Foreign & Commonwealth Office NAZI GOLD THE LONDON CONFERENCE 2-4 December 1997 London: The Stationery Office CONTENTS OPENING REMARKS Opening speech by the Foreign Secretary, the Rt. Hon Robin Cook, MP 5 Opening plenary statement by Stuart Eizenstat 9 Address to conference by Lordjanner of Braunstone, QC 11 ALBANIA On the plundered Albanian gold by the Nazis; Jews in Albania 17 ARGENTINA Nazi war criminals and assets: 1 21 Nazi war criminals and assets: 2 23 AUSTRIA Statement by Mr Hans Winkler 27 BANK OF ENGLAND The Bank of England's role as custodian of the Tripartite Gold Commission's holdings of gold 31 THE BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR Conference paper by Dr Piet Clement 43 BELARUS Speech by Valentin Gerasimoxr' 61 Speech by O.A. Nekhay 63 BELGIUM The gold of the Belgian monetary institutes 67 BRAZIL How is Brazil dealing with the Nazi gold issue? 71 VI LONDON CONFERENCE ON NAZI GOLD: DECEMBER I997 BULGARIA Anti-Semitic legislation in Bulgaria, 1940-44: a case study of some aspects 73 CANADA Due diligence: a report on the Bank of Canada's handling of foreign gold during World War II 79 Finding aid: gold arrangements and transactions files 183 REPUBLIC OF CROATIA Statement by the Croatian delegation 235 Supplement to die report of the Croatian delegation 238 CZECH REPUBLIC Czechoslovak gold reserves and their surrender to Nazi Germany 245 Steps taken hitherto to compensate occupied countries and individual victims 249 DENMARK Statement by the Danish delegation 251 FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK Paper 253 FRANCE Plunder of Jewish property and its restitution 273 GERMANY Introductory statement by Dr Hans-Werner Lautenschlager 279 Statement by Prof. Dr Horst Moller 280 German restitution for National Socialist crimes 286 GREECE f Speech by Ambassador Alexandras Philon 293 Contribution of the Historical Archive Directorate of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs 295 Results of the steps taken to compensate the country and individual victims 300 HUNGARY Contribution from the Hungarian delegation 303 CONTENTS Vll INTERNATIONAL ROMANI UNION Statement by die Hon. Ian F. Hancock 307 INTERNATIONAL UNION OF FORMER JUVENILE PRISONERS OF FASCIST CONCENTRATION CAMPS Statement 309 ISRAEL Bobby Brown's speech 315 Speech of MK Avraham Hirschenson 317 Speech by Nili Arad 320 ITALY The story of the gold deposited at die Bank of Italy (1943-58) 323 LUXEMBOURG Luxembourg gold despoiled by Germany during die Second World War 345 The restitution of die monetary gold stolen from Luxembourg by the Nazis 351 THE NETHERLANDS Introduction by Count Jan d'Ansembourg 355 Dutch gold 357 Looting and restitution 360 Compensation schemes for victims of persecution in the Netherlands and the former colony of the Netherlands East Indies 367 Concern for Dutch groups of war victims from die Second World War 369 Bank balances in the Netherlands East Indies 371 Information on the activities of die Contact Group World War II deposits 373 NORWAY Summary of the Majority Report ' 375 Summary of the Minority of die Committee of Inquiry 379 PINK TRIANGLE COALITION Paper 383 POLAND Statement of the Polish delegation 389 VUl LONDON CONFERENCE ON NAZI GOLD: DECEMBER 1997 RUSSIA Victims of Nazism and die issue of compensation 391 SLOVAK REPUBLIC Statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 403 German occupational regime and die history of monetary and non-monetary gold in Slovakia 1944-45 4°4 SLOVENIA Some crimes committed by die German occupying force in Slovenia 409 Yugoslav monetary gold 1939-51 411 SPAIN Approach and views of the Spanish Commission in die light of die London Conference 417 SWEDEN Statement by die Swedish delegation 421 Sweden and die Nazi gold 426 The gold transactions of Sveriges Riksbank with Nazi Germany 449 SWITZERLAND Switzerland - World War II (Ascona Declaration) 487 Address by Ambassador Thomas G. Borer 489 Measurements taken by Switzerland relating to die problem of Nazi gold and unclaimed assets 493 Statement by Ambassador Thomas G. Borer 497 Declaration of the Federal Council on die Eizenstat Report 501 Reaction of Federal Councillor F. Cotti to Eizenstat Report 505 Gold transactions in die Second World War: statistical review witii commentary 507 The Swiss National Bank's gold operations during die Second World War 535 Statement by Professor Jean-Francois Bergier 543 TRIPARTITE GOLD COMMISSION The Tripartite Commission for die Restitution of Monetary Gold 547 TURKEY Conference Paper 1: The Jews of Turkey (historical background) 553 Conference Paper 2 579 CONTENTS IX Conference Paper 3: Historical facts 587 Conference Paper 4: Complementary statement by Turkey 655 Conference Paper 5: Gold purchased from Switzerland 665 UKRAINE Report of die Ukraine delegation 673 Nazi victims in Ukraine 684 UNITED KINGDOM Allied discussions and decisions on gold, 1945-46 687 Changes in the conceptual landscape 691 Documentation of the records of me Tripartite Gold Commission 697 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA What U.S. officials knew about the movement of German monetary gold, looted or odierwise, during World War II and die restitution of looted gold after the war 699 Research into US and Allied efforts to recover and restore gold and other assets stolen or hidden by Germany during World War II 709 Insurance as a forcibly surrendered or plundered asset in die Holocaust 715 WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS Indemnification and reparations: Jewish losses • 719 Movements of Nazi gold 766 CLOSING STATEMENTS Closing statement by die Foreign Secretary, the Rt. Hon. Robin Cook MP 789 Closing plenary statement by Stuart Eizenstat 790 Summing up by die Conference Chairman, Lord Mackay of Clashfern 795 Conclusions by die Conference Chairman, Lord Mackay of Clashfern 800 OBSERVERS' PAPERS p Nazi gold - a call for justice 809 Present position of surviving former political prisoners of German concentration camps 823 Campaign for Jewish slave labour compensation 825 APPENDIX list of delegates 827.