From August 1933 onwards, a special department within the Finanzamt Moabit-West was responsible for confiscating the assets of expatriates throughout the Reich. Under the leadership of Oberregierungsrat (senior government official) Willy Böttcher, the department developed into an effective tool for robbing those who had fled Nazi persecution in Germany. The department was initially called the Ausbürgerungsabteilung (Denaturalization Department) and was later renamed the Dienststelle für die EinziehungIn the context of the Reich’s financial administration, “Verfall” (forfeiture) and “Einziehung” (seizure) referred to the retention of confiscated items for the benefit of the state. More verfallener Vermögenswerte Ausgebürgerter (Office for the ConfiscationBy confiscating assets, government officials initially deprived owners of the authority to dispose of their bank accounts, household furnishings, securities, etc., which were placed under state administration. More of Forfeited Assets of Denaturalized Persons).

This office was tasked with seizing all assets – i.e., cash, bank accounts, stocks, and property – that had not already been used to cover the Reichsfluchtsteuer(Reich flight tax) Introduced in 1931, it was intended to prevent capital flight abroad. More (Reich Flight Tax) or the Judenvermögensabgabe(Jewish property levy) A compulsory levy introduced for Jews after the November pogroms. More (Jewish Property Levy). Until then, the theft of property had been regulated primarily by the Expatriation Act of 26 July 1933.

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During deportations from German territory, the Nazi state simplified this theft with the Elfte Verordnung zum Reichsbürgergesetz (Eleventh Decree to the Reich Citizenship Law) of 25 November 1941: with this amendment, the state revoked the citizenship and property of all German Jews living abroad.

In 1942, the Ausbürgerungsabteilung of the Finanzamt Moabit-West was transferred to the newly established Vermögensverwertungsstelle of the OFP(Senior Finance President) Until 1937, Landesfinanzämter (regional finance offices). OFPs were the highest regional authorities responsible for the Reich’s financial administration. From the end of 1941, they were tasked with planning and carrying out the theft of property from deported Jews. More Berlin-Brandenburg.

From that point on, this office was solely responsible for confiscating the assets of refugees and deportees from Berlin and Brandenburg.

In 1944, more than 200 people were employed by the Vermögensverwertungsstelle to transfer the last possessions of the deportees to the state treasury. Until Germany’s surrender, they diligently participated in plundering the persecuted. They sold real estate, inspected apartments, and had them cleared out, as well as commissioning auctions or auctioning items themselves.