After the National Socialists had seized power in 1933, MG became an object of desire for the new dictatorship, which viewed it as an important enterprise for armaments and later for war. This meant in the first instance that it became the object of Aryanization--between 1935 and 1938, eight out of the 11 directors on the board of management were dismissed from their posts for being Jewish or having Jewish connections. Alfred Merton had emigrated in 1933 for political reasons. Richard Merton, however, tried to keep his position for as long as possible. Forced to resign from his post as head of the board, he was arrested during the November pogrom and transported to a concentration camp for several weeks, but in spring 1939 managed to escape to England. Richard was automatically made a British subject as his father had retained his British nationality