Memoirs of Willy Mainz, born in Frankfurt, Germany, regarding the Jewish community in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 1933-1938

Memoirs of Willy Mainz, born in Frankfurt, Germany, regarding the Jewish community in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 1933-1938 - German occupation; continuation of the usual community work; no order to register and no observations of the meetings by the Gestapo during the whole period; - Foundation of the Beratungsstelle fuer Wirtschaftshilfe (Counseling Center for Economic Aid) as an independent institution for assistance with job reallocation and emigration; cooperation between the Jewish community, the Palaestina-Amt (Eretz Israel Office), the Prussian State Association and later with the Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland (Reich's Deputation of German Jews) as well; - Establishment of Hachschara (aliya training) courses, youth training centers and also accommodation possibilities for the students; obligatory registration of all students at the Gestapo offices; emigration as the aim of all training programs and feedback about future emigrations to be reported to the Gestapo, 1933; - Prohibition of Jewish ritual slaughter, 01 May 1933; foundation of the Zentrale fuer Schaechtwesen (Center for Jewish Ritual Slaughter); negotiations with the German government and permission to import kosher meat from Denmark; prohibition on foreign currency, late 1936; possibility of import through a complicated arrangement; abrupt closure of the Zentrale fuer Schaechtwesen and seizing of its assets; kosher meat no longer available, November 1938; retroactive demand of accessions tax for the imported meat by the Reich Finance Ministry; illegal ritual slaughtering by bribery of Nazis, denunciations and detentions, release only after the payment of huge sums and immediate emigration; - Financial losses after the takeover by the Nazis: deprivation of work and emigration of the wealthier community members; necessity to support the impoverished community members; abolition of tax collection by the Jewish institutions; necessity for the Jewish communities to establish a new tax department; - Observation of cultural life by the Gestapo; establishment of sports facilities for the Jewish community; association of the many youth clubs in just one building; necessity of structural changes in the Jewish hospital due to the growing occupancy, subject to the approval of the General Medical Association (controlled by Nazis); flawless business arrangements at the hospital until 1939; establishment of a welfare kitchen for impoverished families and new old age homes by the Jewish community; loss of community members by emigration; compensation by the influx of families from the provinces because of the growing antisemitism there; - Arrests of community members and deportation to Buchenwald by the Gestapo on the charge of minor offences; deaths, summer 1938; expulsion of the Polish community members to Poland; return of some of the Polish community members to Frankfurt, October 1938; detention of Rabbi Dr. Hoffmann, the community rabbi and member of the Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland, on the charge of subversive pronouncements; expulsion of Rabbi Dr. Hoffmann, spring 1937; arrest of the community rabbi, Rabbi Dr. Jacob Horovitz, on the charge of contribution to a passport fraud, his release and emigration to the Netherlands; death of Rabbi Dr. Horovitz a few weeks later, autumn 1938; arrest of Hans Pomeranz on the same charge; release of Hans Pomeranz and his aliya to Eretz Israel; - House search of the yeshiva attended by the witness several years previously by the Gestapo following the assassination by Herschel Grynszpan; closure of the Yeshiva and arrest of the witness who was then Chairman of the Yeshiva Board, November 1938; - November pogrom (Kristallnacht): burning and destruction of synagogues; arrest of all Jewish men and deportation of all those under 60 to Buchenwald; further arrests a few days later, and deportations to Dachau; destruction of Jewish shops and homes; order to the Jews to remove all signs of the destruction at their own cost; seizure and closure of Jewish community administration buildings by the Gestapo; continuation of work under the observation of the Gestapo and under cramped conditions; - Release of the witness from Buchenwald, 26 October 1938; aliya to Eretz Israel via London, 04 December 1938-10 January1939. The following names are also mentioned: Rabbi Dr. Michael Munk, Director of the Zentrale fuer Schaechtwesen; Adolf Scheyer; Rabbi Dr. Hermann Klein; Dr. Blau, legal counselor; Rabbi Kirschbaum; Rabbi Dr. Neuhaus; Rabbi Dr. Seligmann; Rabbi Dr. Salzberger; Rabbi Dr. Laemle.