The company had always had progressive labor policies which encouraged the retention of skilled workers , many of whom were Jewish . Ernst Leitz II , who began managing the company in 1920 , responded to the election of Hitler in 1933 by helping Jews to leave Germany , by " assigning " hundreds ( even if they were not actually employees ) to overseas sales offices where they were helped to find jobs . The effort intensified after Kristallnacht in 1938 , until the borders were closed in September 1939 . The extent of what came to be known as the " Leica Freedom Train " only became public after his death , well after the war
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Leica Camera