Max Krakauer - Lights in Darkness

It is not my task to investigate how the German people, having been so trusting and politically so non-judgmental, had fallen prey to the world‘s most satanic pied piper. Perhaps everybody had been deceived, and not only those who cheered. Others had no real idea of the magnitude of the impending disaster. There were a few who believed that Hitler and his movement would last far longer than a few months. One was comforted by the thought that people who pretended to know everything and who promised the world to everybody, would be ruined economically in only a short time; and people cited other reasons in the hope of making everyone relax. Doesn‘t it seem today as if all foreign countries became victims of the same delusion?

But it is not my intent to „investigate“ this and to deal with theories and hypotheses. Instead, I hope to report objectively on my fate, and that of my wife, and to focus on members of society during the Third Reich who had not often been in the world‘s spotlight.

On April 1, 1933 the NSDAP declared a „national boycott,“ an act of revenge for alleged injustices committed by Jews. Julius Streicher, who was assigned by Hitler to lead this action, delivered a speech whose lies went beyond anything said before. One can only comment on this speech using psychiatric guidelines. Once again the SA-troopers showed up, this time in front of Jewish stores and blocked the path of customers who wished to enter. There were still some customers who, in a gesture of open protest, had the courage to buy a few things in stores whose windows were defaced with gigantic letters that spelled the word „Jude.“ Often shoppers were photographed, particularly in smaller towns, and soon after that, their pictures would be on public display at some centrally located place in the city. Below the pictures one could read the words, „Slave of Jews.“

During the whole day, howling gangs of the SA marched in the streets and marked all houses belonging to Jews. Jewish people seen in public were ill-treated. Jewish intellectuals, doctors, lawyers, merchants, artists: all were suddenly exposed to the terror by the scum of society and cast into the streets by the „national revolution.“

The film distributors were not spared from these actions that were reinforced by a variety of new tactics. Ambitious party members and aspirants pressed forward in their demands to have their Jewish employees dismissed immediately. They insisted on gaining full power of attorney from the theater owners who had refused its release.

One such aggressive Nazi excelled in spreading hatred. He was a man who repeatedly had stressed how grateful he was to Jews. Shortly before World War I, when he was facing a bleak future, Jews had hired him and made him into what he was today: a reputable businessman with an above average salary. The change in the political climate was a signal for this previously respectable man to finally prove his gratitude in practical terms. As it turned out, he had been a secret member of the Nazi party for some time, and he had used his connections to make himself the “dictator” of the entire company. He considered it to be his highest challenge to cleanse the company of all non-Aryans, i.e. to cleanse it from those to whom he owed everything. Operating on a small scale at first, he took advantage of all tactics the party officials and government later used on a much grander scale. These tactics finally consolidated the entire world against the German people. What this man demanded from me was quite simply the renunciation of all of my legal rights. If I refused, my arrest by the SA was sure to follow. Yes, by the SA, not by the police! He quickly collaborated with like-minded cohorts, who exploited this opportunity unscrupulously, making personal profits from fraud and blackmail without being penalized. Soon he had ascended to one of the highest offices in the film industry.

I was unwilling to put up with my forced expulsion and tried to reclaim my rights in court. My opponent used many dirty tricks during the trial. The presiding judge, in an impressive gesture, was obliged therefore to reprimand my opponent despite the powerful Nazi party that backed him up. Soon after the boycott, the courts no longer found it relevant to defend the legal rights of Jews unconditionally. It was the judge‘s opinion that the law was on my side, but new laws were being drafted, so there were rumours based on the premise that „Justice is whatever benefits the people.“ According to the Nazis, any decision upholding the rights of Jews in circumstances similar to mine, would not benefit the people. During the following years, there were more violations of the law in cases far more important than mine. There was no regard for justice and morality. Anticipating these new laws, I was forced to accept a meager settlement, losing a substantial portion of my assets. Once again I had become a victim of the Third Reich‘s first dirty tricks.

It was not possible to continue working in the film industry where I had been employed since 1919. Jews could not become members in any of the newly emerging Chambers, which in my case was the Reich‘s Chamber of Films. But I had to feed my family, and the question of how this should be done tormented me by day and by night, as it did untold colleagues of mine who shared my destiny. Whatever I attempted to do – and I tried everything possible and impossible – was always shattered by orchestrated agitations directed at the Jewish people.

I experienced one disappointment and defeat after another. Soon I had to reduce the size of my apartment and sell a portion of it at 10-20% of its value. By then my situation was not unique. With the gradual emigration of Jews starting, and with the abandonment of their homes, the market was flooded with household goods on a large scale. Many newcomers in the business took advantage of this opportunity. Whatever money I made was quickly spent trying somehow to keep my family above water. At this time the government-sanctioned theft of Jewish possessions began. This left me with only my last movable possession that I was forced to rent out when needed. I had only one sensible option left: to get out of this witch’s cauldron and to leave this country that clearly sought to destroy us. Emigration!

I was one of the first German Jews who set his sight on Palestine, my chosen destination. But the immigration quota set by the British offered no hope because only a small number of permits were issued and only to people who met certain guidelines, i.e. to workers who were of great importance in the development of that region, especially tradesmen and farmers. This excluded me. My only remaining chance was to enter Palestine with a “capitalist certificate.” This meant that any applicant needed a minimum of L1,000 Palestine sterling. But the German government never thought of allowing an emigrant to leave with one thousand pounds, not even when this person paid the so-called Reich Refugee Tax. One could at best take consumer goods with an equivalent value of one thousand pounds. Nevertheless, all of these options failed due to organizational difficulties.

I tried still another method. There was a chance of getting an affidavit from the United States. We had met all conditions because the affidavit was “financially backed,” i.e. we could actually offer proof of being able to pay the high fee requested. But our sponsor and helper in the United States was involved in a bad accident on the very same day when this matter was to be settled legally. When we thought we had reached our goal after a delay of several months, it was too late. At this point I opted for Australia. But it soon turned out that business people were not welcomed in Australia as immigrants. Once again, only tradesmen were accepted.