Foreign exchange office

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Ordinance on the establishment of the Vienna Foreign Exchange Office of March 19, 1938

During the time of National Socialism , the foreign exchange offices , also known as " offices for foreign exchange management ", played a key role in the surveillance and fiscal plundering of German Jews.

Foreign exchange offices were involved in initiating expatriation proceedings with subsequent asset collapse; they could withdraw passports , impose fines, limit or withdraw the possibility of disposing of individual property, have the belongings of Jews wanting to emigrate checked and impose high special taxes, as well as restrict the transfer of funds.

background

Because of the global economic crisis and international lenders' demands for repayment, the presidential government under Heinrich Brüning restricted the free movement of capital. In 1931 it issued several ordinances on the forced management of foreign currency and introduced a Reich flight tax .

Other European debtor countries tried in a similar way to protect foreign exchange holdings and balance their balance of payments. The National Socialist trade policy, however, connected it with further goals: Autarky was to be promoted and foreign exchange was to be used in favor of arming the Wehrmacht to import necessary raw materials. The result was a “undergrowth of laws and ordinances that even experts could hardly grasp” and the foreign exchange authorities were expanded into a comprehensive steering and control body.

Organization of foreign exchange offices

In 1933 there were 29 foreign exchange offices, 23 of which were directly linked to the state tax offices. There were 3350 employees and civil servants working in them. The foreign exchange offices were divided into an "approval department" and a "monitoring department"; the latter was later greatly expanded in terms of personnel. The official supervision lay with the Reich Ministry of Finance; Until 1938, a "Reich Office for Foreign Exchange Management" issued technical instructions to the Reich Ministry of Economics.

In the occupied territories were during the Second World War also Devisenschutzkommando commands act to currencies, gold and diamonds to confiscate private property or forced to buy. These officials from the customs investigation offices of the Reich Finance Administration were constantly involved in the deportation of Jews, at least in Belgium .

Area of ​​responsibility

The foreign exchange offices not only implemented the economic policy objectives of the rulers, but also participated in many ways in the economic displacement, surveillance and plundering of German Jews, of whom around 270,000 had been expelled by October 1941.

Expatriation procedure

According to the law on the revocation of naturalizations and the revocation of German citizenship of July 14, 1933, German citizens who had relocated abroad could be expatriated. Even the unauthorized departure of a Jew was considered a violation of the “duty of loyalty to the Reich and the people”. According to Heinrich Himmler's secret decree of March 30, 1937, “racially abusive activity” or the non-payment of taxes and duties by a Jewish refugee constituted “behavior harmful to the people” that should lead to the deprivation of citizenship and property. The foreign exchange offices were regularly involved in initiating the expatriation procedure and the subsequent confiscation of assets.

Bringing restrictions

Up until the end of 1933, the foreign exchange offices allowed emigrating Jews to take cash amounts up to 15,000 Reichsmarks with them; Special regulations were made for larger assets in order to accelerate the takeover of companies. From October 1934, no more cash was granted, only travel currencies of up to ten Reichsmarks were allowed.

The income from pensions, insurance payments and dividends could not be transferred abroad. The financial assets were paid into a " Sperrmark Account". A foreign currency exchange was only possible through the Deutsche Golddiskontbank , which covered the already unfavorable exchange rate with a high discount . This Dego levy was around 20 percent in January 1934 and rose to 96 percent by September 1939.

From 1938 onwards, the belongings of Jews forced to emigrate were also screened and subject to approval. Only a minimum was allowed; even excess underwear had to be left behind. Objects that had been bought since 1933 were classified as “as good as new”: the foreign exchange office only allowed these things to be taken against payment of a high Dego tax.

Fuse arrangements

At the end of 1936, the foreign exchange offices were given the authority to issue security orders through the “Act to amend the Act on Foreign Exchange Management” (RGBl I, p. 1000). The affected persons were thus deprived of the free disposal of their own property. From then on, the foreign exchange offices searched in close cooperation with banks, land registry offices , police and customs authorities for indications of a planned escape: a sale of real estate, furniture and carpets, purchases of jewelry and precious stones or outstanding export credits. The foreign exchange offices proceeded differently with security orders in the case of mixed marriages : in some cases the “ German-blooded ” spouse was spared.

In August 1939, the Reich Ministry of Economics finally decreed that Jews had to deposit all cash into a “limited security account”. The owners were allowed to withdraw a monthly allowance from this account and settle other payments such as taxes and medical bills. For other orders, the approval of the foreign exchange office was required, which also imposed administrative fines if, for example, cash payments were not reported.

Aryanization

Foreign exchange offices played an important role in the “ Aryanization ” of Jewish companies when they found what they were looking for in violation of one of the numerous foreign exchange regulations or when they initiated proceedings on suspicion. If necessary, they appoint a trustee who suits them. In 1937, the Reich Ministry of Economics induced the foreign exchange offices to reduce the proportion of Jewish businesses: Delayed permits could seriously damage business transactions in import and export.

