Aryanization (Nazism)

Aryanization (German: Arisierung) is a term coined during Nazism referring to the forced expulsion of so-called "non-Aryans", mainly Jews, from business life in Nazi Germany and the territories it controlled. It entailed the transfer of Jewish property into "Aryan" hands in order to "de-Jew the economy".

Literally, 'aryanization' means "to make Aryan". Fundamentally, the concept was based on the ideology of the "Aryan master race" which was to consider people of Europe Aryans through Germanisation.

The process started by depriving its victims of their wealth and ended with the Holocaust, when it deprived them of their remaining property and their lives.

Through the Aryan paragraph and the Nuremberg Laws, Jews were early on largely excluded from public life. Reserved areas in the economy had been left to them, which Aryanization was to remove. They were removed from jobs in the public sector, such as the civil service and teaching, and further restrictions were introduced through the Nazi period. Later on, an increasing number were incarcerated in Nazi concentration camps, and finally deported to the east where they were murdered directly in death camps or by being shot by the Einsatzgruppen.

By January 1, 1938, German Jews were prohibited from operating businesses and trades, and from offering goods and services. On 26 April 1938, Jews were ordered to report all wealth over 5,000 Reichsmarks, and their access to bank accounts was restricted. On 14 June 1938, the Interior Ministry ordered the registration of all Jewish businesses. The state set the sales value of Jewish firms at a fraction of their market worth, and used various pressure tactics to ensure sales only to desired persons. Among the largest "Aryanization profiteers" were IG Farben, the Flick family, and large banks. The proceeds from "Aryanized" firms had to be deposited in savings accounts, and were made available to their Jewish depositors only in limited amounts, so that in the final analysis Aryanization amounted to almost compensation-free confiscation.

...
Wikipedia