Möhlstrasse in the Bogenhausen district of Munich became the center of life for Jewish Displaced Persons in the immediate post-war period. Directly after the end of the war, the Allied Forces began to commandeer buildings around the Friedensengel monument and to allocate them to aid organizations. The Joint (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee), HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), and also the selfgoverning Central Committee of the Liberated Jews were given offices there. Hundreds of Jewish DPs living in Munich, and especially from camps in the surrounding regions, arrived here daily looking for food, clothing, and information about surviving members of their families.
The Black Market and Raids in Möhlstrasse
After 1945, the headquarters of numerous aid organizations for Jewish DPs were established by the US military government in this street which had come through the war virtually unscathed. Möhlstrasse’s new central role and the busy comings and goings also stimulated economic activity. First of all, a relatively small black market started to operate there from 1945 onward. After the currency reform of 1948, this increased sharply and more and more actors, both Jewish and non-Jewish, started trading in illegal goods and in the currency exchange business. At the same time, however, official shops were also opened. More than one hundred small and medium-sized shops―often in simple wooden and stone buildings―were built in front of the villas in their gardens and shaped the image of Möhlstrasse until the mid-1950s. Numerous cafés and restaurants were also opened.
July 1947: Demonstration against the repatriation of the immigrant passengers on the ship ‘Exodus 1947’
In 1947, 4,500 Jews attempted to reach Palestine on the immigrant ship “Exodus.” The British authorities refused entry. Displaced persons also demonstrated in Munich against the refusal to allow Jewish refugees into Palestine. They came from DP camps and from Munich as well and gathered in Möhlstrasse. The demonstration moved past the “Friedensengel” (Angel of Peace) monument, the Haus der Kunst and the Theatinerkirche on to the British Consulate.
August 1949: Demonstrations against the uncommented publication of an antisemitic letter-to-the-editor in the Süddeutsche Zeitung
In August 1949, Displaced Persons demonstrated in Möhlstrasse against the Süddeutsche Zeitung. On 9 August, the newspaper had published an antisemitic letter-to-the-editor without comment. It read: “... go to America instead, but they don’t have any need for you there either, they’ve had enough of these bloodsuckers.” The letter-to-the-editor is signed “Adolf Bleibtreu.” The demonstrators demanded the withdrawal of the Süddeutsche Zeitung’s media license. The demonstrators made their way to the editorial offices of the Süddeutsche Zeitung from the courtyard of the synagogue at Möhlstrasse 45. The German police intervened immediately and fired into the crowd. Three demonstrators and 38 police officers were injured. American tanks sealed off Möhlstrasse. The following day, the New York Times ran the headline: “German police shoot at Jews!”