Source: Annegret Ehmann et al., Juden In Berlin, (Berlin 1988) and Johannes Ludwig, Boykott, Enteignung, Mord (Hamburg, Munich 1989)
1936 - the Olympic games
Source: Annegret Ehmann et al., Juden In Berlin, (Berlin 1988)
It is hard for someone who looks back, and even harder for someone who did not experience the defence of one of the last Jewish bastions in the German economy, to appreciate the delicate situations in which Jewish businessmen had to manoeuvre in the Third Reich.... One example is when we were told to decorate our store on the Kurfuerstendamm - the route to the Olympic Stadium - with flags. Leaving the building without flags would have drawn attention to the special situation of the Jews. On the other hand, we could not put up the swastika flag [because of the Nuremberg Law forbidding Jews to use the German national flag]... I had the idea of decorating the building with flags in white - the colour of linen - and blue - the Gruenfeld colour. These were also the colours of the Zionist movement. The sight must have been very ceremonial for the visitors of the Olympic Games...'
Annegret Ehmann et al., Juden In Berlin, (Berlin 1988), p 292.
1937
Source: Johannes Ludwig, Boycott, Enteignung, Mord (Hamburg, Munich 1989: 187-8).
[The Gruenfeld's regular bank, which had been Aryanized by the Dresdner Bank, refused to extend credit to Gruenfeld. The management applied to another private Jewish banking house, Simon Hirschfeld, in Essen. The banker answered on June 21:]
I fail to understand how your bank could not bring up the necessary courage to grant your credit in view of your excellent financial standing. At the same time, I do hope that you understand that we cannot take on the requested loan. Even though there may be no risk involved in extending this loan, under present circumstances, we cannot bind our own capital. You will probably be justified in asking what bankers are there for. I can only answer that I myself no longer know.'
From the account of Fritz Gruenfeld on the Aryanization of the firm
Source: Annegret Ehmann et al., Juden In Berlin, (Berlin 1988), p 289-91.
Our customers were the first front to be mobilised against us in this war of destruction. Our employees became the second front. The loyalty of our employees was systematically undermined - this showed itself when they were branded as 'friends of the Jews' by the Stuermer . To facilitate their terrorisation, the employees' full addresses were printed in the paper. The intimidation, the fear of being publicly marked as a 'Slave of the Jews' ( Judenknecht ), discouraged all those in our firm who had so far remained loyal to the enterprise. At the same time, it encouraged those who were inclined to sabotage, to betray and to spy. They went as far as to listen to our phone conversations, to 'check' our mail and to search our garbage bins. Eventually - apart from the few Jewish workers who were isolated in any case - only a few of the hundreds of employees remained loyal to us and were not intimidated by the risks involved. The third front in this destructive fight was the press. Increasing numbers of newspapers and magazines refused to publish our advertisements. Once we were prevented from publishing ads in any German newspaper or magazine, we were deprived of our most efficient means of advertisement... The fourth front stabbing us in the back was our former suppliers and contractors. They increasingly refused to deliver to us. At the same time, all authorities and party offices - such as the 'Trustees of Labour', the Labour Front, the Gestapo and the customs agencies - created a fifth front against us with summons, house searches and inspections, all with the purpose of shattering our position. In addition to them were the state and local tax agencies.... In 1938, like vultures surrounding someone condemned to death, a great number of mediators and negotiators suddenly appeared on the scene. Based on experience they had gained in conducting successful Aryanizations, they came up with advice and disguised threats.... Walther Kuehl, owner of the Max Kuehl retail business, soon proved to be the most serious bidder.... Mr. Kuehl, naturally, like all Aryan buyers of Jewish enterprises, got a much lower purchase price than he would have gotten under normal circumstances. He was nevertheless convinced that he had saved us by buying our firm... Party members and 'economic trustees' had to be involved in the negotiations on behalf of both sides. I am only responsible for the legal side and not for the coercion', Geheimrat Albert remarked with regret. By that time, all institutions - it is hard to imagine how many were involved - were already so much in their [the party people's] hands that one could not act without the well-endowed brown' mediators. Finally, state secretary Brinkmann, responsible for such matters in the Reich's Economic Ministry, demanded a sum of 200,000 RM for the official 'approval of the Aryanization'. The sum was raised by us and Kuehl. A commercial publication to our customers in October 1938 already carried the sentence 'Gruenfeld, now under German ownership'.
