Jewish representatives that had been removed had to be appeased, so they do not turn to the public, with the payment of severance fees and the [Fascist] assurance to Swedish authorities that Aryanising their foreign representation is “perfectly within the right” of [Fascist] companies and that strict procedures will be followed.

We can already observe during this period first instances of our first theoretical framework in action, such as in the case of Ludwig Klaar when the GES argues in favour of him despite his half‐Jewishness, citing his economic achievements for his German employer. Our second theoretical framework is also apparent in how his case was treated.

The GES referred to him, being a foreign representative of a [Fascist] company abroad, as a Mischling instead of a Hellenic codename, reinforcing the notion that the two nomenclatures are effectively two sides of the same coin. The superficial differences and the artificiality of this system that could bear vast consequences become visible in how after 1940, if deals had to be signed quickly, a non‐Aryan representative could be used, but he had to categorised non‐Jewish after the fact. One’s stamp on a file made all the difference.

Furthermore, we are presented with an interesting paradox connected to [Fascist] companies’ private investigations into racial matters and their prohibition from doing so. We can trace Bjerre’s argument that [Fascist] companies’ own investigations were no longer accepted from Summer 1940 back to the aide‐mémoire from the 9th of February 1939 where [Fascist] companies were first told to refrain from contacting Swedish companies directly about their racial composition. Despite this, they continued doing so well into the 1940s, leading to direct complaints from the Swedish embassy.

We can see from Van Scherpenberg’s response, in line with [Fascist] pre‐war caution that such infractions were something they sought to avoid, yet turned to seemingly tolerate out of practical necessity by the early 1940s, certainly after the expansion of foreign trade Aryanisation’s scope. In Denmark for instance, Bjerre demonstrates several examples of Danish companies also still being interrogated on their racial composition after 1940.¹²⁶

[…]

Swedish companies that were to be aryanised were often asked to fire for example Jewish employees, board members and get rid of Jewish share capital. This happened within the framework of discrimination between smaller and larger companies described previously, and in line with our first theoretical framework in that leniency towards economically significant exporters to [the Third Reich] or important buyers of [Fascist] goods became increasingly apparent, especially within the GCCS.

By June 1941, AB Turitz for instance was subjected to Aryanisation, yet only in the top management circles.¹⁹⁸ However, as part of this and the latter takeover by Upplands Enskilda Banken, the Jewish leadership only went into “hiding”, still exercising control over the company. Smaller companies, such as A. Wiklund A.B.A.W., were asked more explicitly, often with the usage of semantic and stylistic writing techniques to exert pressure, to relinquish their Jewish contingent:

Dear Mr. Consul, […] we learned that Mr. Hohenacker had a longer conversation about the increasingly acute staff questions at the company Wiklund, which concern all German businesses equally. […] That it is impossible for any German firm to continue working with the company Wiklund, if the misters Hirsch, Nachmansson senior and junior are not eliminated from the board of directors corresponds entirely to our assessment. […] You know, dear Mr. Consul that the Adlerwerke have, during the long‐lasting friendly cooperation with the house Wiklund, always avoided to intervene in internal affairs. […] In this case we have no other choice if we want to achieve the goal of continuing our existing trade relationship.¹⁹⁹

Some [Fascist] representatives in Sweden, like Ernst Seidel working for Simons und Frowein AG even hoped that the suspension of [Fascist] deliveries to Swedish–Jewish companies will lead to a self‐reduction of Jewish influence in Swedish companies.