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The German state’s persecution of the Jews escalated following Hitler’s ascent to power in 1933. While the Holocaust ultimately resulted in the Nazi regime murdering two thirds of Europe’s Jewish population, a large part of the pre-Holocaust persecution involved the financial ruination of Germany’s Jews. After assuming power, the Nazis then coerced Jews into fleeing the country, stripping them of their wealth in the process.

Reichsfluchtsteuer

During the Great Depression, the Weimar Republic introduced an emigration tax in order to prevent wealthy individuals from taking their capital abroad. Originally, those with assets exceeding a value of 200,000 Reichsmarks (RM) or those who earned over 20,000 RM per year would be taxed 25 percent of all assets over a certain value if they wished to move abroad. This law was introduced as a short term measure in 1931, set to expire one year later, but it was extended until 1934. When the Nazi Party rose to power in 1933, they repeatedly restricted and extended this law, and lowered the threshold of asset worth to 50,000 RM in 1934. This coincided with the widespread boycott of Jewish businesses, as well as an escalation of violence, intimidation, and restrictions aimed at Jews; therefore, any Jew wishing to flee persecution in Germany would be forced to give up a large share of their assets to the government.

In practice

Following the taxation of assets in Germany, the remaining values were to be transferred to the emigrant in their destination country. This process was done through the German Central Bank, and authorities adopted an official policy of suspicion when dealing with Jews, and the sums taken were much higher than the official tax rates. The emigration tax was used as a means of seizing additional assets from Jewish emigrants, and it is estimated that in 1937 alone, the final amount transferred abroad was worth just 7.5 percent of the original value. In total, over one billion RM of assets was declared by German emigrants between 1933 and 1937, and 250 million was taken as emigration tax, but an additional 530 million was seized or frozen by the state. Although these laws applied to all German emigrants at the time, it is estimated that over 90 percent of the funds were taken from Jews and other persecuted minorities.