DOCSLIB.ORG

1 War Reparations and Hyperinflation in Germany

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
1 War Reparations and Hyperinflation in Germany Notes 1 War Reparations and Hyperinflation in Germany 1 . Fisk, Harvey E.: The Inter-Ally Debts. An Analysis of War and Post-War Public Finance 1914–1923, Bankers Trust Company, 1924. See tables XXIV and XXVI. Similar figures are given by Keynes in The Economic Consequences of the Peace , Harcourt Brace and Howe, New York, 1920, pp 261–262, 271 (first edition: Macmillan, 1919) 2 . All figures in different currencies are turned into US dollars at pre-war par of exchange. They ‘reflect the face of books as published by the finance depart- ments of several countries, without adjustment of any kind’ (Fisk, The Inter-Ally Debts , p 319) 3 . Fisk, p 17 4 . Fisk, p 6 5 . Ahamed, Liaquat: Lords of Finance , W. Heinemann, 2009, p 107 6 . Ritschl, Albrecht: The Pity of Peace: Germany’s economy at war, 1914–1918 and beyond, in Broadberry, Stephen, Harrison, Mark (eds): The Economics of World War I, Cambridge, 2005, p 66 7 . At the outbreak of the First World War, the content of the gold mark was 358.4 milligrams of fine gold. The consequent parity rates of the German mark were: 4.2 marks per American dollar, 1.2 Italian lire per mark, same for the French franc, 20.4 marks per British pound. See Pick, Franz and Sédillot, René: All the Monies of the World, Pick Publishing, 1971 8 . The accounting of occupation costs is one of the most opaque items in war repa- ration payments 9 . Bonn, Moritz J.: The Reparation Problem, in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 104, November 1922, p 150 10 . Bonn, The Reparation Problem, pp 150–151 (while the amount of 20bn would be, approximately, what Germany paid during the whole history of war repara- tions). It was observed by Frank Graham (in Exchange, Price and Production in Hyperinflation: Germany, 1920–1923 , Russell & Russell, 1967, p 31 [first edition 1930]) that those payments in kind were declared to be even inadequate to meet the cost of the armies of occupation, and that, consequently, the Germans were held to have failed to pay any reparations at all. According to Sally Marks, these 8bn were ‘consumed by prior charges, notably occupation costs and the expense of provisioning Germany’. See Marks, Sally: The Myths of Reparations, in Central European History , vol. 11, n 3, 1978, p 233. But it seems that the amount of around 2.6bn was subtracted from the total of war reparation debt: see Table 1.1 11 . France 52 per cent, Britain and British Empire 22 per cent, Italy 9.3 per cent, Belgium 8 per cent, Yugoslavia 5.9 per cent, and 3 per cent for the rest. See Steiner, Zara: The Lights That Failed. European International History 1919–1933 , Oxford University Press, 2005, p 194 12 . Commission des Réparations: Rapport sur les Travaux de la Commission, de 1920 à 1922 , Félix Alcan, 1923, tome I 215 216 Notes 13 . Eichengreen, Barry: Golden Fetters. The Gold Standard and the Great Depression 1919–1939 , Oxford University Press, 1992, p 129 14 . In Poland, Saar, Danzig, and other locations 15 . Reparation Commission: Official Documents, Relative to the amount of Payments to Be Effected by Germany Under Reparations Account , HMSO, 1922, vol. I, pp 4–5 16 . Eichengreen, Golden Fetters , p 131 17 . Reparation Commission, Official Documents, Relative to the Amount of Payments , vol. I, p 5 18 . Ritschl, The Pity of Peace, p 70. 19 . It is, in fact, unclear which function each category of bonds would serve. According to Steiner and Marks, the A bonds represented the unpaid share of the 20bn gold mark interim payment (Steiner, p 197; Marks, p 237), but it should be remembered that, according to the Reparation Commission, only 2.6bn had been paid (see above). The B bonds were generally considered to be indi- rect compensation for the inter-Allied debt owed by the European Allies to the United States, but – according to another interpretation – they represented the Allies’ war damages themselves (Ritschl, The Pity of Peace, pp 69–70; Gomes, Leonard: German Reparations 1919–1922. A Historical Survey , Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, p 66).. The C bonds, according to Gomes, would provide for Allied war debt cancellation (rather than the B bonds). Another author notes that these C bonds could in fact be traded, for a reduction of French debt to the United States and United Kingdom, in a sort of credit transfer. See