What is unlawful confiscation under persecution?

Jews and any person or organisation openly critical of the regime were subjected to intense social and political persecution under the Nazi regime, with direct consequences for their financial situation. From 1933 onwards, a host of antisemitic and other discriminatory laws were passed with the specific purpose of confiscating property or harassment to such an extent that these individuals were forced to emigrate. The Reich Abscondment Tax in addition to foreign exchange controls, a legacy of the global economic crisis, were rigorously imposed and became the primary instrument for siphoning off large portions of emigrants' assets.

From 1938 onwards, the dispossession of Jewish citizens was stepped up. They had to report their assets to the authorities and pay a Jewish property levy after the November Pogroms amounting to 25% of their total assets. The Reich Ministry of Economics was also authorised to enforce the sale of property and real estate. Jewellery and works of art could only be sold through state purchasing agencies, thereby driving down prices. Whether they had emigrated or were deported, from 1941, Jews’ assets were seized by the German Reich.

The Jewish population in annexed Austria was also systematically dispossessed. Throughout the Second World War, a blatant campaign of looting took place in the countries occupied by Nazi Germany.