The Jewish Trail of Tears The Evian Conference of ... - Haruth.com

that was the genesis of the “misery of the Jews.” Thus, Rublee could not be allowed to
travel to Berlin merely for the prospect of “making Germany the scapegoat.” 15
Eventually it was the foreign economic concerns arising in the wake of
Kristallnacht that led Hermann Goering, the director of the Four Year Plan, to convince
Hitler to authorize Hjalmar Schacht, the President of the Reichsbank, to meet in London
with Rublee, Lord Bearsted and Lord Winterton. The plan offered by Schacht called for
the freezing of Jewish assets within Germany as security for an international loan that
would be called due in twenty to twenty five years. Jewish monies would be held in
blocked accounts within Germany out of which twenty five percent would be recoverable
by Jews via the purchase and foreign sale of German export goods (with the balance
seized by the German Government). The plan favored one hundred fifty thousand men
and women, between fifteen and forty five years of age, who were able to work to
support themselves and two hundred fifty thousand dependents. The two hundred
thousand elderly (those over forty five) and those too infirm to migrate would be
maintained by communal funds and would live undisturbed unless another assassination
of a Nazi was carried out by a Jew. 16
Jewish holdings were estimated to have a value of
at least 1.5 billion Reichmarks that could be utilized to generate enough foreign currency
to fund an orderly migration over the course of three to five years. Emigration of wage
earners would be diffused over three to five years and dependents would be allowed to
emigrate when assured of support abroad. A German official would coordinate
15 Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918-1945, 3496/EO19935-36, Circular of the State Secretary
Berlin, July 8, 1938, 83-29 8/7 No. 640; Case XI, NG 1522-23 cited in Reitlinger, The Final Solution, 19.
16 See Table 6 for breakdown of Jewish population demographics as of January 1, 1938.
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