The repressions worsen
Database listings for Hermann Ringel's expropriated businesses
Of course, Hermann was also planning an escape for his family and business assets, but he was doing it deliberately. He had been squirreling money away in his export business, skirting the laws governing financial transfers. Hermann knew that his every move was watched by the Gestapo.
Family and home life was disrupted when it was ruled that Jewish households could no longer employ German maids and servants, though some exemptions were granted to alleviate German unemployment. Among other measures a child might have noticed, Jews were banned at beaches, baths and sports facilities. Yellow notices barring Jews from certain park benches went up first in Prenzlauer Berg, then Wilmersdorf and eventually citywide.
Crackdowns in the city markets effectively ousted Jewish dealers from dealing in eggs, poultry and game, as well as from the municipal stockyards. In the first targets of the coming Aryanization policy, Jewish food traders were forced into liquidation. Under this odious policy, Jewish business owners could be forced to sell their assets at far-below-market value to any Aryan buyer who bid for them. By the end of 1937, more than 30 percent of Jewish businesses and stores in Berlin had been expropriated or liquidated in this way.
