Chasing Gold: The Incredible Story of How the Nazis Stole Europe's Bullion

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Chasing Gold: The Incredible Story of How the Nazis Stole Europe's Bullion Page 57

by George M. Taber


  Eilertsen, Hanna, 190–190

  Einsiedel, 424, 427

  Einzig, Paul, 32, 114

  Eisenhower, Dwight D.

  Bernstein and, 388

  discovery of German gold and paintings and, xvi

  money and gold issues and, 360–361

  on Morganthau plan, 392

  regulations against looting, 408, 409

  request for audit of gold in Frankfurt, 410–411

  responsibility for gold and, 401

  tour of Room #8, 404–405

  Eizenstat Commission, 416, 432, 433

  El Djezaïr, 270, 272, 275, 276, 308

  Elizabeth, Queen, visit to U.S., 288

  El Kantara, 272, 308, 309

  El Mansour, 270

  Emergency Banking Act, 52

  Émile Bertin, 146, 147, 148, 246, 247, 248–249, 254, 255

  Empress of Australia, 286

  Enabling Act (1933), 36

  Engelbrecht, Erwin, 181

  Enterprise, 192

  Epée, 274, 275

  Épervier, 148, 272

  Erfurt, 396

  gold in, 409

  Reichsbank offices in, 399

  Eriksen, Birger, 181

  Eschwege, gold in, 409

  Estonia, 151, 152

  Soviet control over, 133, 152

  Ethnic genocide, 159

  Ethnic self-determination, 151

  Europe, shape of post-war, 389–390

  Évian-les-Bains, conference at, 260

  F

  Falkenhorst, Nicholaus von, Weserübung and, 174–175, 176, 183

  Fall Weiss (Case White), 128

  Fall Weserübung (Case Weser Exercise), 174, 175

  Farinacci, Roberto, 262

  Farley, James, 259

  Farm Credit Administration, 51

  Fascists, 8, 9

  Federal Farm Board, 50–51

  Federal Reserve Bank of New York City, 153, 160

  Belgian gold in, 230, 231

  Dutch bullion at, 207

  French gold in, 241–242, 309

  gold storage at, 162, 164

  international role of, 5

  Italian deposits in, 161

  Latvia Central Bank and, 153

  Reichsbank gold and, 29–30

  reports on gold sales and, 166–167

  resignation of McGarrah as chairman of, 81

  Russian Federation account at, 337

  under Strong, Benjamin, 77

  Swedish shipment of gold to, 381

  Vatican gold and, 264–266

  Yugoslav gold at, 329–330

  Federal Reserve System, 160

  Feldbin, Leiba Lazarevich, 14. See also Orlov, Alexander

  Feldel, Lev Lazarevice, 14

  Felsennest (Rocky Eyrie), 210

  Ferdinand, King of Spain, 3, 6

  Ferdinand I of Austria, 369

  Finland, 151

  efforts to build up gold stock, 155

  sale of gold and, 167

  Soviet control over, 133, 156

  First National Bank of Chicago, as member of Bank of International Settlements, 80

  First National Bank of New York, as member of Bank of International Settlements, 80

