Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

usiness in Magdeburg is further confirmed in correspondence from the office of
the president of the province of Saxony and the Reich and Prussian Minister for
Trade and Commerce to all government offices in the province of Saxony on 22
and 24 April 1936. 39 Instructions were given that all Jewish commercial
representatives and agents were to be replaced by ‘representatives of German
lineage.’ 40
In a further attempt to target Jewish businesses as ‘hostile to the state’ and to
consolidate Nazi racial doctrines, businesses were forbidden from selling or
manufacturing flags with swastikas or any other national symbols of the state. In a
bizarre exercise, however, toys with national symbols were exempt and Jewish
businesses were permitted to both manufacture and sell them. 41 The intention of
this order was to eliminate Jews from the ‘Volksgemeinschaft’ and to further the
extent of boycotts. The usage of antisemitic signage and the campaign of boycotts
were so effective that in November 1935 the provincial government requested, on
behalf of the Reich and Prussian Minister for Trade and Commerce, that all non-
authorised activity against Jewish shops in the city cease and effectively banned
unsanctioned activity. 42 This trend, nevertheless, continued and further bans were
issued. 43 These actions illustrate the intensity and popularity of the ongoing
boycott of Jewish businesses in Magdeburg.
39
Correspondence from Der Oberpräsident der Provinz Sachsen, Der Reichs- und
Preußische Wirtschaftsminister, An die Herren Regierungspräsidenten der Provinz,
22, 24 April 1936, Collection JM, File 10624, YVA, op. cit., p. 162.
40
Ibid.
41
Betrifft: Handel mit Hakenkreuzflaggen und sonstigen nationalen Symbolen durch
jüdischen Firmen, 15. März 1937, Bestand Rep. C 20 I. I b, Signatur Nr. 1831, Band
IV, LHASA MD, op. cit., p. 4.
42
Betrifft: Einzelmaßnahmen gegen Juden, 9. November 1935, Bestand Rep. C 20 I. I
b, Signatur Nr. 119, LHASA MD, op. cit., p. 289.
43
Betrifft: Einzelaktionen gegen Juden, 30. März 1936, JM, File 10624, YVA, op.
cit., p. 149.
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