local German elements and by encouraging the settlement of German newcomers. Hence the Stabshauptamt was eager to assure the
distribution of enterprises to German residents and German settlers, as
distinguished from absentee Reich German investors. As soon as the
Main Thisteeship Office came into existence, the chief of the Stabs- 181 182 183 184
181. “Die Haupttreuhandstelle Ost," Frankfurier Zeitung, February 22, 1941, NI-
3742.
182. "Textilzentrum Litzmannstadt," Donauzeitung (Belgrade), January 14, 1942,
p. 6. See also Frankfurter Zeitung, February 22, 1941, NI-3742.
183. Office of the Regierungspräsident in Kalisz (signed Weihe) to Oberbürgermeister in Löd i, Polizeipräsident in L6di, Oberbürgermeister in Kalisz, Landrate, and Regierungspräsident Aussenstelle in L6di (Moser), March 4, 1940. Dokumentary i materiaiy, vol. 3, pp. 67-68.
184. Polizeipräsident Schäfer (L6di) to newspapers in L6d2, January 17, 1940.
¡bid., 63-64.
243
CONCENTRATION
Hauptamt,
Brigadeführer
Greifelt,
dispatched
a
liaison
man
(Obersturmbannführer
Galke)
to
Winkler.
Next,
Greifelt
insisted
(successfully) upon the right to veto the appointment of any trustee or
the conclusion of any sale.1” (Trustees were frequently interested buyers—hence this precaution). Finally, Himmler and Winkler agreed that the ethnic Germans were to obtain the enterprises for the price of the
machinery and inventory only. No other values were to be paid for and
no debts were to be assumed."“
The Main Trusteeship Office East was now in a straitjacket. Winkler was particularly anxious to rid himself of the burdensome necessity of submitting every trustee appointment and every sales contract to
Greifelt for approval, but for such riddance Winkler had to pay a price.
On July 29, 1940, he made a new agreement with Greifelt that provided
for the sale of enterprises in accordance with a rigid priority and preference scheme. Winkler and Greifelt set up four priority groups of prospective buyers: Group I (top priority) consisted of Reich Germans ( Reichsdeutsche,
citizens of Germany) and ethnic Germans who had resided in the
incorporated territories on December 31, 1938.
Group II included all ethnic German resettlers.
Group III comprised Reich Germans and ethnic Germans who had
given up their residence in the incorporated territories after October I, 1918 (when the territories became Polish), all Danzig Germans, and
Germans
from
western
Germany
evacuated
to
the
incorporated territories because of war conditions.
Group IV (lowest priority) consisted of all other interested German
buyers.
Within each group, first preference was to be given to soldiers (Kriegsteilnehmer) and the survivors of ethnic Germans “murdered” by the Poles, second preference to loyal (bewährte) party members and big
families, third preference to survivors of fallen soldiers, and last preference to all other persons.1*’ 185 186 187
185. Affidavit by Winkler, August 15, 1947, NO-5261.
186. Himmler-Winkler agreement, February 20, 1940, NG-2042.
187. Agreement between Greifelt and Winkler, 1940, NO-5149. The administration
of agricultural properties (Polish and Jewish) was transferred entirely to the Sta
bshauptamt. Greifelt-Winkler agreement, NO-5149. Affidavit by Greifelt, July 1,1947, NO-4715.
Polish and Jewish real estate in the territory of the former “Free State'' of Danzig were
confiscated by Oberbürgermeister Lippke on behalf of the city. This move was based on
an “ordinance" the "Free City" had hurriedly passed on September 4, 1939 (four days
after the German occupation). See memorandum by Maass (Finance Ministry), August
14, 1941, on Danzig conference of May 27, 1941. NG-1669.
244
POLAND
The first preference for veterans was a bit difficult to implement,
since Germany was just beginning to fight its war. Enterprises therefore
had to be reserved for the prospective veterans. This was done by the
formation
of
so-called
Auffanggesellschaften
(literally
“catch
companies”) that took over Jewish and Polish enterprises for the purpose of
running them and expanding them pending the return of the soldiers
from the wars. The Main Trusteeship Office East sank millions of
reichsmark
into
these
companies
to
enable
them
to
perform
their
“trusteeship” functions.1*
The ethnic Germans who bought enterprises also needed money.
Accordingly,
the
Stabshauptamt
set
up
two
credit
institutions
that
operated in the agricultural sphere:
the Deutsche Ansied·
lungsgesetlschaft
(DAG)
and
the
Deutsche
Umsiedlungstreuhand·
gesellschaft (DUT).'W For other buyers in need of funds, there was
credit also from German banks. The ubiquitous Dresdner Bank set up a
subsidiary, the Ostbank A. G., with headquarters in Poznan. The Ost-
bank specialized in substantially the same business as its parent company:
the
“reprivatization"
of
Polish
and
Jewish
enterprises
under
trusteeship.1’0
We should say a word or two about apartments and furniture, for in
the incorporated territories not only enterprises but also homes were in
demand.
Nominally
the Main Trusteeship Office East had complete
charge
of
vacant
apartments
and
their
contents;
actually,
self-help
played a considerable role in the distribution process. Obviously the
Germans and Poles ejected from the proposed ghetto sites had to move
into vacated Jewish apartments. Resettlers, too, wanted to be settled
quickly. Officials plundered the better Jewish homes in order to furnish
new offices. For the sake of order, the local civil servants were later
directed to report their holdings of Jewish furniture to
the Main
Trusteeship
Office
East.1’1
The
remaining
furniture,
which
was
confiscated by the Main Trusteeship Office, was to be distributed in
accordance with the same criteria applied to enterprises. The furniture
was simply included in the Winkler-Greifelt agreement.1’2
The confiscatory machine in the Generalgouvernement was as 188 189 190 191 192
188. In Upper Silesia, the AufTanggesellschaft für Kriegsteilnehmerbetriebe im Regierungsbezirk Kattowitz, GmbH received an initial amount of RM 5.000,000. Krakauer Zeitung, March 23. 1941, p. 14.
