Carl Goerdeler and the Jewish Question, 1933–1942

Abstract

In the 1930s, Carl Goerdeler, the mayor of Leipzig and, as prices commissioner, a cabinet-level official, engaged in active opposition against the persecution of the Jews in Germany and in Eastern Europe. He did this openly until 1938 and then secretly in contact with the British Foreign Office. Having failed to change Hitler's policy against the Jews, Goerdeler joined forces with military and civil conspirators against the regime. He was hanged for treason on 2 February 1945. This book describes the actions of Carl Goerdeler, the German resistance leader who consistently engaged in efforts to protect the Jews against persecution. Using new evidence and thus far under-researched documents, including a memorandum written by Goerdeler at the end of 1941 with a proposal for the status of the Jews in the world, the book fundamentally changes our understanding of Goerdeler's plan and presents a new view of the German resistance to Hitler.

The Refugee’s Dilemma: Evidence from Jewish Migration out of Nazi Germany

“…One instrument to help Jewish migrants that was discussed at the Evian conference was the provision of financial assistance. The British Government for example considered to open their colonies to migrants and to establish financial help through loans or subsidies to shipping lines that transported migrants overseas (Hoffmann, 2011;Packer, 2017). Indeed, oversea travel costs were high: Transport costs ranged between 150 and 1320 Reichsmark, between 10% to 100% of the average yearly income per capita in Nazi Germany.…”