Twelve letters that document the transfer of merchandise from Nazi Germany to Palestine as part of the Transfer Agreement. Tel-Aviv, Berlin and other cities in Germany, 1938-1939. German and Hebrew.
The Transfer Agreement was signed in 1933 between the government of Nazi Germany and the Jewish Agency, with the aim of transferring the possessions and capital of Germany's Jews to Palestine. The agreement caused a major conflict in the Jewish community in Palestine and in the Diaspora, related among other things to the moral propriety of negotiating with the Nazis and the economic gain to be derived therefrom. Under the agreement, German-Jewish property owners deposited their money with one of three brokers (the Hanotea company, the Anglo-Palestine Company, or Haavara), which gave it to companies in Palestine with the promise that it would be used to purchase German goods only. After the Jewish property owners immigrated to Palestine, they received two-thirds of their original capital.
The letters in this collection document the transfer of funds to the Palestinian company Ein ha-Keshet (via Haavara), as well as several purchases that the company made from manufacturers in Nazi Germany. The collection includes: • Four letters that were sent from Haavara to Ein ha-Keshet company (forms filled out using a typewriter), reporting funds that were transferred to the company (the letters contain the names of the Jews from whose accounts the funds were taken). Hebrew. • A letter and account statement, typewritten on the official stationery of the German company Preußische Bergwerks- und Hütten-Aktiengesellschaft, which were sent to Ein ha-Keshet after the purchase of various items. German. • Five letters, typewritten on the official stationery of the German insurance company Allianz und Stuttgarter Verein, which were sent to Ein ha-Keshet about merchandise that was damaged in transit to Palestine. German. • A letter, typewritten on the official stationery of Beit & Co. Hamburg, discussing the possibility of a new business relationship. German.
The documents are approx. 28-30 cm. Condition varies. Overall good–fair condition. Stains, creases, fold marks and filing holes. Tears and open tears at the edges (most of them minor).