  Fischer, Franz, 67

  Fischer, Louis, 16

  Fischer-Tropsch method, 67

  Fishguard, battle of, 322

  Fishkill Farms, Morganthau, Henry, Jr., work at, 48, 49

  Flanders, 227

  Flanders Fields, 227

  Flensburg, German attack on, 178

  Florence, 324

  Florina, 202

  Floyar-Rajchman, Henryk, ix, 139, 140, 141, 143, 148

  Flynn, Francis Cyril, 296

  Fogg Museum, 403

  Fokker, 61

  Food Administration under Hoover, 48

  Force Z, 241

  Foreign Economic Administration, 389

  Fort-de-France, 254, 256

  Fort de Portzic, gold stored at, 270

  Fort Desaix, 256, 257

  Fort Eben-Emael, 231

  Fortezza, 369, 370, 371, 372

  Fort Knox, 158–171

  gold capacity of, 169

  shipment of gold to, 169–170

  Fort Portzic, evacuation of gold from, 272

  For Whom the Bell Tolls (Hemingway), 13

  Fournier, Pierre-Eugène, ix, 113, 148–149, 231, 234, 244, 251–252, 281

  Four Year Plan, 38, 64–65, 66, 67, 68–69. 70, 87, 224, 317, 371, 396

  France

  alliance with Czechoslovia, 89, 105–106

  arms purchase by, 161, 163–164, 241, 246

  bullion standard of, 83

  Carthaginian peace on Germany and, 24

  Cash and Carry program and, 166

  collapse of, 270

  currency devaluation in, 240

  declaration of war against Germany, 135

  demand for reparations from Germany, 30

  DSK confiscation of gold in Northern, 70

  efforts to stop Spanish Civil War and, 12–13

  fall of, 239–257

  Free French Army and, 253, 307, 313, 314

  German invasion of, 70, 279–280

  German occupation of, 307

  gold assets of, 170, 240–241

  Hitler’s premise on weakness of, 88–89

  inflation in, 240

  interest in armistice, 253

  movement of gold and, 232, 240–241, 244, 246–247

  mutual defense treaty with Poland, 133, 134

  obligations of, under treaty with Poland, 134

  Pétain, Marshal Philippe, government of, 236–237, 253, 256, 271, 307, 315

  Popular Front in, 240

  refugees in, 246

  resignation of Reynaud, Paul, 253

  return of money to Lithuania, 155

  Spanish purchase of armaments from, 13

  strategic reserves of, 245

  Vichy, 307, 312, 318, 368

  write off of Czechoslovakia and, 89

  France, Battle of, 322

  Franco, Francisco, 9, 10, 90, 324

  command of Army of Africa, 12

  receipt of laundered German gold, 383

  in Spanish Civil War, 17

  Franco-Prussian War, 243, 386

  reparations at end of, 30

  Frank, Karl Hermann, 357

  Frankfur (Oder), 396

  Frankfurt

  audit of gold in, 410–411

  move of Merkers gold to, 402, 403, 406–410

  Franzensfeste, 368, 369

  Fraser, Leon, 81

  Free City of Danzig, 136

  Freedom Action Bavaria movement, 423

  Free French army, 253, 307, 313, 314

  Freetown, Sierre Leone, 290

  Freising, 421

  French Africa, 324

  French Algieria, 308

  French Antilles, 256

  French Central Bank, spread of gold from, 309–310

  French-held gold repatriation, 317

  French National Bank

  Belgian gold at, 230, 232, 272

  evidence on stolen gold and, 378

  gold shipment to U.S. and, 270

  headquarters of, in Clermont-Ferrand, 310–311

  Lorient vault of, 273

  Polish gold at, 140

  shipment of French gold by, 242, 275–276

  French South-Atlantic Company, 250

  Frères, Lazard, 5

  Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft (Friends Economic Circle), 93

  Frick, Wilhelm, 99

  Fritsch, Werner von, 87, 89

  release from duty, 90

  replacement of, 119

  Fritz Thyssen (steel magnate), 61–62

  Frommknecht, 357, 399, 406

  Fugone, 267

  Fuller, J. F. C., 205

  Fummi, Giovanni, 265

  Funk, Walther

  on Allied discovery of Merkers gold, 399–400

  concentration camp valuables and, 357

  at Economi
cs Ministry, 74–75, 122, 126

  efforts to move gold our of Berlin, 419

  Lammers, Schwedler, and, 420, 422–423

  memo to Hitler, 133

  on need for gold, 376

  as president of Reichsbank, ix, 126, 356–357, 370, 376, 380, 394–395, 400, 401, 410

