The building was ransacked and set on fire during the '' Kristallnacht '' on 10 November 1938 , during which thousands of Jewish homes and businesses were ransacked or set alight , though firemen were able to put out the blaze in this department store . Later that year the company was handed over by the Nazis to the non-Jewish Emil Köster AG , and in 1939 it reopened as '' Das Haus im Zentrum '' , its " Aryanization " complete , according to the Israel family 's papers . The family helped most of the store 's Jewish employees , especially their children , leave Germany before the war began
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Nathan Israel Department Store