Rupieper, Herman J.: The Cuno Government and Reparations 1922–1923. Politics and Economics , Martins Nijhoff, 1979, pp 7–8 20 . Webb, Steven B.: Hyperinflation and Stabilization in Weimar Germany, Oxford University Press, 1989, p 105 21 . Bonn, The Reparation Problem, pp 152–153 22 . Reparation Commission: Official Documents, Relative to the Amount of Payments , vol. I, pp 6–13 23 . See Bresciani-Turroni, Costantino: The Economics of Inflation. A Study of Currency Depreciation in Post-war Germany 1914–1923 , Allen & Unwin, 1937, p 95. (The book is an expanded version of Le vicende del marco tedesco , Università Bocconi, 1931) 24 . Ferguson, Niall: The Pity of War , Allen Lane, 1998, p 413 25 . Among deliveries in kind, the most important to the Allies (and the most burdensome to Germans) were coal deliveries. The Allies were demanding about 1/5 of the German coal output, which was the main energy source (Webb, Hyperinflation , p 105) 26 . Marks, pp 237–238 27 . Wiesbaden Agreement, in Reparation Commission: Agreements Concerning Deliveries in Kind to be made by Germany under the headings of Reparations , HMSO, 1922 28 . Ferguson, The Pity of War , p 415 29 . Bresciani-Turroni, The Economics of Inflation , p 54 30 . Feldman, Gerald D: The Great Disorder: Politics, Economics and Society in the German Inflation 1914–1924 , Oxford, 1993, p 5 31 . Bonn, p 155 32 . Rupieper, The Cuno Government , p 11; Steiner, The Lights , p 185 33 . Dr Wirth to the Reparation Commission, 14 December 1921, in Reparation Commission, Official Documents , vol I, p 50 Notes 217 34 . Memorandum by the French delegation on Germany’s request for a moratorium, in Reparation Commission, Official Documents, Second Part, HMSO, 1923 35 . Reparation Commission to the German government, 21 March 1922, in Official Documents , vol I, pp 118–121 36 . Reparation Commission, Official Documents , vol I, pp 121–124 37 . Rupieper, pp 256–257 38 . Steiner, pp 188–189 39 . Hetzel, Robert L.: German Monetary History in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, in Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Economic Quarterly , 88/1, 2002, p 5 40 . Rupieper, p 11 41 . Reparation Commission: Statement of Germany’s Obligations , IV, HMSO, 1923, p 22 42 . Hetzel, p 8 43 . Ahamed, Lords of Finance , p 120 44 . Rupieper, The Cuno Government , 258–260; Marks, The Myths, p 243 45 . Keynes, The Economic Consequences , pp 261–262 46 . Keynes: Manchester Guardian , 26 August 1922, in The End of Reparations (Collected Writings, vol. 18, Royal Economic Society, 1978), p 27 47 . Keynes, Manchester Guardian , 28 September 1922, in The End of Reparations , p 34 48 . Keynes, The Economic Consequences , p 27 49 . Haller, Heinz: Die Rolle der Staatsfinanzen für den Inflationsprozess, in Deutsche Bundesbank (ed.): Währung und Wirtschaft in Deutschland 1876–1975 , Knapp, 1976, p 150 50 . Hetzel, German Monetary History, p 7 51 . Ahamed, Lords of Finance , p 121 52 . Keynes: Manchester Guardian , 28 August 1922, in The End of Reparations, pp 28–29 53 . Eichengreen, Barry, Hatton, T. J.: Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective , Kluwer Academic, 1988, p 6 54 . Bresciani-Turroni, The Economics of Inflation , pp 188–189 55 . Steiner, The Lights , p 190 56 . Keynes, Manchester Guardian , 22 December 1922, in The End of Reparations , p 89 57 . Keynes, Manchester Guardian , 28 September 1922, in The End of Reparations , p 48 58 . Quoted by Pfleiderer. See Pfleiderer, Otto O.: Die Reichsbank in der Zeit der Großen Inflation, die Stabilisierung der Mark und die Aufwertung von Kapitalforderungen, in Deutsche Bundesbank (ed.): Währung und Wirtschaft in Deutschland 1876–1975 , Knapp, 1976, p 189 59 . Bonn, The Reparation Problem , pp 153 and 156 60 . Webb, Hyperinflation, p 112 61 . Ferguson, The Pity of War , pp 407–411 62 . Marks, The Myths, pp 238–239 63 . Von Specht, Agnete: Politische und wirtschaftliche Hintergründe der deutschen Inflation, 1918 – 1923 , Lang, 1982 64 . Mitchell, p 821 65 . It is unclear whether these can be identified with NNP 66 . Bresciani-Turroni, The Economics of Inflation , p 183 67 . Depending on different estimates 68 . Webb, Hyperinflation , p 76 69 . This amount of around 9bn for three years may be inferred from Reparation Commission, Official Documents , vol I, pp 12–13 70 . This item is unclear: according to Marks, ‘there developed a certain tacit recogni- tion of [the occupation costs and other items] as reparations’ (p 233) 218 Notes 71 . Webb, Hyperinflation, p 108 72 . Webb, Hyperinflation , p 108 73 . Reparation Commission, Statement of Germany’s Obligations , p 25. Bresciani- Turroni, without quoting the source, gives a different figure: specifically, 10,027.4m. See The Economics of Inflation , ‘Debt Passed by the Reparation Commission in respect to transactions outside the Dawes Plan’, p 457. The figure is subdivided into (bn): cash 1.9, deliveries in kind 3.4, Reparation Recovery Act 0.4, property transfers 2.6, requisitions and payments of occupation armies 0.7, receipts from the Ruhr 1.0 74 . Bresciani - Turroni, The Economics of Inflation , quoted above 75 . Bresciani-Turroni quotes Helfferich, the German Finance minister, as the main exponent of this view, p 44 76 . Bresciani-Turroni, p 39 77 . Haller, Die Rolle, pp 137–142 78 . See also Ritschl, The Pity of Peace, pp 59–63 79 .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • D'antonio, Michael Senior Thesis.Pdf
    Before the Storm German Big Business and the Rise of the NSDAP by Michael D’Antonio A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honors Degree in History with Distinction Spring 2016 © 2016 Michael D’Antonio All Rights Reserved Before the Storm German Big Business and the Rise of the NSDAP by Michael D’Antonio Approved: ____________________________________________________________ Dr. James Brophy Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: ____________________________________________________________ Dr. David Shearer Committee member from the Department of History Approved: ____________________________________________________________ Dr. Barbara Settles Committee member from the Board of Senior Thesis Readers Approved: ____________________________________________________________ Michael Arnold, Ph.D. Director, University Honors Program ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This senior thesis would not have been possible without the assistance of Dr. James Brophy of the University of Delaware history department. His guidance in research, focused critique, and continued encouragement were instrumental in the project’s formation and completion. The University of Delaware Office of Undergraduate Research also deserves a special thanks, for its continued support of both this work and the work of countless other students. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Star Wars: the Fascism Awakens Representation and Its Failure from the Weimar Republic to the Galactic Senate Chapman Rackaway University of West Georgia
    STAR WARS: THE FASCISM AWAKENS 7 Star Wars: The Fascism Awakens Representation and its Failure from the Weimar Republic to the Galactic Senate Chapman Rackaway University of West Georgia Whether in science fiction or the establishment of an earthly democracy, constitutional design matters especially in the realm of representation. Democracies, no matter how strong or fragile, can fail under the influence of a poorly constructed representation plan. Two strong examples of representational failure emerge from the post-WWI Weimar Republic and the Galactic Republic’s Senate from the Star Wars saga. Both legislatures featured a combination of overbroad representation without minimum thresholds for minor parties to be elected to the legislature and multiple non- citizen constituencies represented in the body. As a result both the Weimar Reichstag and the Galactic Senate fell prey to a power-hungry manipulating zealot who used the divisions within their legislature to accumulate power. As a result, both democracies failed and became tyrannical governments under despotic leaders who eventually would be removed but only after wars of massive casualties. Representation matters, and both the Weimer legislature and Galactic Senate show the problems in designing democratic governments to fairly represent diverse populations while simultaneously limiting the ability of fringe groups to emerge. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of representative democracies. A poor evil is for good men to do nothing.” constitutional design can even lead to tyranny. – Edmund Burke (1848) Among the flaws most potentially damaging to a republic is a faulty representational “So this is how liberty dies … with structure. Republics can actually build too thunderous applause.” - Padme Amidala (Star much representation into their structures, the Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, 2005) result of which is tyranny as a byproduct of democratic failure.
