Bidspirit auction | Decree for the Aryanization of

Decree for the Aryanization of Jewish Property by the Reich Protectorate Administration in Bohemia and Moravia – Prague, June 21, 1939 - Arisierungsverordnung jüdischen Eigentums – Regelung für das Protektorat – Decree for the Aryanization of Jewish Property – Regulation for the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, issued by the administration of the Reich Protector in Bohemia and Moravia (Reichsprotektor in Böhmen und Mähren). Prague, June 21, 1939. Typewritten copy of the “Aryanization Decree” (Arisierungsverordnung), dispossessing the Jews of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia of their property, assets, and businesses. A rare historical remnant from the offices of the Nazi SS prior to its publication among the Jewish population. Following the occupation and partition of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was established under direct Nazi rule, headed by Reich Protector Konstantin von Neurath (and later Reinhard Heydrich). Presented here is the text of the decree as typed in the SS offices prior to its publication among the Jewish population. The provisions appearing in the document set out in detail the meticulous mechanism of economic dispossession: the decree prohibits Jews, Jewish-owned companies, and Jewish corporations from carrying out any transaction, sale, lease, or transfer involving real estate, property rights, shares, securities, or commercial businesses, except with special written authorization from the Reich Protector. Any transaction conducted without such authorization is declared legally null and void. The decree requires all Jews and Jewish corporations to register and report to the authorities, by July 31, 1939, all agricultural land and forest areas owned or leased by them. It also completely prohibits Jews from acquiring real estate, property rights, interests in business partnerships, or new securities. The decree further requires Jews to declare and report to the National Bank all valuables, gold, platinum, silver, precious stones, and pearls in their possession, and prohibits them from selling or pledging such property. A similar prohibition applies to the sale or pledging of works of art and jewelry valued at more than 10,000 Czech crowns (K). For the purposes of the confiscation and Aryanization of property in the Protectorate, the decree defines who is a ״Jew” according to the criteria of the Nuremberg Laws – a person with at least three Jewish grandparents was considered a full Jew (Volljude). For these purposes, a “Mischling” (Mischling) with two Jewish grandparents was considered a Jew in the full legal sense if he or she belonged to the Jewish community on September 15, 1935 (or joined it subsequently); was married to a Jew on that date; was born of a Jewish marriage contracted after that date; or was born as the result of an extramarital relationship after July 31, 1936. The decree also defines what constituted a “Jewish business” – even a business owned by a non-Jew was considered Jewish for these purposes if it was subject to the decisive influence of a Jew. Under the regulations, the Reich Protector was authorized to appoint trustees acting exclusively on his behalf to administer, seize, and liquidate Jewish assets and businesses. The trustees were subject solely to his instructions, and he was authorized to dismiss previously appointed trustees. Any violation or attempt to circumvent the decree constituted a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment, heavy fines, and complete confiscation of the property involved, with jurisdiction vested exclusively in German courts applying the criminal law of the Reich. The decree entered into force on the day of its publication in the Prague newspaper Der neue Tag, while its principal provisions were applied retroactively from March 15, 1939, the day of the Nazi occupation. This retroactive application rendered invalid any property transaction or transfer of assets carried out by Jews during the intervening period without official authorization, and the authority to approve or reject such transactions was delegated to the district commissioners (Oberlandräte) as part of a decentralized bureaucratic system. This is the text prepared in the offices of the Nazi SS administration prior to its publication among the Jewish population. The Reich Protector’s Aryanization Decree of June 21, 1939, constituted a critical milestone in the process of the economic destruction of Czechoslovak Jewry. Following the establishment of the “Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia” in March 1939, those responsible for implementing Nazi policy sought to subordinate the developed Czech economy to the needs of the Third Reich and to transfer Jewish-owned assets, factories, and land into “Aryan” hands. The decree established a centralized and complex legal mechanism that fundamentally stripped the Jewish community of its property rights.