“Aktionsjuden”

“Especially wealthy”

This attack on the Jews was not enough for the Nazis. On 9 November, Hitler personally ordered the arrest of up to 30,000 Jews. This can be seen in the diary of Propaganda Minister Goebbels[5] Josef Goebbels, diary entry about the evening of 9 Nov 1928. Quoted from. Document VEJ 2/363 in Susanne Heim "Die Verfolgung und Ermordung der europäischen Juden durch das nationalsozialistische Deutschland 1933 -1945 (collection of source) Vol. 2: Deutsches Reich 1938 – August 1939." (German) Munich 2009, ISBN 987-3-486-58523-0, page 365. Quoted from Wikipedia about "Aktionsjuden", retrieved 30 May 2024.. We will see why.

Heinrich Himmler passed on the order via the structures of the SS and police under his command. Following this, SS Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich instructed the Gestapo and other authorities on the night of 10 November, among other things, that ‘only such measures will be taken in the course of the “demonstrations” (i.e. the pogrom) that do not endanger German life or Aryan property’[6] Heydrich to Gestapo- and SD-departements from Nov 10, 1938, quoted from „Die Nacht als die Synagogen brannten“, Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Baden-Württemberg 1998, page 31, retrieved July 15, 2023.. Jewish property, however, should „only be destroyed, not looted[7] Stein loc.cit.“.

In paragraph 5 of the order, the Gestapo, police etc. were obliged to arrest[8] Ibid. “especially wealthy” healthy male Jews “not too old”. Paragraph 3 of the order also points to a large-scale looting of Jewish art and culture: “… the existing archive material[9] Ibid. in all synagogues and business premises of the Jewish religious communities is to be confiscated by the police so that it is not destroyed in the course of the demonstrations. What matters here is the historically valuable material (emphasis pd), not more recent tax lists etc.”

This is how the arrest of around 30,000 Jewish men was set in motion from 10 November 1938. They were not told why they were arrested. Most of them were transferred to the three large concentration camps[10] Heiko Pollmeier: "Inhaftierung und Lagererfahrung deutscher Juden im November 1938." Published in "Jahrbuch für Antisemitismusforschung" 8 (1999), ISBN 3-593-36200-7, page 111 (German), quoted from Wikipedia about "Aktionsjuden", loc.cit. by local SS and police units by 16 November. There is evidence that 10,911 Jews were sent to Dachau, 9,845 to Buchenwald and an estimated 6,000 to Sachsenhausen. The number of people deprived of their freedom in concentration camps had thus doubled in one fell swoop. However, as the capacities of the three concentration camps were insufficient, up to 10,000 men were kept in local prisons or collection points[11] Wolfgang Benz: „Mitglieder der Häftlingsgesellschaft auf Zeit. ‚Die Aktionsjuden‘ 1938/39“. In Dachauer Hefte. 21 (2005) ISBN 3-9808587-6-6, page 180 (German). Quoted from Wikipedia about „Aktionsjuden“ loc.cit..

Buchenwald for example

Just how quickly Heydrich’s order took effect is documented by the number of arrivals[12] Harry Stein „Juden in Buchenwald 1937 – 1942“, Ed. Buchenwald Memorial 1992, page 41. at Buchenwald concentration camp. „1,525 Jewish men arrived at Buchenwald on 10 November, 3,915 on 11 November, 3,360 on 12 November, 1,019 on 13 November and 9 on 14 November“.

Even before they arrived at the camp, they were humiliated and degraded. “If the transport travelled on the Reichsbahn, they were beaten in the tunnel passageway of Weimar station. Over a period of five days, Jews were hounded along the ‘Carachoweg[13] The name for the route from the main entrance to the commandant's area to the camp gate illustrates the SS's monopoly on the use of force, which chased newly arriving prisoners along it ‘with caracho’, beating and shouting.’ through the narrow gate of the Buchenwald camp gate and arrived at the camp with lacerations, bruises and broken bones. The SS increased the terror of reception[14] Stein loc.cit., page 45. with each passing day … and could not be satisfied by subjugation.”

Reports range from standing roll calls for hours on end in cold and rainy weather to the recording of personal details, the obligatory haircut and the removal of their own clothes; instead, they had to wear striped concentration camp clothing. Most of the „Rath-Juden“ or „Aktionsjuden“ were housed in special barracks, the so-called Sonderlager. And even there, the SS made use of their monopoly on violence, as eyewitnesses[15] Ibid, page 44f. reported.

When the government decision on the “atonement payment” became known to the SS henchmen in Buchenwald, “an unprecedented wave of plundering began”. Stein quotes: “The Jews were made to walk past large tables. There they had to throw their valuables into open boxes. The valuables were not recorded. In this way, money and valuables, the whereabouts of which are no longer known, were channelled into the storage chamber.” In order to conceal this, the prisoners were forced to declare on their release that they had “not handed over any money, valuables or effects” and therefore had no claims[20] Investigation report on corruption in Buchenwald, Federal Archives Koblenz NS 7/1020, quoteed from. Harry Stein loc.cit, page 47. whatsoever against the KL. Bu.”There would be unexpected repercussions. Another example: as a condition of his release from Buchenwald concentration camp, Friedrich Adler, co-owner of a shoe factory, had to agree to a sale of his company organised by Deutsche Bank for only 3 percent of the net value[21] Stein loc.cit., pages 49/50. Quoted from K. Pätzold, I. Runge, „Pogromnacht 1938“, Berlin 1988, page 194..

The first dismissals for individual groups of people were ordered as early as 16 November. The effects of deprivation and torture were clearly visible on many men, although most of them barely had to spend four weeks in the camps. For this reason, the releases of “Aktionsjuden”, for example in Buchenwald, were coupled with declarations of silence.

The mass arrests of the “Judenaktion” of November 1938 and the “Polenaktion” of October 1938 were preceded by numerous laws[30] A list of such regulations can be found on Wikipedia, (German), retrieved 30 May 2024. targeting Jews. The legal legalisation of racist and political persecution began immediately after basic rights[31] Wikipedia about the "Verordnung des Reichspräsidenten zum Schutz von Volk und Staat" (Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and the State) from 28 Feb 1933, retrieved 30.May 2023. were suspended on 28 February 1933. In March, 1933 the first occupational bans were imposed on Jewish people. On 11 April 1933, the “Aryan paragraph[32] Wikipedia about "Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums" (Act on the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service) from 7 April 1933, which removed Jews and the politically unreliable from the civil service, retrieved 30 May 2024.” came into force and in September 1935, all Jews were stripped of their German citizenship.

The second major attack against Jews in Germany served multiple purposes. The fascists wanted to drive Jews out of the country, seize their assets, test the transport system and gain information about the population’s loyalty to the system.

The wave of refugees reached a peak after the November pogroms. “But the potential countries of refuge increasingly tightened entry conditions, making it more and more difficult to organise an exit. Many simply couldn’t afford to flee[33] Jüdisches Museum Berlin, "Emigration/Exil", retrieved 30 May 2024., not least because it cost a lot of money.”

Against this backdrop, around 200,000 Jews were expelled from Germany by the start of the war and their assets “withdrawn” on a grand scale in order to divert 1 billion Reichsmarks into armaments. From 1933 until the ban on all emigration on 23 October 1941, “it is estimated that up to 300,000 Jews left Germany from 1933 onwards, which corresponds to around 60% of the Jewish population[34] Kim Wünschmann „Exilländer jüdischer Flüchtlinge aus dem Deutschen Reich“ (Countries of exile of Jewish refugees from the German Reich), Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung“ (2014), retrieved 30 May 2024.“.