One way to see the history of this transfer of property to "aryans" under the Third Reich is to examine Francotyp machine cards. Francotyp machines were used to apply physical evidence of postage to mailed matter. These devices had been used since 1923 as a franking system for mailing purposes. The card was a service record of these machines and documented the mail history of the company in question, along with the changes occurring to the corporate name and address both before and after expropriation.
--Michael D. Bulmash, K1966
Browse the Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection.
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Francotyp Card Tracing History and Aryanization of Kantorowicz-Kahlbaum Liquor and Wine Firm During Third Reich
2016.1.26
Front: “Weinbrand Kahlbaum Edel” in red at top right; three adhered stamps, two hand stamps, all red. Back: two adhered stamps with typewritten and handwritten text starting with date 27.12.29.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Francotyp machines had been used since 1923 as a franking system for mailing purposes. The card is a record of servicing these Francotyp machines, and shows the mail history of the company in question, and in this case, the changes occurring to the corporate name and address both before and subsequent to aryanization during the Third Reich. Kantorowicz-Kahlbaum had been a world-renowned liquor and wine manufacturer located in Poznan, Poland since 1823. As a Jewish-owned firm, it was ultimately aryanized and management was given over to representatives of the Reich in 1939, after the German army marched into Poland. On the reverse side of the card is the new name of the company: the name Kantorowicz was eliminated from the label.
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M.M. Warburg and Company Envelope
2016.1.08
M. M. WARBURG & CO., HAMBURG 1' printed at bottom left; Addressed to Herrn Hugo Hartig.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
The brothers Warburg, Moses and Gerson, founded the Warburg bank, one of the world's largest privately owned banks, in 1798. While the Warburg family still owned the bank, most members of the family had fled Nazi Germany to either the United States or to England by 1938.
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The Aryanization of Wertheim: a Postal History of the Jewish-Owned Department Store from 1931-1939
2016.1.01a-x
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.
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Aryanized Victor Wolf Company, Dreiturm Seife Envelope
2015.2.6
Front: White envelope with series of red hand stamps on top. Bottom left has printed Victor Wolf symbol in teal, bottom right has address writen in black ink.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Dreiturm (Three Towers) had been a German company owned by Max Wolf, a Jewish businessman. In 1933 Dreiturm was confiscated by the Nazis. At this point Mr. Wolf was counseled by his tax accountant to place the company in aryan hands so that he could enjoy a "peaceful future." In July 1934 Dreiturm was officially aryanized by the state and then "purchased" by the aryan firm Sidol for a fraction of its worth. Max Wolf and his family ultimately emigrated to England. The name Dreiturm Seife in Steinau was retained, but Wolf was no longer on the logo. Instead, the name of the washing powder produced by the firm, "Hexawa," was placed on the label on the "archive card," in spite of the fact that part of the old name Dreiturm had been retained. The Sidol Group was known to have worked in armaments production during the War. Many of Sidol's workers were forced laborers, especially Russian prisoners of war.
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Card Regarding Aryanization of Jewish-owned Victor Wolf Company, Dreiturm Seife
2015.2.7
Front: Tan card. with various pasted stamps on top and bottom left, and a red hand stamp on bottom right. Printed lines and blanks, with information written in, and crossed out in black. Back: Red and orange hand stamps on top left.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Dreiturm (Three Towers) had been a German company owned by Max Wolf, a Jewish businessman. In 1933 Dreiturm was confiscated by the Nazis. At this point Mr. Wolf was counseled by his tax accountant to place the company in aryan hands so that he could enjoy a "peaceful future." In July 1934 Dreiturm was officially aryanized by the state and then "purchased" by the aryan firm Sidol for a fraction of its worth. Max Wolf and his family ultimately emigrated to England. The name Dreiturm Seife in Steinau is kept in place, but Wolf was no longer on the logo. Instead, the name of the washing powder produced by the firm, "Hexawa," was placed on the label on the "archive card," in spite of the fact that part of the old name Dreiturm had been retained. The Sidol Group was known to have worked on armaments production during the War. Many of Sidol's workers were forced laborers, especially Russian prisoners of war.
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Partial Envelope with 1935 Meter Mark from Dressel & Ephraim Tuchhandler
2019.2.216
Partial envelope “D&E Dressel & Ephraim” stamped in red in top center next to round Berlin stamp dated “24-10-35.”
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Dressel & Ephraim was a Jewish clothing and textile firm founded in 1919 and aryanized in 1939.
