INTRIA is the acroymn for the International Trade and Investment Agency. It was an agency in the Ministry of Economics during Nazi Germany prior to and during World War II and responsible for transferring funds in connection to German Jews.[1]

INTRIA was established in March 1936, as a bank in London, whose managing director was Siegfried Moses [de], a German Zionist.[2] This bank placed orders for German goods in Germany; then paid for them out of the funds paid into it by emigrants. The goods were then sold outside Germany, and the emigrant received his money back in foreign currency from INTRIA when he arrived in his country of destination. This process continued even after the start of World War II.[3] The principle was the same as with Haavara Agreement, and really amounted to saving Jewish capital at the price of promoting German exports, albeit with no foreign currency accruing to the Germans.[4] The organisation also helped raise money in other countries that was donated to Jewish communities in Palestine.[5] According to one source, INTRIA raised nearly $900,000 for German Jews living in Palestine.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ The Yishuv In The Shadow Of The Holocaust: Zionist Politics And Rescue Aliya By Abraham J Edelheit
  2. ^ Jews for Sale?: Nazi-Jewish Negotiations, 1933-1945 By Yehuda Bauer
  3. ^ National Economies: Volks-Wirtschaft, Racism and Economy in Europe between the Wars (1918-1939/45) by Michael Wildt
  4. ^ "Bauer: Joint: 3.10. The Haavarah agreement for emigration to Palestine".
  5. ^ The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History, Spencer C. Tucker, Priscilla Mary Roberts
  6. ^ Gaza: a Philosophical Dictionary By Michael Buergermeister


Further reading edit

  • Dean, Martin: Robbing the Jews - The Confiscation of Jewish Property in the Holocaust, 1935 - 1945, Cambridge University Press, 2008.