61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

1936 and in Frankfurt in 1939. Rentenanstalt and Vita also acquired real estate
as a result of forced auctions, yet were exonerated of the charge of unjust
enrichment during restitution proceedings after the end of the war. In other
cases, the Swiss insurance companies’ intention to purchase and «Aryanise»
property was thwarted by their German competitors. When the Swiss insurance
companies rented out properties in Germany, they terminated their Jewish
tenants’ leases voluntarily without coming under pressure to do so from the
state; when the relevant legislation was passed in April 1939, they were thus
able to report that these rented premises no longer had Jewish tenants.
Specific features of the German market
In 1929, as part of their general campaign against the international economy
and plutocracy, the NSDAP issued an appeal to the German people: «Don’t take
out insurance with international companies!» Despite such campaigns, a
number of prominent members of the NSDAP held Swiss insurance policies
until well into the 1930s. The prime example is probably Hermann Goering,
who played a key role in the shaping of German economic policy in the 1930s.
Goering took out a life insurance policy with Rentenanstalt in 1930 which was
transferred to Allianz in 1935. Fritz Todt, founder of the «Organisation Todt»
and Reich Minister for Armament and Munitions from 1940, took out two
policies, one in 1929 and a second in 1935, which paid out death benefits
following his aeroplane crash in 1942.
As a result of the Nazi’s well-known policy programme, the Swiss companies
expected to face additional difficulties in the German market after 1933.
Indeed, payments to Swiss company employees were subject to very extensive
tax investigations. From November 1934 on, branches of foreign insurance
companies fell within the purview of currency regulations which had previously
only applied to domestic German companies. These new measures and the
general threat of nationalisation the insurance companies were probably the key
factors which prompted the Swiss companies to adapt to the new policies and
minimise any challenge which might be interpreted as intervention in
Germany’s economic and political sovereignty. Many of them took steps to hire
NSDAP members and structured their branches in line with Nazi doctrine in
order to demonstrate their adaptability to the «new Germany».
The German insurance sector – which was marked by intense competition (with
political dimensions) between private and public companies – was reorganised
after 1934 into a Reich Group for Insurance (Reichsgruppe «Versicherungen») with
subgroups for private and public insurance, which all companies subordinate to
the Reich Supervisory Office for Private Insurance (Reichsaufsichtsamt für
Privatversicherungen) – including the Swiss insurance companies – had to join.
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