Jews of the Somme
Être Juif dans la Somme
“Aryanisation” : A Remarkable Text
In my examination of AJ 38, I came across a document that struck me as uniquely vivid and interesting. It was a 12 page verbatim transcript of a meeting held in Amiens on January 10, 1941, eight months into the Occupation, to discuss the government mandated transfer of Jewish-owned businesses into the hands of non-Jews. The policy was called “economic aryanisation.” The Prefect of the Somme, Mr. Pelletier, acting on German instructions, had already appointed a number of French civilians as “Acting Managers” (“Commissaires Gerants”) whose job it was to carry out the transfers. However, there were a number of issues requiring clarification, and the representative of the German military authority, Dr. Bauch, was attending the meeting in order to address them.
The document, with speakers identified, offers a remarkable “fly on the wall” perspective on the meeting.
Source: AJ 38 5076/933 and following
