Files of the Oberfinanzpraesident Berlin-Brandenburg

Files of the Oberfinanzpraesident Berlin-Brandenburg
 
 The local (Finanzamt) and regional (Oberfinanzpraesidium) finance offices were the central offices for the registration of Jewish property by the Nazi authorities. The Jewish property was later seized by means of very high emigration taxes and confiscation. Special importance was given to the Finanzamt Moabit-West in Berlin, headed by Willy Bötcher, which received the responsibility for the confiscation of property of political emigres (whose citizenship was revoked) throughout the German Reich on 30/08/1933.
 
 The function of the offices was expanded during the stages of the deportation to the East. According to Regulation 11 of the Citizenship Law of the Reich, every Jew who was deported lost his citizenship, and all of his property was transferred to the Reich. The Vermögensverwertungsstelle was established on 01/04/1942, in the context of the Oberfinanzpraesident Berlin office, which was responsible for the process for the revocation of citizenship and the confiscation of the property of the deportees. The Oberfinanzpraesident Berlin office was merged with the Oberfinanzpraesident Brandenburg office in April 1942.
 
 The Collection includes personal files of Jews from Berlin and the surrounding area, and files of Jewish owned companies, and includes many details regarding the owners' property. Most of the files were opened during the 1940s and deal with the expropriation and liquidation of Jewish property whose owners were no longer to be found. Many of the files include material from a later date that deals with claims for compensation regarding the property that was stolen. Many files include correspondence with the Gestapo and with the Finanzamt Moabit-West.
 
 The material was stored at first in the Landesarchiv Berlin in Record Group A. Rep 92; the material was transferred to the Landeshauptarchiv Potsdam Brandenburgishes to Record Group Rep. 39A in 2005.