  Puhl and, 418

  G

  Gaissau Hintersee, gold at, 417

  Galatea, 185, 186, 193

  Gamelin, Maurice, 243–244, 245

  Gao, 316

  Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 421

  Gazeta Polska, 140

  Gegirgsjägerschule (Mountain Infantry School), 421, 422, 423–424

  gold transfers between Munich and, 423–425, 427

  General Electric, 78

  Geneva Protocol, 322–323

  George VI, King of England, 193, 218, 222, 295

  visit to Canada, 290

  visit to U.S., 288

  German Bundesbank, 123

  navy of, 131

  German Democratic Party, founding of, 31

  German East Africa, 88

  German First Panzer Group, 330

  Germany

  acceptance of non-intervention accord, 13

  air force of, 131

  alliance with Soviet Union, 156

  anger in after defeat in World War I, 24

  anti-Semitism in, 27, 121

  arms buildup in, 130

  army divisions in, 131

  aryanization of economy, 385

  balance-of-payment problems of, 87

  declaration of war against by Britain and France, 135

  dropping of gold standard, 83

  economic and ethic ties to Switzerland, 376–379

  employment in, 122

  explansion of population, 88

  facists in, 9

  financial reserves of, 387

  gold of, 75

  gold recovered in 1945, 444

  Gross National Product in, 44

  inflation in, 26–27, 28–29

  iron ore in, 325–326

  national consensus of people following World War I, 37

  need for money, 110–111

  need for raw materials, 39–40, 165, 325, 376

  need to be economically self-sufficient, 88

  occupation zones of, 429

  production of synthetic fuels in, 67

  rearmament of, 35, 42–43

  Reichsbank holdings in 1938 prior to Nazi aggression, 440

  on Rentenmark, 28–29

  signing of nonaggression treaty with Soviet Union, 133

  Spanish Civil War and, 12–13, 15–16, 90

  Stalin’s desire to avoid war with, 131–132

  storage of valuable goods in salt mines, 396

  trade deficit of, 103

  trade policies of, 41–42, 44

  turnip winter of 1917 in, 37

  unemployment in, 44

  use of gold in achieving strategic goals, 40

  Germany Is Our Problem (White), 392

  Gibraltar, 324

  Giral, José, in Spanish Civil War, 10, 11

  Girler, William R., 426

  Gisevius, Hans Bernd, 119, 209

  Glaise-Morstenau, Edmund, 96

  Glasgow, 185, 187, 189

  Glassford, William, 320

  Gleiwitz, attach on radio station in, 134

  Goebbels, Josef, ix, 33–34

  Allied discovery of Merkers gold and, 400–401

  diary of, 34, 413

  end of war and, 394

  Kristallnacht and, 121

  on Morgenthau Plan, 391

  as propaganda minister, 75

  spending by, 63

  takeover of Poland and, 134

  wife of, 87

  Gokhran, 342, 343

  Gold

  allure of, as a safe haven, 437

  as centerpiece of Nazi economic policy and war strategy, 6

  characteristics of, 2

  desire for, 1

  fluctuation of price of, 437

  role of, in the international economy, 435

  Gold Discount Bank, establishment of, 29

  Gold-earmarking service, 84

  Gold for Europe (Schacht), 6, 26

  Gold-for-raw-materials business, 378

  Goldin, William, 14–15

  Gold Is Where You Hide It (Moss), 427

  Gold Reserve Act (1934), 58

  Gold standard, 438

  countries leaving the, 83

  efforts to maintain, 436

  FDR and, 52

  setting of, 3–4

  Gold Team, 383, 427, 432, 433

  Gomel, battle of, 349

  Gontier, René, 270–271, 275, 308

  Gopkins, Garry, 347

  Göring, Hermann, x, 370, 371, 414

  ambitions of, 62

  armaments program of, 119

  attack on Holland and, 223

  battle against Britain and, 322

  belief in bullion, 6

  control of Devisenschutzkommando (Foreign Exchange Protection Commando) by, 69–70

