Newsgroups: alt.revisionism,soc.history Subject: Holocaust Almanac: Kristallnacht Aftermath (2/3) Summary: Conference held to deal with problems associated with Kristallnacht, Jews fined in order to pay for the damage to their property Keywords: Goebbles,Go"ring,Kristallnacht Archive/File: pub/places/germany/kristallnacht/documents.006 Last-modified: 1993/09/23 XRef: holocaust index "Conference on the Jewish question, 12 November 1938 Goebbels's action in initiating the pogrom had caused extreme irritation to certain other Nazi leaders, especially Go"ring, whose responsibilities for the economy caused him to see the events of the Kristallnacht in a different light. Reactions abroad were highly unfavourable and resulted in a stricter boycott of German goods. The total damage to property was estimated at around 25 million marks, but much of this was inflicted on property not owned by Jews (Jewish shopkeepers were often the tenants of German house-owners). Go"ring immediately saw Hitler, who had apparently acquiesced in Goebbels's action, and convinced him of the need for dealing with the Jewish question more systematically from above. Go"ring then at once called a conference on 12 November under his own chairmanship to decide on future policy. Although he maintained that the problem was 'mainly economic', it was also much more than that. Certainly, the events of 9-IO November provided Go"ring with an opportunity to apply measures which he already had in mind, but the question was complicated by Party rivalries. Jewish policy suffered from the fact that responsibility for it was divided between different authorities. Apart from Go"ring and Goebbels, those present at the conference included Walther Funk (Economics Minister), Schwerin von Krosigk (Finance Minister), Heydrich (Chief of Security Police), Daluege (Head of the Uniformed Police) and representatives of the Foreign Ministry and insurance companies. Furthermore, the conference did not concern itself solely with economic measures. Goebbels proposed more segregationist restrictions on Jews in social life, and Heydrich hinted at the need to establish ghettos, since the policy of forced emigration with its slow processes did not provide a satisfactory solution to the Jewish question: Go"ring: Gentlemen! Today's meeting is of a decisive character. I have received a letter written on the Fu"hrer's orders by Bormann, the Stabsleiter of the Fu"hrer's deputy, requesting that the Jewish question be now, once and for all, coordinated and solved one way or another. And yesterday once again the Fu"hrer requested me on the phone to take coordinated action in the matter. Since the problem is mainly an economic one, it is from the economic angle that it will have to be tackled. Naturally a number of legal measures will have to be taken which fall within the sphere of the Minister of Justice and within that of the Minister of the Interior; and certain propaganda measures will be taken care of by the Minister of Propaganda. The Minister of Finance and the Minister for Economic Affairs will take care of problems which fall into their respective fields.... Now we have had this affair in Paris, followed by more demonstrations, and this time something decisive must be done ! Because, gentlemen, I have had enough of these demonstrations ! It is not the Jew they harm but myself, as the final authority for coordinating the German economy. If today a Jewish shop is destroyed and goods are thrown into the street, the insurance company will pay for the damage, which does not even touch the Jew; and furthermore, the goods destroyed come from the consumer goods belonging to the people.... I would not wish there to remain any doubt, gentlemen, as to the purpose of today's meeting. We have not come together simply for more talk, but to make decisions, and I implore the competent agencies to take all measures to eliminate the Jew from the German economy and to submit the measures to me, so far as it is necessary.... Goebbels: . . . Furthermore, my advice is that the Jew should be eliminated from any position in public life in which he may prove to be a provocation. It is still possible today for a Jew to share a compartment in a sleeping car with a German. Therefore, we need a decree by the Reich Ministry of Transport stating that separate compartments shall be available to Jews; in cases where compartments are full up, Jews cannot claim a seat. They will be given a separate compartment only after all Germans have secured seats. They are not to mix with Germans, and if there is no more room, they will have to stand in the corridor. Go"ring: In that case, I think it would be more sensible to give them separate compartments. Goebbels: Not if the train is overcrowded! Go"ring: Just a moment. There will be only one Jewish coach. If that is full up, the other Jews will have to stay at home. Goebbels: Suppose, though, there aren't many Jews going on the express train to Munich, suppose there are two Jews in the train and the other compartments are overcrowded. These two Jews would then have a compartment all to themselves. Therefore, Jews may claim a seat only after all Germans have secured one. Go"ring: I'd give the Jews one coach or one compartment. And should such a case as you mention arise and the train be overcrowded, believe me, we won't need a law. We'll kick him out and he'll have to sit all alone in the lavatory all the way! Goebbels: I don't agree. I don't believe in that. There ought to be a law. Furthermore, there ought to be a decree barring Jews from German beaches and resorts.... Jews should not be allowed to sit around in German parks. I am thinking of the whispering campaign on the part of Jewish women in the public gardens on the Fehrbelliner Platz. They go and sit with German mothers and their children and begin to gossip and work upon their feelings. I see here a particularly grave danger. I think it is imperative to give the Jews certain public parks, not the best ones, and tell them: 'You may sit on these benches.' These benches shall be marked 'For Jews only'. Besides that they have no business in German parks. Furthermore, Jewish children are still allowed in German schools. That's impossible. It is out of the question that any boy should sit beside a Jewish boy in a German grammar school and take lessons in German history. Jews ought to be eliminated com- pletely from German schools. They ought to take care of their own education in their own communities.... Heydrich: . . . As another means of getting the Jews out, measures for emigration ought to be taken in the rest of the Reich for the next eight to ten years. The highest number of Jews we can possibly get out during one year is 8-10,000. A great number of Jews will therefore remain. Because of the Aryanizing and other restrictions, Jewry will become unemployed. The remaining Jews will gradually become proletarians. I shall therefore have to take steps to isolate the Jew so that he won't enter into the normal German routine of life. On the other hand, I shall have to restrict the Jew to a small circle of consumers, but I shall have to permit them certain activities within the professions: lawyers, doctors, barbers, etc. This question will also have to be examined. As for the question of isolation, I'd like to make a few proposals regarding police measures which are important also because of their psychological effect on public opinion. For example, anyone who is Jewish according to the Nuremberg Laws will have to wear a certain badge. That is a possibility which will simplify many other things. I don't see any danger of excuses, and it will make our relationship with the foreign Jews easier. Go"ring: A uniform ? Heydrich: A badge. This way we could also put an end to the molesting of foreign Jews who don't look different from ours. Go"ring: But, my dear Heydrich, you won't be able to avoid the creation of ghettos on a very large scale in all the cities. They will have to be created." (Noakes, 476-479) Work Cited Noakes, Jeremy, and Geoffrey Pridham. Documents on Nazism 1919-1945. New York: Viking Press, 1974
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