189. Affidavit by Standartenführer Herbert Hübner (Stabshauptamt representative
in the Warthegau). May 29, 1947, NO-5094.
190. Ostbank report of 1941 for the stockholders, Nl-6881.
191. Staatssekretär Stuckart to Regierungspräsidenten in the incorporated territories, June 12, 1940, NG-2047.
192. Document NO-5149.
245
CONCENTRATION
swift as that of the incorporated territories. In less than two years,
112,000 Jewish commercial enterprises were cut down to 3,000 judged
worthy of retention.194 195 In the take-overs, Reich German firms, ready to
gobble up every worthwhile Objekt in Poland, appear to have been in
the lead. Already in July 1939, more than a month before the outbreak
of war, I. G. Farben had prepared a report entitled “The Most Important
Chemical
Firms
in
Poland.The
nature
of
subsequent
Aryaniza-
tions is revealed by a statistic for the Warsaw district indicating that
during the summer of 1942 a total of 913 nonagricultural enterprises
were being administered by 208 “trustees,” of whom 70 were Reich
Germans, 51 ethnic Germans, 85 Poles, 1 Russian, and 1 Ukrainian.195
The fate of the vast majority of Jewish business firms was liquidation.
Most had disappeared after the first six months of German rule, and in
the course of ghetto formation the shops remaining on the Aryan side
would be closed.196 197 198
A novel situation was introduced into the administration of Jewish
real estate that was confiscated by the state but not sold to private
interests. In the city of Warsaw, 4,000 Jewish-owned houses had been
expropriated on both sides of the ghetto boundary. Outside the ghetto
the real estate was placed under 241 German “plenipotentiaries,” who
in turn bossed 1,200 Polish “administrators.” Within the ghetto the
trusteeship
administration
consisted
of
25
German
“main
plenipotentiaries,”
57
Jewish
“plenipotentiaries,”
and
450
Jewish
“house
administrators."I9’
Tenants
in
apartments
under
trusteeship
administration paid their rents to the Trusteeship Office, which disbursed various
amounts for wages, taxes, utilities, insurance, minor repairs, mortgage
interest,
and
as
“advances”
to
Aryan
co-owners.'*
Business
enterprises that were subject to complete liquidation posed only the problem
193. Informationsdienst der Gruppe Handel in der Hauptgruppe Gewerbliche
Wirtschaft und Verkehr in der Zentralkammer für die Gesamtwirtschaft im GG, April 7,
1944, Polen 75027/4. Folder in Federal Records Center, Alexandria, Virginia, after the
194. 1. G. Farben report, July 28, 1939, NI-9155. Only one of these firms, that of Dr.
M. Szpilfogel, was Jewish owned. For its rapid acquisition by the I. G., see documents
Nl-8457, NI-2749, NI-1093, NI-8380, NI-1149, Nl-8373, Nl-8397. NI-8378, NI-707, Nl-
8388, NI-7371, NI-6738, and NI-7367.
195. The Gouverneur of the Distri
ct of Warsaw (Fischer) to the Staatssekretär,
Generalgouvernement, report for June and July, 1942. dated August 15. 1942. on pp. 12-
13, Occ. E2-3.
196. On early liquidations in Warsaw, see Statistical Bulletin No. 1 of the Jewish
Council, May 3,1940, in Datner, “Dziatalnofd," BiuUlyn 73 (January-March, 1970): 107.
On closings resulting from ghetto formation, see announcement by Stadthauptmann Dr.
WendlerofCzçstochowa, undated, Yad Vashem microfilm JM 1489.
197. Die Judenfrage, March 10. 1941. p. 35.
198. Report by Thtsteeship office (Abteilung Treuhand-Aussenstelle), Warsaw district, for October 1940. November 8. 1940. Yad Vashem microfilm JM 814.
246
POLAND
of the disposal of their inventory. The Generalgouvemement administration solved that problem by installing in each city or rural district a
“reliable” German wholesale or import firm which had complete authority to sell the goods and which guaranteed that nothing would find its way into the black market.'”
The profits from the sale of Jewish property in Poland were certainly not overwhelming,”0 and German agencies, dissatisfied with the loot, suspected that the Jews had hidden the bulk of their valuables in
the ghetto enclosures. Hence there was no end to the confiscations
even after the ghettos had come into existence. The councils were
routinely called upon to make payments for the costs of German supervision. Thus in L6d£ the ghetto had to fund the Gettoverwaltung,”' and in Warsaw Czerniak6w was presented with major bills for the wall built
by
the
German
contractor
Schmidt
&
Munstermann,
Tiefbaugesell-
schaft
mbH.*2
“Requisitions”
from
the
ghettos
for
various
official
German
needs
were
another
common
procedure.
The
Economic
Division of the Warsaw ghetto Judenrat, for example, would regularly
hand over such ordinary items as towels and sheets."’ When the
German armies were about to face their first winter on the Russian
front in December 1941, the SS and Police ordered the delivery of all
furs in Jewish possession at special collecting points in the ghettos.“4 199 200 201 202 203 204
199. Summary of remarks by Ministerialdirigent Dr. Emmerich in General-
gouvememenl economic conference under chairmanship of Frank October 31. 1940,
Frank diary, PS-2233. See also report by Warsaw Trusteeship Office of November 8,
1940. Yad Vashem microfilm JM 814. Proceeds from sold inventory were banked in three