Despite the American Government’s strong protest in behalf of American nationals, foreign Jews as well as those of German nationality are affected by the Goering property registration decree, it was revealed today.
A four-page form, subjecting the bulk of Jewry’s wealth here to virtual confiscation, is now being distributed by police throughout the Reich. The form is to be filled out by every person resident in Germany who is a Jew under definition of the Nuremberg laws and by everyone married to a Jew whose fortune exceeds $2,000. The only types of property exempt are portable objects exclusively for personal use and household goods in so far as they are not luxuries.
An explanatory leaflet accompanying the form declares: "The extent of the property to be evaluated and registered is as it was on April 27. Jews of German nationality and Jews without any nationality are to register their entire domestic and foreign property, irrespective of whether exempt from any particular tax. Jews of foreign nationality are to register and evaluate that part of their property lying in Germany."
While the original deadline of June 30 set for filing of the forms perhaps provides adequate time for German nationals with modest fortunes in the Reich, it will prove a tremendous hardship for the owners of property abroad. Reports that the filing date will be extended to Dec. 30 have not been confirmed.
Reliable but not officially authenticated reports have it that Italian Jews might be exempt from registering their property under the commercial treaty between Italy and Germany. This, it is pointed out, might provide the basis for further urgent representations by the United States, whose first protest against application of the decree to American nationals was predicated on the 1923 commercial treaty between the United States and Germany.
The Goering decree, made public on April 27, provides for penalties of ten years at hard labor and confiscation of property where registrations are not made or assets not fully listed.
The effects of the raids last week on cafes along the Kurfuerstendamm have not yet worn off. Jews are avoiding the larger Jewish-owned cafes, which, for the last several years, have served as almost their only means of relaxation. More than 300 Jews were arrested in the cafe raids, most of whom were released after a night in custody. It is reliably reported, however, that more than 50 are still imprisoned, although specific individual charges against them have not yet been published.
Havas News Agency reported that flying police squadrons raided a series of Berlin cafes frequented by Jews. In one of the bigger establishments on the Kuerfuerstendamm, an officer stationed in the doorway barred all entrances and exits while policemen "frisked" the patrons, examining their passports and confiscating those which did not appear entirely in order. Two women who were unable to establish their identity to the satisfaction of the inquisitors were taken to the station house.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
