A large collection of detailed appraisals, accompanied by architectural drawings, letters and documents, made by French architect Pierre Hennequin for the purpose of expropriating Jewish property within the framework of the Aryanization process. Epernay (Marne district, France), 1942-1944 (one document is from 1945). French.
This collection contains approximately 180 paper items, printed and handwritten, documenting the work of the architect responsible for Jewish property in Epernay during the Aryanization, Pierre Hennequin. The documents are divided into ten numbered files, each dedicated to the property of a different Jewish family, documenting its expropriation.
Each file contains a small booklet, written in a tight, neat hand, containing a detailed appraisal of the properties and information about them – records of the land registry office, previous owners, the value of the land, required repairs and the income expected from the property. Alongside the booklets, the files also contain architectural drawings (drawn in ink on tracing papers), drafts, correspondence with officials of the ministry of Jewish affairs of the Marne district (Préfecture de la Marne – Affaires Juives) and other documents (many of which are stamped with Vichy Government stamps).
Most of the files contain information about the various businesses and the Jewish families, with some also documenting the Jews' responses and their attempts to defend themselves from the expropriation. Thus, for example, in a letter from April 1945, Hennequin informs the authorities that the Loezer family refused him entry to their property, claiming they had closed their store and now the property serves as living quarters; in another letter, Hennequin states that the Emerique family, whose property he was required to appraise, were his clients in the years before the war, requesting not to take part in the appraisal and sale of their house. Among the names of Jewish property owners: Marcel Michel Levy, Gustave Bader, Isidor Dreyfus, Gaston Amselle, Gabriel Simon David, Levy Germain, Samuel Samuel and others.
The collection also includes several documents unrelated to the property of a specific family: an announcement about an appointment from 4.2.1942; an instructional booklet specifying how to make the reports towards the expropriation; an announcement from the period after the war (dated by stamp to 4.12.1945) stating that architects who worked in the property expropriation program will have to return the profits from their work; and more.
Aryanization was the name given in Nazi Germany to the process of removing Jews from the economy and transferring their property to Aryan hands. In France, the Germans started applying the new policy almost immediately after the occupation, and by October 1941 published a regulation ordering the appointment of Aryan supervisors for Jewish businesses. Shortly afterwards, in February 1941, the supervisors were permitted to sell the properties they were responsible for. The new situation attracted many German and French opportunists, who competed for achieving control over Jewish properties (sold for a pittance). In order to assist the buyers in appraising the properties, professional architects were appointed, who made a full examination of the Jewish houses and provided a detailed report. During the Aryanization, most of the Jews of France – craftsmen and owners of small businesses – were disowned of their only source of income and became penniless. Only in late 1944, after the invasion of the Allies and the liberation of Paris, it was decided to return the properties to their original owners. Only half of the Jewish property owners took back their houses by the early 1950s.
A total of approx. 180 paper items. Size and condition vary. Good overall condition.