Historical background

The systematic seizure of assets was part of the Nazi policies of persecution and annihilation in Austria from 1938 to 1945.

The bureaucratically organized seizure of assets, carried out on the basis of discriminating laws, was predominantly aimed at those who were deemed Jewish by the Nazi state. Their gradual divestment began with the state-ordered Declaration of Assets in 1938 and continued with forced sales ("aryanizations"). It often ended with the forfeiture of assets to the Nazi state following their owner’s deportation to a concentration camp.

Other groups persecuted by the Nazi regime also suffered material losses, in the form of confiscations by the state or bans on carrying out a profession, for example.