    [Show full text]
  • Note on Gold Operations Involving the Bank for International Settlements and the German Reichsbank, 1St September 1939 - 8Th May 1945
    BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS NOTE ON GOLD OPERATIONS INVOLVING THE BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS AND THE GERMAN REICHSBANK, 1ST SEPTEMBER 1939 - 8TH MAY 1945 Basle 12th May 1997 This publication is available on the BIS World Wide Web site (http://www.bis.org). © Bank for International Settlements 1997. All rights reserved. Brief excerpts may be reproduced or translated provided the source is stated. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. SCOPE OF THE REPORT AND OVERVIEW p.1 1.1 Scope of this report 1.2 Summary of gold transactions for the account of the Reichsbank 2. GOLD CREDITED TO THE REICHSBANK ACCOUNTS WITH THE BIS p.4 2.1 Opening balance on 1st September 1939 2.2 New gold deposited with the BIS by the Reichsbank during the war 2.3 International postal payments received on behalf of the Reichsbank 2.4 Gold sold by the BIS to the Reichsbank 2.5 Summary: total amount of gold credited to the Reichsbank accounts with the BIS 3. GOLD DEBITED FROM THE REICHSBANK ACCOUNTS WITH THE BIS p.8 3.1 Interest payments on pre-war BIS investments in Germany 3.2 International postal payments paid for the account of the Reichsbank 3.3 Payments in gold to the Yugoslav Railway Administration 3.4 Gold sold by the Reichsbank to the BIS 3.5 Gold withdrawn by the Reichsbank from its gold accounts with the BIS 3.6 Summary: total amount of gold debited from Reichsbank accounts with the BIS 4. POSTWAR INVESTIGATION INTO THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE GOLD p.11 BARS DEPOSITED BY THE REICHSBANK WITH THE BIS DURING THE WAR 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Nazi Privatization in 1930S Germany1 by GERMÀ BEL
    Economic History Review (2009) Against the mainstream: Nazi privatization in 1930s Germany1 By GERMÀ BEL Nationalization was particularly important in the early 1930s in Germany.The state took over a large industrial concern, large commercial banks, and other minor firms. In the mid-1930s, the Nazi regime transferred public ownership to the private sector. In doing so, they went against the mainstream trends in western capitalistic countries, none of which systematically reprivatized firms during the 1930s. Privatization was used as a political tool to enhance support for the government and for the Nazi Party. In addition, growing financial restrictions because of the cost of the rearmament programme provided additional motivations for privatization. rivatization of large parts of the public sector was one of the defining policies Pof the last quarter of the twentieth century. Most scholars have understood privatization as the transfer of government-owned firms and assets to the private sector,2 as well as the delegation to the private sector of the delivery of services previously delivered by the public sector.3 Other scholars have adopted a much broader meaning of privatization, including (besides transfer of public assets and delegation of public services) deregulation, as well as the private funding of services previously delivered without charging the users.4 In any case, modern privatization has been usually accompanied by the removal of state direction and a reliance on the free market. Thus, privatization and market liberalization have usually gone together. Privatizations in Chile and the UK, which began to be implemented in the 1970s and 1980s, are usually considered the first privatization policies in modern history.5 A few researchers have found earlier instances.
