Unfortunately, the Nazi Chamber of Fine Arts decided that the gallery was too important to fall into the hands of a foreigner, and would consider no future deals. In September 1937, Stern was given 17 days to close his business. The reason for this forced closure was that all Jewish citizens had been forbidden from selling art. In November, Stern was forced to auction off a large segment of the Stern Gallery by order of the Nazi government. These artworks were sold in one of Germany's oldest auction houses, Kunsthaus Lempertz. They went on the block by their lot number, Auktion 392. Not all pieces were sold, and Stern placed those that remained in storage with shipping agent Josef Roggendorf. Roggendorf held the artwork close to the Düsseldorf gallery until it was all confiscated by the National Socialist government.