M. Kempinski & Co.
Chronicles the story of a Jewish-owned chain of wine, grocery, and delicatessen stores and restaurants in Berlin. In 1937, brought to near-bankruptcy by a decline in business that began during the Depression but was greatly aggravated by the Nazi boycott, the chain had to be sold to an Aryan company for much less than it was worth. The partners, the families Kempinski and Unger, emigrated, most of them without a possibility of transferring any of their wealth. Walter Unger, who remained in Germany to wind up the sale of the remaining property, was deported and died in Auschwitz. also describes the activities of the successor firm during the Second World War, mentioning the exploitation of forced labor, including Jewish women from Berlin, and the regulations that made it almost impossible for Jews to buy groceries. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism)
Print Book, German, ©1994
Nicolai, Berlin, ©1994