Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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Weg 73–74. They had taken over the business from their father Gustav (Moses)
Freiberg many years earlier. 150 On 22 July 1938, a contract for the sale of the
business to Alfred Claus was lodged with the Magdeburg Chamber of Industry
and Commerce. 151 The estimated price was to have been between RM 10,000 and
RM 12,000 and an additional RM 2,500 for the shop’s fittings and inventory. 152
After much correspondence between the Gauleiter, the mayor and the provincial
government, the contract was refused and Claus’s application to take over the
business rejected on account of the view held that he was an unsuitable applicant,
based on political grounds. 153 No details of why he was objectionable were
documented. Claus was duly informed of this decision in writing from the
mayor’s office on 3 December 1938 154 and the Freiberg siblings were left without
a purchaser.
On 10 December 1938, a further contract was drawn up with a new purchaser,
Hermann Semmelhaack. In this contract the new estimated price was to have been
between RM 6,000 and RM 8,000 and an additional RM 500 for the shop’s
fittings and inventory. 155 The ensuing correspondence and resolution mirror that
of the situation of Jakob Wurmser. Inventories were taken and a flurry of
correspondence occurred between the Gauwirtschaftsberater, the mayor’s office
and the provincial government. The main aim was to ensure that the applicant was
150 Name withheld, op. cit., 18 June 1999.
151 Kaufvertrag Freiberg/Claus, 22. Juli 1938, Bestand Rep. C 28 I f, Signatur Nr. 933,
Band 2, LHASA MD, op. cit., pp. 291–293.
152 Ibid., p. 291.
153 Betrifft: Antrag des Alfred Claus, Magdeburg, Tischlerbrücke 1 auf Übernahme
der Verkaufstelle Freiberg, Magdeburg, Breiter Weg 73/74, 11. November 1938,
ibid., p. 289. The cited quotation is the author’s paraphrasing of the original German
which reads: ‘Gegen den Antragsteller bestehen politische Bedenken.’
154 Betrifft: Übernahme der Verkaufstelle Freiberg, Magdeburg, Breiter Weg 73/74,
Inhaber: Freiberg, 3. Dezember 1938, ibid., p. 295.
155 Kaufvertrag Freiberg/Semmelhaack, 10. Dezember 1938, ibid., pp. 165–166.