What happened to the most Jews who moved out of Germany

By September 1939, 399,000 German, Austrian and Czech Jews had emigrated, though tens of thousands immigrated to countries that would be conquered in the war (notably France). They would be relatively safer in Western Europe than in Germany: about one in four Jews in France died in the Holocaust, while 90% of Jews remaining in Germany and Austria died. To emigrate, German Jews had to overcome two hurdles: finding a country to accept them and finding a way to pay for it. Many countries, including the US and Britain, had annual immigration quotas that limited immigration by country of origin. In 1939, 309,000 German, Austrian and Czech Jews applied for one of the 27,000 places available in the US immigration quota. The US and Britain were extremely reluctant to increase their immigration quotas or make allowances for emergency immigration. Germany sought to reduce Jewish emigres to penury. Germany imposed more and more onerous emigration taxes until it banned all Jewish emigration in October 1941. Beyond taxes, there were tight controls on the conversion of Reichsmarks to foreign currencies. Prospective emigres were forced to sell off assets for pittances before being allowed to emigrate. The prospect of receiving tens of thousands of near indigent emigres gave many countries pause.

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