Item No. 182:
Ingrid Weckert: Jewish Emigration from the Third Reich
Current historical writings dealing with matters related to the Third
Reich paint a bleak picture. This applies especially to writings that
deal with the Jewish ethnic group. To this day there are still accounts
of the Jewish emigration that depict it as some kind of clandestine
operation –- as if the Jews who wished to leave Germany had to sneak
over the borders in defiance of the German authorities, leaving all
their possessions and wealth behind.
The truth is that the emigration was welcomed by the German authorities,
and frequently occurred under a constantly increasing pressure.
Emigration was not some kind of wild flight, but rather a lawfully
determined and regulated matter. Weckert's booklet elucidates the
emigration process in law and policy, thereby augmenting the
traditionally received picture of Jewish emigration from Germany.
German and Jewish authorities worked closely together on this emigration.
Jews interested in emigrating received detailed advice and offers of
help from both sides. The accounts of Jews fleeing Germany in secret by
night across some border are untenable. On the contrary, the German
government was interested in getting rid of its Jews. It would have been
senseless to prevent such an emigration.
|
|