Aryanization in Denmark
The linearization in Denmark is the process of elimination of the Jews from the economic life in Denmark during the time of National Socialism.
background
During the Nazi era, Denmark pursued a pragmatic, pro-German neutrality policy, since the German economy played a major role and the country was militarily helpless. After the occupation of Denmark by Germany on April 9, 1940, the Danish unity government and the German Reich agreed to work together on the basis of domestic independence. This unheroic and sometimes shameful cooperation made it possible for the Danish government to refuse all discrimination, including the registration, labeling and persecution of Jews, with reference to the rule of law promised to Denmark, while the German side tried to develop Denmark as an Aryan "model protectorate". At the end of September 1943, most of the Jews went into hiding when the date for the feared deportation planned by Germany was revealed by the German diplomat Georg Duckwitz . Most of the Danish Jews were able to be transported to Sweden by Danish fishermen in the course of October. Almost 500 Jews were deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp .
Aryanization
Economic dependence
Danish-Jewish business activities were impaired by the German Reich from 1937 onwards, when German companies operating in Denmark were forced to resign their Jewish members of the management team and their Jewish company representatives. At the same time, German firms canceled orders for an increasing number of Jewish companies. In 1939, the Danish government publicly declared that it could not take action against racial dismissals as long as they did not violate Danish law.
Protection of property left behind
After the escape or deportation of the Jewish population, the Danish police and social services determined the addresses of the abandoned apartments by interviewing janitors and neighbors, as there was no Jewish register. Some of the apartments were broken into, and valuables, savings accounts and cash were secured for the owners to prevent theft. Jewish companies were given Danish trustees, the rental contracts were terminated or an arrangement for further payment was found, the furniture was stored, and the social services ensured that insurance contracts were paid on. As a rule, the Jews who returned after the war found their homes safe and their valuables well secured.
Desirability of German companies
The Reich Group Industry urged the Aryanization of Jewish companies repeatedly during the German occupation of Denmark. At the company level, the Accumulatoren Fabrik Aktiengesellschaft Berlin-Hagen (AFA) of Günther Quandt tried to acquire shares in the two Danish competitors Aktieselskabel Accumulator-Fabriken in Lyngby and the dry battery company Hellesens Enke & V. Ludvigsen A / S with the indication that they were part of the share capital would be in Jewish hands to acquire. The attempts of the Quandts were unsuccessful, however, as the Danish government succeeded in placing almost insurmountable obstacles in the way of German integration and employment efforts and the German administrative authorities did not want to endanger the policy of cooperation with the Danes.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bo Lidegaard : The exception. October 1943: How the Danish Jews escaped extermination with the help of their fellow citizens . Karl Blessing Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-89667-510-1 . P. 59 f.
- ↑ Jacob Halvas Bjerre: German Aryanization Attempts in Denmark? , accessed December 9, 2016.
- ↑ Bo Lidegaard: The exception. October 1943: How the Danish Jews escaped extermination with the help of their fellow citizens . P. 277.
- ↑ Leni Yahil : The Rescue of Danish Jewry . Jewish Publication Society 1969, ISBN 0-8276-0232-4 , p. 288.
- ↑ Joachim Scholtyseck : The rise of the Quandts . CH Beck 2011, ISBN 978-3-406-62251-9 , p. 532 ff.