Berliner Gebrauchtwarenhandel

The Berliner Gebrauchtwarenhandel (Berlin’s second-hand goods trade) was the biggest commercial beneficiary of the expropriation of deportees’ property by the Vermögensverwertungsstelle at the OFP Berlin-Brandenburg. Certain retailers were granted exclusive access to the deportees’ household furnishings in contracts with the Wirtschaftsgruppe Einzelhandel. While “hochwertige” (high-quality) art and cultural assets were sold by selected auctioneers, “minderwertige Erzeugnisse” (inferior products) found their way into Berlin households via the shops of second-hand dealers.

Typewritten document with address list; handwritten deletions.
First page of the list of Berlin retailers proposed by the Wirtschaftsgruppe Einzelhandel for trading in stolen household furnishings, 1942. LAB A PrBr Rep 030 no. 21830 fol. 46v