    [Show full text]
  • Guides to German Records Microfilmed at Alexandria, Va
    GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA. No. 32. Records of the Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police (Part I) The National Archives National Archives and Records Service General Services Administration Washington: 1961 This finding aid has been prepared by the National Archives as part of its program of facilitating the use of records in its custody. The microfilm described in this guide may be consulted at the National Archives, where it is identified as RG 242, Microfilm Publication T175. To order microfilm, write to the Publications Sales Branch (NEPS), National Archives and Records Service (GSA), Washington, DC 20408. Some of the papers reproduced on the microfilm referred to in this and other guides of the same series may have been of private origin. The fact of their seizure is not believed to divest their original owners of any literary property rights in them. Anyone, therefore, who publishes them in whole or in part without permission of their authors may be held liable for infringement of such literary property rights. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 58-9982 AMERICA! HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE fOR THE STUDY OP WAR DOCUMENTS GUIDES TO GERMAN RECOBDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXAM)RIA, VA. No* 32» Records of the Reich Leader of the SS aad Chief of the German Police (HeiehsMhrer SS und Chef der Deutschen Polizei) 1) THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION (AHA) COMMITTEE FOR THE STUDY OF WAE DOCUMENTS GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA* This is part of a series of Guides prepared
    [Show full text]
  • Indictment Presented to the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg, 18 October 1945)
    Indictment presented to the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg, 18 October 1945) Caption: On 18 October 1945, the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg accuses 24 German political, military and economic leaders of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Source: Indictment presented to the International Military Tribunal sitting at Berlin on 18th October 1945. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, November 1945. 50 p. (Cmd. 6696). p. 2-50. Copyright: Crown copyright is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office and the Queen's Printer for Scotland URL: http://www.cvce.eu/obj/indictment_presented_to_the_international_military_tribunal_nuremberg_18_october_1945-en- 6b56300d-27a5-4550-8b07-f71e303ba2b1.html Last updated: 03/07/2015 1 / 46 03/07/2015 Indictment presented to the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg, 18 October 1945) INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, AND THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS — AGAINST — HERMANN WILHELM GÖRING, RUDOLF HESS, JOACHIM VON RIBBENTROP, ROBERT LEY, WILHELM KEITEL, ERNST KALTEN BRUNNER, ALFRED ROSENBERG, HANS FRANK, WILHELM FRICK, JULIUS STREICHER, WALTER FUNK, HJALMAR SCHACHT, GUSTAV KRUPP VON BOHLEN UND HALBACH, KARL DÖNITZ, ERICH RAEDER, BALDUR VON SCHIRACH, FRITZ SAUCKEL, ALFRED JODL, MARTIN BORMANN, FRANZ VON PAPEN, ARTUR SEYSS INQUART, ALBERT SPEER, CONSTANTIN VON NEURATH, AND HANS FRITZSCHE,
    [Show full text]
  • History of Nazi Dental Gold: from Dead Bodies Till Swiss Bank
    SAJ Forensic Science Volume 1 | Issue 1 www.scholarena.com Research Article Open Access History of Nazi Dental Gold: From Dead Bodies till Swiss Bank Riaud X* Doctor in Dental Surgery, PhD in History of Sciences and Techniques, Winner and Associate Member of the National Academy of Dental Surgery, Member of the National Academy of Surgery, France *Corresponding author: Riaud X, Doctor in Dental Surgery, PhD., in History of Sciences and Techniques, Winner [email protected] and Associate Member of the National Academy of Dental Surgery, Member of the National Academy of Surgery, 145,Citation: route de Vannes, 44800 Saint Herblain, France, Tel: 0033240766488, E-mail: A R T I C RiaudL E I XN (2015) F O History of NaziA DentalB S T Gold: R A CFrom T Dead Bodies till Swiss Bank. SAJ Forensic Sci 1: 105 Article history: The SS Reichsfürher Heinrich Himmler, on the 23rd of September 1940 gave the Received: 02 May 2015 SS doctors orders to collect the golden teeth in the mouth of the dead. Everybody knows that. But, who Accepted: 27 May 2015 knows who were the SS dentists directly implicated in that collection, the real Published: 29 May 2015 figures, how Nazis proceeded? Here are the answers. For the first time. Keywords: History; Dentistry; WWII; Dental gold Introduction rd of September 1940 gave the SS doctors orders to collect the golden teeth in the mouth of the dead, and also “the golden teeth that cannot be repaired”, from the mouth of the people alive. This decree,- The SS that Reichsfürher was part of Heinrich the T4 Operation, Himmler, onwas the not 23 systematically put into practice on the concentration camps prisoners.
