Crisis and Emigration
The Great Depression, although it did not affect Kaufmann's firm as strongly as many of his business contacts, caused a marked decline in the number of commissions his firm received. The Machtergreifung, or seizure of power by the Nazi Germany Party in 1933, cause Kaufmann's partner, Eugen Stolzer, to flee to Palestine in May of that year. Kaufmann himself followed Stolzer to Palestine in September.
A Moscow-based theater group, the Habima group, wished to build a new theater in the city of Tel Aviv. The project was first given to another German architect, Erich Mendelsohn, but the bid was withdrawn after the Mendelsohn showed too little interest in the project. The new project then was offered to Kaufmann, who soon accepted, and moved his family to Palestine. In addition to this theater, he built a cinema for the city of Haifa, and a row of private apartments. However, in Palestine Kaufmann was unable to attain the same success and notoriety that he had attained in Berlin. On top of that, the economic situation in Palestine was quite poor, so much so that Kaufmann received no more commissions after 1937.
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