[Related item: 2019.2.215]
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Nathan Israel Department Store Catalog
2021.1.1
[Cover]: “Sommer 1936” in top left; “N*ISRAEL” in bottom right; black and white photograph of woman with one arm raised and the other holding onto a string of nautical flags. [Interior]: unnumbered pages with drawings of merchandise
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Illustrated Summer 1936 catalog from the Kaufhaus N. Israel, the largest department store in Berlin, founded in 1815. Promoting the sale of swimwear, summer-wear clothing, shoes, suitcases, lounge chairs, etc. Nathan Israel was one of the largest retail establishments in Europe, run at this time by Wilfred Israel and his brother. Owned by Jews, the store was famously boycotted by Nazis when they came to power in 1933, photographs showing Nazis holding placards exhorting Germans (i.e., non-Jews) to not patronize Jewish-owned stores. Ransacked during Kristallnacht, Israel’s was then aryanized, sold in 1939 to Emil Koster AG, which was owned by a non-Jewish family, and reopened under a new name. Soon after this expropriation, Wilfred emigrated to England and here attempted contact with the underground. Having been successful in helping many of his Jewish employees emigrate, he organized, once in England, transport of children attempting to flee Europe. He died in 1943 when his plane was shot down by the Luftwaffe.
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Nazi Era German-Aryan Company Business Card
2015.2.157
Front: White card with brown printed text. Includes a reel of yarn on the left, and purple hand stamp with Swastika on either side at top. The stamp reads "Deutsche arische firma seit 1842," or an "Aryan German Company since 1842."Back: Writing in pencil.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Business card of the Felix Hunger Company on Taborstrasse in Vienna, the second largest city in Greater Germany. The company sold yarn, rope, hard and soft fibers of all kinds, but the most interesting aspect of the card is the notation in between the Swastikas at the top which proudly announces "Deutsch arische firma seit 1842", or an "Aryan German firm since 1842."
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Partial Envelope with 1937 Meter Mark from Dressel & Ephraim Tuchhandler
2019.2.215
Partial envelope “D&E Dressel & Ephraim” stamped in red in top center next to round Berlin stamp dated “8-1-37."
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Dressel & Ephraim was a Jewish clothing and textile firm founded in 1919 and aryanized in 1939.
[Related item: 2019.2.216]
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Decree for Reporting of Jewish Owned Property
2021.1.2a-e
Five typewritten pages; [page 1] includes outline of A and B; [page 2] includes outline of I-III; [page 3] includes outline of IV – VII; [page 4] includes outline of VIII – BII; [page 5] includes outline of III-V
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Shortly after Germany’s annexation of Austria, Hermann Goering issued the “Decree for the Reporting of Jewish-Owned Property,” requiring Jews in Greater Germany to register any property or assets valued at more than 5,000 Reichsmarks, including – but not limited to – art, stocks and other financial assets, life insurance policies, furniture, etc. This so-called “aryanization” (Arisierung) of Jewish-owned wealth, this state-sponsored plundering and expropriating Jewish businesses, property, and valuables, was justified by Nazi ideology inasmuch as Jews were considered historically parasitic on Germans, enriching themselves by stealing from the German people. Therefore, Germans were entitled, as the rightful owners, to take it all back. Moreover, it was hoped that more Jews would see fit to emigrate, and aryanization would be seen as providing an important impetus aimed at removing Jews from the Reich entirely. Without the means of perpetuating their wealth, without means of supporting themselves as a community, without homes and a homeland, Jews would be rudderless and unable to preserve their distinct identities.
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Francotyp Card Tracing Aryanization of Jewish-Owned Company by Reichwerke Hermann Goering
2015.2.20
Front: Tan card with printed black writing. Top includes several handstamps, which are a circular orange Regensburg stamp, a Kalkwerk D. Funk handstamp, and a Detusche Reichspost stamp with an eagle and 45. Beneath is printed black information with filled in black ink handwriting. There are several pasted stamps: leftmost, a dark tan stamp with orange text, then a light tan stamp with the Kalkwerk D. Funk logo, and on the bottom a Steine und Erden stamp.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Established in 1937 under Hermann Goering's oversight, the Reichwerke Hermann Goering was a massive holding company utilized primarily for mobilizing economic resources for the war effort. What began as a means to exploit Germany's domestic iron ore, the Reichwerke Hermann Goering soon began producing other industrial assets through absorbing industries in occupied countries. The Reichwerke grew into a massive organization with numerous locations and departments involving the exploitation of forced laborers, prisoners of war, deportees and concentration camp prisoners. The D. Funk company was founded and owned by Jews. In an effort to supply the ironworks companies in Linz, Austria, Goering was interested in Funk's limestone quarries. As part of the aryanization process, the Funk company was forced to sell the plant for well beneath its market value. The agreed upon purchase price was in fact never paid to the heirs of the company. This "transaction" is displayed in the December 1938 "Klichee" referring to the Hermann Goering Kalkwerk Regensburg. In 1944, the name was changed to Steine and Erden, GmbH, still part of Goering's Reichwerke.