    [Show full text]
  • Weimar Republic Hyperinflation Through a Modern Monetary Theory Lens Phil Armstrong and Warren Mosler 2020 Abstract
    Weimar Republic Hyperinflation through a Modern Monetary Theory Lens Phil Armstrong and Warren Mosler 2020 Abstract The hyperinflation in Weimar Germany in 1922-23 has become the poster child of mainstream economists - and especially the monetarists- when presenting the benefits of constraining governments by the rules of ‘sound finance’. Their narrative presumes that governments are naturally inclined to spend beyond their means and that, if left to their profligate ways, inflation ‘gets out of hand’ and leads to hyperinflation in a continuous, accelerating, unstoppable catastrophic collapse of the value of the money. In contrast to this ubiquitous mainstream analysis, we recognize a fundamentally different origin of inflation, and argue that inflation requires sustained, proactive policy support. And, in the absence of such policies, inflation will rapidly subside. We replace the erroneous mainstream theory with the knowledge of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) identifying both the source of the price level and what makes it change. We are not Weimar scholars, and our aim is not to present a comprehensive historical analysis. We examine the traditionally reported causal forces behind the Weimar hyperinflation, along with the factors that contributed to the hyperinflation and to its abrupt end. The purpose of this paper is to present our view of the reported information from an MMT perspective. In that regard, we identify the cause of the inflation as the German government paying continuously higher prices for its purchases, particularly those of the foreign currencies the Allies demanded for the payment of reparations, and we identify the rise in the quantity of money and the printing of increasing quantities of banknotes as a consequence of the hyperinflation, rather than its cause.
    [Show full text]
  • Nazi Bank and Financial Institutions: U.S
    http://gdc.gale.com/archivesunbound/ NAZI BANK AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS: U.S. MILITARY GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATION REPORTS AND INTERROGATIONS OF NAZI FINANCIERS, 1945-1949 This publication comprises two collections related to Holocaust Era Assets. The first includes Records Regarding Bank Investigations and Records Relating to Interrogations of Nazi Financiers, from the records of the Office of the Finance Division and Finance Advisor in the Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone(Germany) (OMGUS), during the period 1945-1949. The second comprises Records Regarding Intelligence and Financial Investigations, 1945-1949, from the Records of the Financial Intelligence Group, Office of the Finance Adviser. These collections consist of memorandums, letters, cables, balance sheets, reports, exhibits, newspaper clippings, and civil censorship intercepts on: the financing of the German war effort and German financial institutions; reports on Nazi gold, the use of Swiss banks, and links between German and Swiss banks, inclusive of Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Golddiskontbank, Dresdner Bank, and Reichs-Kredit-Gesellschaft; information regarding Aryanization, bank operations outside of Germany, industrial ties, liquidation proposals, and the restitution of Hungarian property; records concerning agricultural cooperatives; denazification of German finance personnel; an interrogation report of Hjalmar Schacht, the former Reichsminister of Economics and Plenipotentiary for the War Economy; a report on the operations of I.G. Farben AG; plans for the seizure of Reich ministerial records called "Operation Goldcup"; information relating to fiscal conditions in former German-occupied countries; report of banking in the Soviet Zone; documentation on investigations of Bernhard Berghaus, Alois Alzheimer, August von Finck, Eduard Hilgard, Kurt Schmitt, and Franz Schwede-Coburg; and, files relating to Carlowitz & Company and Japanese firms operating in Germany.
