Chasing Gold: The Incredible Story of How the Nazis Stole Europe's Bullion (86 page)

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Authors: George M. Taber

BOOK: Chasing Gold: The Incredible Story of How the Nazis Stole Europe's Bullion
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concentration camp valuables and, 357
at Economics 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
Mussolini and, 324–325
Mussolini’s view of, 199
offering of ambassadorship to Luther, 36
personal bank account of, at Union Bank of Switzerland, 379
Pétain and, 324
political scenarios (cases) spelled out by, 88
preference for oral orders, 63
putsch staged by, 27
on Reichsbank, 395
request to form new government, 34
Schacht, Hjalmar, and, 33, 35–36, 46, 67, 73, 74, 120, 122–127
Schuschnigg, Kurt, and, 91–92
silencing of diplomatic and military opposition, 90–91
Spanish Civil War and, 10–11
speaking style of, 87
Stalin and, 339–340
thesis of the master race of, 130
tour of conquered Europe, 323–324
view of Poland by, 130
on weakness of France, 88–89
HMS Arethusa
, 216, 237
HMS Bonaventure
, 297, 298
HMS Boreas
, 216
HMS Codrington
, 218, 219
HMS Cossack
, 296
HMS Devonshire
, 255
HMS Dunedin
, 256
HMS Edinburgh
, 353–354
HMS Emerald
, 289, 290
HMS Enterprise
, 289
HMS Foresight
, 353
HMS Glasgow
, 288
HMS Hyperion
, 218
HMS Kenya
, 353
HMS Resolution
, 299
HMS Revenge
, 295, 297, 298–299
HMS Trinidad
, 256
HMS Venetia
, 219
HMS Vesper
, 222
HMS Wild Swan
, 219, 220, 221, 222
HMS Windsor
, 218, 223
Holbein, 404
Holland.
See
Netherlands
Hook of Holland, 220, 221–222
Hoover, Herbert, 156
administration of, 59
efforts to get support for international economic conference, 52
in election of 1932, 50
as head of Food Administration, 48
on reason for having gold, 438
start of Federal Farm Board, 50
Hopkins, Harry, x, 303, 352

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