The Aryanization of Wertheim: a Postal History of the Jewish-Owned Department Store from 1931-1939

Authors

Object ID

2016.1.01a-x

Object Name

Envelope

Date

1931

Files

Content Warning

The Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection consists of images, documents, and artifacts related to the Holocaust. The collection contains materials that depict a number of topics that may be difficult for viewers to engage with, including: antisemitic descriptions, caricatures, and representation of Jewish people; Nazi imagery and ideology; descriptions and images of German ghettos; graphic images of the violence of the Holocaust; and the creation of the State of Israel. For more information, see our policy page.

Description

24 envelopes with red circular postmark from Berlin

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:

A collection of meter marks (made from the francotyp machine) from the department store Wertheim, including 11 from 1931 to 1935 for “special sales” (e.g., Christmas, travel, swimming, etc.). The aryanization of Wertheim is likewise expressed in changes to the meter marks: the slogans show AWAG (Allgemeine Warenhandels-Gesellschaft A.G.) and AWAG (vormals WERTHEIM). Aryanization notwithstanding, the Wertheim name was continued during this period to maintain the customer base. Meter marks show Deutsche Reichspost AWAG for travel, summer, etc. Eventually the Nazi swastika appears within the indicia of the meter mark. Wertheim was one of the largest department store chains in Germany with four stores in Berlin. It had been founded by Georg Wertheim. It was subjected to Nazi aryanization policies during the 1930s. To avoid loss of their stores through what was tantamount to institutionalized theft, the Wertheim family attempted to make Georg’s wife Ursula the principal shareholder since she was acceptable as “aryan” under the laws. However, even a divorce was not enough to prevent the inevitable loss of their business, and the Wertheim family were forced to sell their firm to an aryan company, after which it was renamed AWAG. Georg Wertheim died in 1939.

Keywords

Arianization, Metermarks, Francotyp, Wertheim, AWAG

Subcollection

Aryanization

Recommended Citation

"The Aryanization of Wertheim: a Postal History of the Jewish-Owned Department Store from 1931-1939" (1931). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2016.1.01a-x.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/1261