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Letter Regarding a Jew's Tailor Shop, Which Was Seized and Given to a German
2012.1.369
Typewritten letter on tan paper. Addressed to Joseph Bürckel and signed by Franz Hirsch.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of two letters regarding a Jew's tailor shop (2012.1.369, 2012.1.370). This letter was a T.L.S. sent by one Franz Hirsch to future gauleiter of Vienna Joseph Burckel, then Reichskommissar for the union of Austria with the German Reich. Hirsch notes: "... Because I plan to open a tailors supply store and to break the monopoly of the Jews in this type of business, I would like to ask you to support me in this venture... In my district, I am viewed as an illegal National Socialist but despite all my efforts I was not able to find a suitable location based on my national views... I was in the military from 1913 to 1919... One year as a P.O.W. in Italy... Since 1921 I have been a master tailor and have had only one room which I must also use as an apartment..." On April 19, 1938 Austria had officially become part of the German Reich: Presumably Mr. Hirsch got his store.
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Letter Regarding a Jew's Tailor Shop, Which Was Seized and Given to a German
2012.1.370
Letter on Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National-socialist German Workers' Party letterhead. Includes typewritten message regarding Franz Hirsch.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: One of two letters regarding a Jew's tailor shop (2012.1.369, 2012.1.370). This letter is a T.L.S. by a district leader of Vienna on NSDAP district group letterhead, June 28, 1938, sent to Joseph Burckel (and initaled by him in pencil at the bottom). It advises: "... Franz Hirsch... Was informed to look for a suitable Jew's store and that we will support him in transfer and the Aryanization of the business..." On April 19, 1938 Austria had officially become part of the German Reich: Presumably Mr. Hirsch got his store.
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Envelope from The Hohenlohe Works
2015.2.33
Front: Greenish envelope with window for address in the middle. Red pasted stamp in right corner of a man in profile facing left with a faded hand stamp over it.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
The Hohenlohe Works had been owned by the Petshcek brothers who were Jewish and the company was thus aryanized. All of the assets of this Jewish-owned company were "sequestered" or, in other words, confiscated, in June, 1939, which explains the over-stamp stating that the acting administrator of the ore mining and ironworks is the Hermann Goering Works.
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Hermann Goering Reichswerke Form Letter
2019.2.202
Half-sized sheet of tan paper, two holes punched in left side, “Hermann Göring Werke” printed in black ink in upper left corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Letter written to an employee, Franz Fried, of the Reichswerke in 1940, one requesting that he provide certain specific documents and the other informing him that his employment contract has been assumed by the private company nominally under Goering. Includes Hermann Goering Werke letterhead.
Hermann Goring Reichswerke was an industrial conglomerate controlling iron, coal, mines, and steel mills expropriated from German-occupied countries: Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, etc. It likewise involved the exploitation of forced laborers, prisoners of war, and prisoners of concentration camps.
[Related item: 2019.2.201]
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Reichswerke Hermann Goering Letter
2019.2.201
Letter titled “REICHSWERKE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT FÜR ERZBERGBAU UND EISENHÜTTEN “HERMANN GÖRING” in bold, black print, two holes punched in left side, signed in blue ink. [Related item: 2019.2.202]
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Letter written to an employee, Franz Fried, of the Reichswerke in 1940, one requesting that he provide certain specific documents; and the other informing him that his employment contract has been assumed by the private company nominally under Goering.
Hermann Goering Reichswerke was an industrial conglomerate controlling iron, coal, mines, and steel mills expropriated from German-occupied countries: Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, etc. It likewise involved the exploitation of forced laborers, prisoners of war, and prisoners of concentration camps.