    [Show full text]
  • The Disposition of SS-Looted Victim Gold During and After World War II Elizabeth White
    American University International Law Review Volume 14 | Issue 1 Article 15 1998 The Disposition of SS-Looted Victim Gold During and After World War II Elizabeth White Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/auilr Part of the International Law Commons Recommended Citation White, Elizabeth. "The Disposition of SS-Looted Victim Gold During and After World War II." American University International Law Review 14, no. 1 (1998): 213-224. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington College of Law Journals & Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in American University International Law Review by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE DISPOSITION OF SS-LOOTED VICTIM GOLD DURING AND AFTER WORLD WAR II ELIZABETH B. WHITE When United States forces entered the Kaiseroda salt mines near Merkers, Germany in April 1945, they discovered the vast treasure hidden there by the Reichsbank, Germany's central bank. In one cor- ner of the mines, separate from the Reichsbank's stocks of gold, cur- rency, and securities, were 207 suitcases, sacks, and boxes that, when opened, were found to contain thousands of pounds of valuable per- sonal items, including jewelry, wedding rings, watches, eyeglass frames, and gold teeth and dental fillings. A Reichsbank official captured with the Merkers treasure revealed that this separate cache represented loot that the SS had robbed from its victims at the con- centration camps and the killing centers in Poland.
    [Show full text]
  • Outcome of the International Military Tribunal ( Imt)
    OUTCOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL ( IMT) DEFENDANTS POSITION IN REICH SENTENCE RESULTS Hermann Goering Reich Marshal and Commander of the Luftwaffe Death Suicide Rudolf Hess Deputy Fuhrer Life in Prison Died in prison Joachim von Ribbentrip Reich Foreign Minister Death Hanged 10/16/46 Wilhelm Keitel Chief of the Armed Forces High Command Death Hanged 10/16/46 Ernst Kaltenbrunner Chief of the SD and head of RSHA Death Hanged 10/16/46 Alfred Rosenberg Reich Minister for the Eastern Occupied Areas Death Hanged 10/16/46 Hans Frank Governor-General of General Government Death Hanged 10/16/46 Wilhelm Frick Minister of the Interior Death Hanged 10/16/46 Julius Streicher Founder of Der Sturmer, Gauleiter of Franconia Death Hanged 10/16/46 Fritz Sauckel Plenipotentiary General for manpower Death Hanged 10/16/46 Alfred Jodl Chief of Armed Forces High Command Operations Death Hanged 10/16/46 Martin Bormann (in abstentia) Deputy Fuhrer, Head of the Chancellery Death Never Captured Franz von Papen Ambassador to Vienna and Turkey Acquitted Arthur Seyss-Inquart Reich Commissioner for Occupied Netherlands Death Hanged 10/16/46 Albert Speer Minister of Armaments and War Production 20 years Served full term Konstantine Freiherr Minister of Foreign Affairs, Reich Protector of 15 years Served 8 years Von Neurath Bohemia and Moravia Hjalmar Schacht Minister of Economics, President of Reichsbank Acquitted Walter Funk President of Reichsbank Life in prison Died in prison Karl Donitz Supreme Commander of the Navy, Chancellor 10 years Served full term Erich Raeder Supreme Commander of the Navy Life in prison Served 9 years Baldur von Schirach Leader of Hitler Youth, Gauleiter of Vienna 20 years Served full term Hans Fritzsche Head of Radio Division, Propaganda Ministry Acquitted These men were tried on the charges of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
    [Show full text]
  • NUREMBERG) Judgment of 1 October 1946
    INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL (NUREMBERG) Judgment of 1 October 1946 Page numbers in braces refer to IMT, judgment of 1 October 1946, in The Trial of German Major War Criminals. Proceedings of the International Military Tribunal sitting at Nuremberg, Germany , Part 22 (22nd August ,1946 to 1st October, 1946) 1 {iii} THE INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL IN SESSOIN AT NUREMBERG, GERMANY Before: THE RT. HON. SIR GEOFFREY LAWRENCE (member for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) President THE HON. SIR WILLIAM NORMAN BIRKETT (alternate member for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) MR. FRANCIS BIDDLE (member for the United States of America) JUDGE JOHN J. PARKER (alternate member for the United States of America) M. LE PROFESSEUR DONNEDIEU DE VABRES (member for the French Republic) M. LE CONSEILER FLACO (alternate member for the French Republic) MAJOR-GENERAL I. T. NIKITCHENKO (member for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) LT.-COLONEL A. F. VOLCHKOV (alternate member for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) {iv} THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, AND THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS Against: Hermann Wilhelm Göring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Robert Ley, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Walter Funk, Hjalmar Schacht, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, Karl Dönitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Martin
    [Show full text]