The historian Frank Bajohr points to the close cooperation between the foreign exchange offices and the customs investigation offices, both of which worked under the umbrella of the state tax offices. Foreign exchange offices and customs investigations could hardly be distinguished from each other during the Aryanization in their “everyday practice”.

Inconsistency

The National Socialist policy on the so-called Jewish question was contradictory for a long time. On the one hand, it can be proven that until 1941 one of the goals was to expel German Jews as quickly and comprehensively as possible from the state territory. Organizational obstacles were removed, for example, through the creation of a Reich headquarters for Jewish emigration . On the other hand, tax disadvantages, Reich flight tax , Jewish property tax and confiscatory levies piled up as obstacles and deterred the racially persecuted from emigrating to a completely insecure existence.

Some historians see this as the intention of "being able to export anti-Semitism to the refugee countries through the later mass emigration of pauperized Jews". In a National Socialist memorandum on foreign policy from 1939 it says: "The poorer and thus more burdensome the immigrant Jew is for the immigration country, the more desirable the effect in German propaganda interests".

See also

literature

  • Susanne Meinl, Jutta Zwilling: Legalized robbery. The plundering of the Jews under National Socialism by the Reich Finance Administration in Hesse , Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / New York, 2004, ISBN 978-3593376127 .
  • Christoph Franke: The role of the foreign exchange offices in the expropriation of the Jews . In: Katharina Stengel (ed.): The state. Expropriation of the Jews under National Socialism . Frankfurt a. M. 2007, ISBN 978-3-593-38371-2 , pp. 80-92.
  • Katharina Stengel (ed.): Before the destruction. State expropriation of the Jews under National Socialism , Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / New York, 2007, ISBN 978-3593383712 .
  • Martin Friedenberger: Fiscal Plundering - The Berlin Tax and Finance Administration and the Jewish Population 1933-1945 . Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-938690-86-4 .
  • Christoph Franke: Legalized Injustice: Foreign Exchange Management and the Persecution of Jews Using the Example of the Regional Finance Bureau Hanover 1931–1945. Hanover 2011, ISBN 978-3-7752-6057-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ VO of July 15, 1931 (RGBl I, p. 366), of July 18, 1931 (RGBl I, p. 373) and of August 1, 1931 (RGBl I, p. 421)
  2. ↑ Christoph Franke: The role of the foreign exchange offices in the expropriation of the Jews . In: Katharina Stengel (Ed.): The state expropriation of the Jews in National Socialism . Frankfurt a. M. 2007, ISBN 978-3-593-38371-2 , p. 81. ( Preview on Google Books )
  3. ↑ Martin Friedenberger: Fiskalische Ausplünderung - The Berlin Tax and Finance Administration and the Jewish Population 1933–1945 Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-938690-86-4 , p. 131.
  4. ↑ Insa Meinen: The deportation of the Jews from Belgium and the German foreign exchange protection command. In: Johannes Hürter; Jürgen Zarusky (Ed.): Occupation, Collaboration, Holocaust - New Studies on the Persecution and Murder of European Jews . Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-486-58728-9 , p. 64.
  5. ↑ Hans-Dieter Schmid: 'Finanztod' - The cooperation between the Gestapo and the financial administration in the plundering of Jews in Germany. In: Gerhard Paul, Klaus-Michael Mallmann (ed.): The Gestapo in the Second World War . Darmstadt 2000, ISBN 3-89678-188-X , p. 143.
  6. ↑ Christoph Franke: The role of foreign exchange offices ... , p. 85.
  7. ↑ z. B. 1934 Tietz department store group - see Martin Friedenberger: Fiskalische Ausplünderung ... , p. 135.
  8. ↑ Alfons Kenkmann, Bernd-A. Rusinek : persecution and administration - the economic plundering of the Jews and the Westphalian financial authorities . Münster 1999, ISBN 3-00-004973-8 , p. 19.
  9. ^ Frank Bajohr: Aryanization as a social process . In: Claus Offe (Ed.): Democratization of Democracy . Frankfurt / M. 2003, ISBN 3-593-37286-X , p. 21.
  10. ↑ Beate Meyer: 'Jüdische Mischlinge' - Racial Policy and Persecution Experience 1933-1945 . 2nd edition Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933374-22-7 , p. 31.
  11. ↑ Hannah Ahlheim: Declassification of Jewish customers - Commerzbank and the 'limited security accounts' 1935-1945 . In: Jahrbuch für Antisemitismusforschung 15 (2006), ISBN 978-3-938690-46-8 , pp. 85–112.
  12. ↑ Hans G. Adler: The administered man - studies on the deportation of Jews from Germany . Tübingen 1974, ISBN 3-16-835132-6 , p. 681.
  13. ↑ Christoph Franke: The role of foreign exchange offices ... , p. 88.
  14. ^ Frank Bajohr: "Aryanization" in Hamburg . Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-7672-1302-8 , p. 211.
  15. ↑ Christoph Franke: The role of foreign exchange offices ... , p. 90.
  16. ↑ quoted from: Dorothee Mußgnug: Die Reichsfluchtsteuer 1931-1953 . Berlin 1993, ISBN 3-428-07604-4 , p. 51.