The Berlin Palestine office today confirmed yesterday’s announcement by the Nazi government concerning the transfer of funds owned by German Jews to Palestine.
The Palestine office, however, said several ambiguous points were made in the announcement by the Reichsgovernment, pointing out that actually the German Reichsbank will control the Jewish capital transferred to Palestine even in the Holy Land.
According to the Palestine office, two-thirds of the transferred capital will be paid out in Palestinian currency only if the applicant notifies Haavarah, Ltd., of Tel Aviv and the German exchange office within six months after the money has been collected in Palestine in exchange for German goods; also, only if the capital be spent in Palestine.
Each deal, except those involving the purchase of land, must be first certified by the German Consulate in Jerusalem, otherwise the acquired property becomes the possession of the Reichsbank.
The order issued yesterday by the Nazi government stated that Jews still in Germany will be permitted to transfer funds to Palestine up to 50.000 marks (approximately $19,000) by transferring their accounts to Haavarah, Ltd., of Tel Aviv. Two-thirds of the amount will be paid out when the owner arrives in Palestine.
However, the regulations made it clear that the money must be used to settle German export bills. The remaining third is to be paid out in German marks. This means that the Nazis will benefit by receiving sterling for its inflated marks.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
