Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

117
An undated list of Jewish business people in Magdeburg compiled by the state
police in Magdeburg for the provincial government provides the owners’ names,
the business names and the respective addresses of 322 establishments. 138
Attached to the list was a letter between governmental bodies in Magdeburg
referring to the program of the removal of the Jews from the economy in the
region. 139 The term used in the original letter was ‘Entjudung der Wirtschaft im
Regierungsbezirk Magdeburg.’ 140 This terminology, 141 together with the
knowledge of the dates of the ‘aryanisations’ of a number of the listed businesses
indicates that it is most likely that this list dates from early 1936. This would also
conform to the already cited statistic that between 20% to 25% of Jewish
businesses were in non-Jewish hands by the end of 1935. Another list, possibly
from the same period, provides the details of the new and old names of owners of
fifteen ‘aryanised’ businesses registered with the Magdeburg district court. 142
Importantly, the first list referred to provides evidence that the majority of
‘aryanisations’ prior to the pogrom of November 1938 occurred between early
1936 and early April 1938. As indicated, by April 1938 approximately 60% of
Jewish businesses in the city had been ‘aryanised.’
An insight into how the practice of ‘aryanisation’ worked in the city is
provided by the examination of a number of cases. The process was never
straightforward. It was designed to inflict as much financial damage as possible on
the Jewish vendor, whilst simultaneously providing almost unlimited and never
138
Verzeichnis der jüdischen Gewerbebetriebe in Magdeburg, undated, Bestand Rep.
C 28 I f, Signatur Nr. 933, Band 14, LHASA MD, pp. 1–12.
139
Correspondence from Der Landrat, An den Herren Regierungspräsidenten
Magdeburg, undated, ibid., unnumbered page, one page.
140
Ibid.
141
Barkai, op. cit., p. 116.
142
List of fifteen ‘aryanised’ businesses, undated, Bestand Rep. K 17, Signatur Nr.
101, LHASA MD, p. 30.