  of Czechs as pygmy race, 108

  Devisenshutzkommandos of, 419, 420

  at dinner party with Schacht, Hjalmar, 31–32

  drug addiction of, 61

  early life of, 60–62

  estate of, 62

  Four Year Plan of, 38, 64–65, 66, 67, 68–69, 70, 87, 224, 317, 371, 396

  as Fuel Commissar, 63

  handling of foreign currency issues and, 63

  as head of Sturmabteilung, 61

  Himmler, Heinrich and, 62

  as Inspector-General of the Petroleum Industry, 63

  interests of, 62

  on Keppler, 93

  Luftwaffe and, 87

  on making financial sacrifices, 34–35

  marriage of, 61

  meeting of Kleine Ministerrat, 65

  at Munich putsch, 61

  Nazi party and, 61–62

  need for money, 111

  obesity of, 62

  occupation of Denmark and, 175

  politics and, 61

  power and, 60–76, 368

  as Reichstag president, 62

  Russian campaign and, 349

  as “salon Nazi,” 61

  Schacht and, 60, 62, 70, 71–72, 73, 87

  slip of influence, 365

  special economic assignments of, 63

  takeover of Austria and, 96

  takeover of office of Economics Ministry, 74

  Gosbank, 153

  Göthe, Johann Wolfgang von, 421

  Götterdämmerung, 153, 429–433

  Gourrock, 193

  Gowen, William, 416

  Graupner, Kurt, 384

  Great Depression, 56

  Great Terror, 11

  Greece

  citizens holding gold in, 328–329

  demands for restitution, 430

  gold reserves of, 328

  Italian invasion of, 324–325, 327

  stolen gold of, 440

  Greek Credit Bank, 385

  Greeley, Horace, 25

  Green Folder, 349

  Greenslade, John, 256

  Grieg, Edvard, 184

  Grieg, Nordahl, 184, 185, 187, 190–192

  Gromyko, Andrei, 349

  Gropius, Walter, 394

  Groβraumwirtschaft, 38

  Guanahani, 2

  Gudbrands Valley, 185

  Guderian, Heinz, 205, 206, 242, 243, 349

  Gudrun, 190

  Guernica, attack on, 8

  Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, 34

  Gutehoffnungshütte, start of dummy company and, 42

  Gutt, Camille, x, 229, 230, 232, 237–238

  H

  The Hague, 210, 211, 214, 216–217

  Hague Conventions Governing War, Article 52 of, 311

  Hague Protocol (1930), 115

  Håkon VII, 175, 180, 188

  Halder, Franz, 109, 205, 242, 349

  Halifax, Lord, 95, 245, 265, 294

 
; Halifax, movement of gold to, 254, 270, 287, 299

  Halle

  gold in, 409

  Reichsbank offices in, 399

  Hamar, 180

  Hambro, Carl J., 179–180

  Handelsgtrust West, 385

  Handels- und Kreditbank (Riga), 385

  Handlowy Bank, 138

  Hansestadt Danzig, 178

  Hapsburg Empire, 369

  Hardi, 279

  Harmon, Clyde, discovery of German gold and paintings and, xiv, 400

  Harriman, Averill, 348, 381

  Harrison, George L., x, 160, 167, 168, 264

  fixing of gold prices and, 57

  Norman, Montagu, and, 55

  Hart, B. H. Liddell, 205

  Haslund, Fredrik, x, 183–184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189–191, 194, 195, 196

  Hassell, Ulrich von, 120, 127

  Hastings, battle of, 322

  Heath, Donald, 74

  Hechler, Paul, 85, 370, 380

  Heimdal, 190

  Heinlein, Konrad, 106

  Helsinki, suing for peace, 157

  Hemingway, Ernest, 13

  Hemmen, Hans Richard, 311–312, 313, 315, 317

  Hendaye, 324

  shipment of gold to Bank of Spain from, 383

  Henderson, Sir Nevile, 107

  Henschel, 396

  Heraklion, 328

  Hercegnovi, 332

  Hermitage Museum, 341

  Herresgruppenkommando 3, 112

  Hess, Rudolf, 106

  Heydrich, Reinhard, 68

  Hill, J. A. C., 219, 220

  Himer, Kurt, conquest of Denmark and, 178–179

  Himmler, Heinrich, 414

  concentration camp valuables and, 357

  Dresdner Bank, 385, 395

  gold of, 410

  Göring and, 62

  as head of Schutzstaffel Nazi protection squadron, 134

  proposal for National Redoubt, 419

  Ustaša and, 415

  Himpe, Rudolf, 410

  Hindenburg, Paul von, 33, 34, 35

  Hitler, Adolph, x

  aggressive foreign policy of, 81

  as author of Mein Kampf, 5–6, 31, 63, 91, 334, 379

  as author of Second Book, 39

  backing of, by I.G. Farben, 38

  cases of, 88

  celebration of 56th birthday, 414

  Chamberlain’s desire to get along with, 94–95

  consolidation of power by, 63–64

  contempt for economic advisors, 46

  crossing of border into Austria, 98

  at dinner party with Schacht and Göring, 31–32

  dislike of flying, 323

  evil of, 433

  expansionist view of Germany of, 37–38

  growth of Nazi party and, 61–62

  hatred of communism, 334

  Hossbach Memorandum of, 88

  on importance of gold in war plans, 44–45, 64

  on importance of strong economy, 46

  invasion of Soviet Union, 38–39

  issuance of Directive No. 1, 134

  lack of economic knowledge, 5–6, 39, 65, 118–119

  lack of respect for neutrality, 376–377

  meetings held by, 89, 90–91

  meeting with military leaders, 87, 130

  Morganthau’s concerns over, 159–161

 

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