Hilgard: That is just the question which we are unable to decide at this moment. Is it ordinary theft if entry into a dwelling or a container of any kind is forced and something is taken away?
Goering: That is a case of “Riot”.
Hilgard: Riot does not mean much since we have very little insurance against damage caused by riots – these were discarded by us long ago.
Goering: But this here is “Rioting”. That is the legal term. There was no theft, and no individual broke into any place. But a mob rushes in and knocks everything to pieces, or “Public Disturbances.”
Hilgard: Public disturbance. It is no riot.
Goering: Are they insured against damages caused by public disturbances?
Hilgard: No, no more. May I show this by example. The most remarkable of these cases is the case Margraf Under Den Linden. The Jewelry store of Margraf is insured with us through a so-called combined policy. That covers practically any damage that may occur. This damage was reported to us as amounting to $1,700,000 because the store was completely stripped.
Goering: Daluege and Heydrich, you’ll have to get me this jewelry through raids, staged on a tremendous scale!
Daluege: The order has already been given. The people are being controlled all the time. According to reports, 150 were arrested by yesterday afternoon.
Goering: These things will otherwise be hidden. If somebody comes to a store with jewels and claims that he has bought them, they’ll be confiscated at once. He has stolen them or traded them in all right.
Heydrich: Besides that, looting was going on in the Reich in more than 800 cases, contrary to what we supposed; but we have already several hundred people who were plundering, and we are trying to get the loot back.
Goering: And the jewels?
Heydrich: That is very difficult to say. They were partly thrown into the street and picked up there. Similar things happened with furriers, for example in Friedrichstrasse, district C, there the crowd was naturally rushing to pick up minks, skunks, etc. It’ll be very difficult to recover that. Even children have filled their pockets, just for fun. It is suggested that the Hitler Youth is not to be employed and to participate in such actions without the Party’s consent. Such things are very easily destroyed.
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