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Treuhandstelle Letter
2015.2.74
Tan paper with printed return address in upper left corner, with a little typewritten and handwriting added in ink. A word in a box beneath the address is underlined in red. Typewritten message in German. Black ink signature in lower righthand corner with purple hand stamp with Nazi eagle.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: The Haupttrehandstelle Ost (HTO) was established in 1939 by Hermann Goring as a department of his Four Year Plan to confiscate Polish and Jewish property and assets in German-occupied Poland. There were branch offices in a number of cities. This document letterhead reads Main Trust Office East, Trust office Poznan, branch Litzmannstadt. This letter, typed in German, is addressed to a Mr. Alfred Prenzlau, the Commissarial Trustee of the Josef Sas Company in Litzmannstadt (formerly the Polish city of Lodz). He is being recalled from the administration of the iron foundry Ksawera Trabczynski and is requested to return his certificate of appointment. As well he must hand over his final report and invoice. One Mr. Alexander von Gunther is to take over the factory. The letter is stamped with the HTO Litzmannstadt handstamp.
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Envelope from German Agricultural and Industrial Bank, Aryanized and Absorbed by Deutsche Bank
2015.2.32
Front: White envelope with return address printed in black on upper lefthand corner with a purple DEUTSCHE BANK hand stamp on it. Typewritten address. Middle right side has a red stamp of a man in profile facing left, with a black circular hand stamp over it. Back: Five blue and white Deutsche Bank stickers with white eagle inside.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
German Agricultural and Industrial Bank envelope to a bank in Prague showing Deutsche bank overmark and labels on back cover. 1940. The Agricultural and Industrial Bank, East Sudeten, was considered a Jewish bank and hence had been "aryanized" and absorbed by Deutsche Bank.
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Heydrich Document on Jewish Assets
2014.1.295
Off-white paper with smudged typewritten German text. Several stamps included a grid with 'Datum:' at top; a brown retangular fastener at left.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Reinhard Heydrich, SS-Obergruppenfuhrer, at this time in 1941 the "Reichsprotektor" in Bohemia and Moravia, wrote this directive for the Nazi Reichsbank, which dealt with the assets of Jewish individuals, businesses and organizations and the deadlines that they had to meet to keep at least a part of their wealth. This directive references the German laws in effect as well as punishments Jews were to face for not meeting these deadlines. In the end all Jewish assets were seized anyway.
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"Reichswerke Hermann Goering" Phoenix Letter with Goering Factory Stamp
2016.1.10
Front: HERMANN GORING text printed at lower left, 3 hole punches along left edge; Back: 'Betr.: Leergut-Rucksendung' typewritten and underlined at top left.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Letter card with "Goering Reichswerke" cachet and his emblem sent from the "Phoenix" coal mine which, prior to its confiscation and "aryanization" by the Nazis, was owned by the Jewish industrialist Ignaz Petscheck. As part of the Hermann Goering Reichswerke, thousands of slave workers and inmates from concentration camp Buchenwald were forced to work at this mine. The text of the card reads: To the German Aseol company in Zeitz; Matter: return of empties; WE have sent to your delivery address to the Rehmsdorf station, 2 iron barrels under the code G.PH 8237 and 7385, Heil Hitler.
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Gestapo Files of Insurance Rebates of Deceased Jews
2012.1.558
Front: Top right has typewritten date and purple rectangular handstamp with date. Top left has stamped return address. Typewritten form with pencil markings for numbers, and red checks and texts. Includes lists of names, with addresses. Back: Black typewritten message in German. Second to last paragraph outlined with red. Signature in middle with purple hand stamp over it.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
A chilling set of three documents (2012.1.558, 2012.1.559, 2012.1.560) regarding the Nazi appropriation of insurance rebates or refunds from policies once owned by deceased Jews who perished within concentration camps. The first, 2pp. legal folio, Munich, Apr. 29, 1943, lists nine deceased Jews who were "deregistered," "expelled," "deceased" or otherwise no longer insured. The other two documents, 1p. 8vo. each, dated Munich, June 2 and 18, 1943, are regarding the list. Of course, Nazi decrees provided that these funds from "non-aryans" must be forfeited to the government.
