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The Haavara Agreement (1933-1942) was a pact between the Nazis and
Zionists regarding Jewish emigration from Germany during the 1930's. It is
the only contract between an official Third Reich authority and a Zionist
organization. This agreement is considered to have benefited the interests
of both parties. Haavara (Transfere) was intended to promote both
the emigration of German Jews and the export of German products to
Palestine.
As a result
of the Agreement, German exports arrived in Palestine at bargain prices
with the help of Jewish capital and Jewish commercial assistance. The
Agreement also made it possible to settle a large number of German Jews in
Palestine. Goods worth a total of 139.5 million Reichsmark were
transferred by 1939. Only the outbreak of war in September 1939 ended the
transfer practice. -- RAW
Circular 54/1933 of the Reich Ministry of Finance,
August 28, 1933 To further the cause of Jewish emigration to
Palestine through allocation of the necessary sums of money, without
putting too much strain on the currency reserves of the Reich and
simultaneously increasing German exports to Palestine, an agreement has
been reached with the appropriate Jewish authorities. It is based on the
following conditions:
Emigrants on whose behalf the Emigration Advisory Office confirms that
further sums of money are necessary and adequate for the purpose of
starting a new life in Palestine, and that the minimum amount of 1000 PP
[Pal. Pounds] required for immigration into Palestine is insufficient, may
be granted an additional sum in excess of the 15,000 RM on condition that
it is paid at the Reich bank into the Special Account I of the Bank of the
Temple Corporation [German colonists bank in Palestine] and credited to a
trust company in Palestine specially set up for this purpose (or to the
Anglo-Palestine Bank until the Jewish trust company has been set up). A
total sum of 3 million RM has been designated initially for this Special
Account I and for a Special Account II mentioned below; it is to be
operated by the Temple Bank as a trust account for the above mentioned
Jewish Trust Company. This account is to be used to pay for German goods
delivered to Palestine. Emigrants will be paid the equivalent of their
deposits by the Palestine trust company according to the funds available
from the sale of German goods to Palestine. This will occur in the order
and proportion of the payments made into the Special Account I and paid
out in Palestine Pounds. The "Palästina-Treuhandstelle zur Beratung
deutscher Juden GmbH" [Paltreu, Palestine Trust Office for Advice to
German Jews] has been founded in Berlin, Friedrichstraß 218, to advise
German Jews in matters concerning this form of capital transfer to
Palestine. I request that particular attention is to be drawn to this
organization when authorization [for capital transfer to Palestine] is
being granted. Furthermore, a Special Account II has been opened at
the Reich bank on behalf of the bank of the Temple Organization. On
application the exchange regulation authorities may grant permission to
German Jewish nationals, who have not yet emigrated but who are already
planning a new existence in Palestine, to deposit up to 50,000 RM per
person into this account (and similarly credit it to a German-Jewish trust
company to be founded in Palestine or to the Anglo-Palestine Bank Ltd.
until this has been founded).
Source: Werner Feilchenfeld (Jewish),
Dolf Michaelis (Jewish), Ludwig Pinner (Jewish), Haavara-Transfer nach
Palästina und die Einwanderung deutscher Juden 1933-1939, Tübingen 1972,
p.26 f. Herbert A. Strauss (Jewish), General Editor, "Jewish
Immigrants of the Nazi Period in the USA" Vol. 4 - Jewish Emigration from
Germany 1933-1942: A Documentary History, K.G. Saur (Jewish),
NewYork-1992,p.254.
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