'Aryanisation' in Hamburg

Much has been written about Nazi anti-Jewish policies, about atrocities of the Wehrmacht, and about the life of the Jews during the Third Reich. However, relatively little is known about the behavior of non-Jewish Germans. This book, published to wide acclaim in its original edition, shows how many "ordinary Germans" became involved in what they saw as a legally sanctioned process of ridding Germany and Europe of their Jews. Bajohr's study offers a major contribution to our understanding of this process in that it focusses on one of its most important aspects, namely the gradual exclusion of Jews from economic life in Hamburg, one of the largest centers of Jewish life in Europe and one in which many of them had been part of the Hanseatic patriciate before 1933. The sad conclusion of this study is that it was not necessarily antisemitism that motivated "ordinary burghers" but unrestrained greed that led them to betray their former co-citizens.

"Bajohr’s study, a kind of grassroot history, cannot be praised highly enough. Not only is it a superb monograph on the topic at hand, it also provides a wealth of information and insight into the inner workings of Hamburg’s economy and government, as well as on various aspects of daily life during the Nazi period. It is full of illuminating detail." Central European History Bajohr's clearly argued and carefully documented study both expands our understanding of the complex processes of 'Aryanization' and questions previous interpretations of its timing and agents ... Perhaps most importantly, it chronicles how a large proportion of ‘Aryan’ Germans came to see economic exclusion and expropriation as legitimate and desirable projects." Patterns of Prejudice "... the first that deals with the economy of a single city ... a well-written work that would appeal to scholars and those interested in a deeper understanding of what contributed to the Holocaust." History: Reviews of New Books "This searing book about 'Aryanisation', the process by which the Nazis robbed Jews of their economic livelihood, presents a lucid and riveting analysis of a little investigated subject. Compassionate towards the victims of the Third Reich's 'Aryanisation' program and enraged by the perpetrators, Dr. Bajohr has set a new standard for Holocaust scholarship. Integrating several narrative threads – the Nazi's economic policy, popular reactions, Jewish responses – this book is about people: people who harmed; who profited; who were robbed and exploited; who watched. Creatively conceived and meticulously documented, [this book] will become a classic work on this subject."  · Debórah Dwork, Director, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University "... an excellent study ... Bajohr demonstrates – in a fascinating final chapter…-the degree to which the economic embodiment of anti-Semitism reveals the Holocaust to be grubby, mundane and everyday, as well as horrific and unimaginable." German History "Bajohr's study, a kind of grassroots history, cannot be praised highly enough. Not only is it a superb monograph on the topic at hand, it also provides a wealth of information and insight into the inner workings of Hamburg’s economy and government, as well as on various aspects of daily life during the Nazi period. It is full of illuminating details, the presentation of which never becomes tedious, for each fact throws light on another facet of the whole." Central European History

Frank Bajohr is a historian at the Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg and lecturer at the Department of History at the University of Hamburg. At present he is a Research Fellow at the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.