[Related items: 2012.1.559, 2012.1.560]
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Gestapo Seizure of Jewish Property in Austria Document Signed by Dr. Karl Ebner
2021.1.13
Signed and stamped document from the “Geheime Staatspolizei” with the serial code “0-5-4210 Q0547” in the bottom left corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
Document from Gestapo main office in Vienna, May 5, 1943 sent by Dr. Karl Ebner who was head of the Gestapo in Vienna, to a Willy Dwroak, also in Vienna, regarding the seizure of the goods of a Jew named Theodor Israel Ehrenstein. The document states that according to the law of 18 November 1938, Mr. Ehrenstein’s estate has been confiscated or retained by the government. Ebner also reports that “Vugesta,” the Gestapo office for disposing of the property, has seized it and is entrusted with its management.
The background of this document is the increasing pace of aryanization and the confiscation of Jewish property in both Germany and Austria - now part of Greater Germany after the Anschluss - and Kristallnacht of November 9 and 10, 1938. The specific ordinance referenced by Ebner is the “Ordinance on the Seizure of Assets of Enemies of the People and the State in Austria.” This is an example of the seizure of Jewish property carried out by the Nazi authorities during the Third Reich. Vugesta had been in operation since 1940 in order to aryanize Jewish property and use it for the “citizens” of Austria. By the date of Ebner’s document, most of Vugesta’s role consisted in disposing of the residential property of deported Jews, utilizing forced labor to remove the property from their homes. The property thus sold would add to the revenue of the Third Reich. Mr. Ehrenstein, with the required “Israel” middle name to identify him as a Jew, was in fact deported to Theresienstadt in October 1942. He would have been in his 70s and probably perished there.
Ebner himself had probably worked closely with Adolf Eichmann who, as head of the department of Jewish affairs, was sent to Vienna after the Anschluss to “encourage” Jews to “emigrate.”
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Gestapo Files of Insurance Rebates of Deceased Jews
2012.1.559
Green paper with typewritten message. Red '6' written into the date on right side. Signature in bottom right.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
A chilling set of three documents (2012.1.558, 2012.1.559, 2012.1.560) regarding the Nazi appropriation of insurance rebates or refunds from policies once owned by deceased Jews who perished within concentration camps. The first, 2pp. legal folio, Munich, Apr. 29, 1943, lists nine deceased Jews who were "deregistered," "expelled," "deceased" or otherwise no longer insured. The other two documents, 1p. 8vo. each, dated Munich, June 2 and 18, 1943, are regarding the list. Of course, Nazi decrees provided that these funds from "non-aryans" must be forfeited to the government.
[Related items: 2012.1.558, 2012.1.560]
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Gestapo Files of Insurance Rebates of Deceased Jews
2012.1.560
Brown form with typewritten message. Upper left has return address handstamped and damage from paperclip. Top right has date, and purple rectangular handstamp with date Signature in bottom right, with purple handstamp. Several red pencil markings.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
A chilling set of three documents (2012.1.558, 2012.1.559, 2012.1.560) regarding the Nazi appropriation of insurance rebates or refunds from policies once owned by deceased Jews who perished within concentration camps. The first, 2pp. legal folio, Munich, Apr. 29, 1943, lists nine deceased Jews who were "deregistered," "expelled," "deceased" or otherwise no longer insured. The other two documents, 1p. 8vo. each, dated Munich, June 2 and 18, 1943, are regarding the list. Of course, Nazi decrees provided that these funds from "non-aryans" must be forfeited to the government.
[Related items: 2012.1.558, 2012.1.559]
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Commemorative Treuhander Cover from German Invasion of Oberschlesien, Again in Polish Hands, with Provisional Liberation Cancel
2019.2.199
Envelope marked “HEFTENFABRIK RENOMA Treuhander” in black print in top left corner, red postage stamp in upper right corner, “Nürnberg” underlined in black print in bottom right corner.
Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:
“RENOMA” manufactured notebooks (heftenfabrik). Johann Wisniewski is the trustee of the company at this time. Letter is addressed to A.W. Faber writing instruments manufacturer in Nuremberg. Faber continues to this day as Faber-Castell, owned by the same family.
After the invasion of a Poland in 1939, treuhander (trustees) were appointed to take over the management of formerly Jewish-owned firms that had been confiscated by the Germans. Bendzin was a textile center in Upper Silesia, and Jews constituted 80 percent of the population of the town. This “aryanization” of formerly Jewish-owned businesses - consistent with the German Nuremberg laws - did not preclude Jews continuing to work in these firms for the time being, as their expert advice was necessary for these firms to function properly. Since the treuhander usually handled larger concerns, and Poles took over management of smaller ones, it is assumed that this company was a sizable factory.