The Jewish community was ordered to pay a fine of 1 billion Reichsmarks. In addition, Germany’s Jews were required to repair all damage done on 9 November whilst forfeiting their insurance claims to the Reich. So anxious was the Reich Finance Ministry to get its hands on the funds that it persuaded a consortium of the major Berlin banks to provide it with an advance against the revenue from the ‘Jew tax’.127 At the same time the First Decree for the Removal of Jews from Economic Life (Erste Verordnung zur Ausschaltung der Juden aus dem Wirtschaftsleben) did exactly as its title promised. It
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