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00:02Next on Secrets of War.
00:04It was a tremendous booty, prized by Hitler as much as territory.
00:09The priceless art, personal assets, and national treasuries of an entire continent.
00:15The organized plunder of these riches would become the most enormous heist in the history of warfare.
00:21The trail of the spoils of war and Nazi gold is next on Secrets of War.
00:41The trail of the spoils of war and Nazi gold is next on Secrets of War.
01:28Secrets of War
01:34In every war endured by mankind, there's been economic plunder.
01:40War booty.
01:43No plunder, however, was as great or as well organized as that executed by Nazi Germany during World War II.
01:51From the moment he was democratically elected in 1933, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party lieutenants used their power to
02:00personally enrich themselves.
02:07Hitler ruled Germany with absolute power, enabling the Nazi regime to destroy its enemies and expropriate their property.
02:15Their system of organized pillage became the harbinger of the Third Reich and set the stage for the further plunder
02:23and subsequent genocide of the Jews and others across Europe.
02:32Heinrich Himmler's SS created a system of economic benefits for the leaders of the regime.
02:40The activities of the SS were to be self-financing.
02:43The main source of its revenue was to be the property of the enemies of the Third Reich, the fruits
02:49of their forced labor, and the proceeds from their eventual murder.
02:57Despite the real and imminent threat of severe punishment, some Germans, many of them Jews, some anti-Nazi industrialists, and
03:06some opposition politicians traveled to Swiss banks to hide and protect their assets from expropriation by the Nazis.
03:16Swiss bankers played a role, not just talking about the Swiss national bank, commercial banks, knew full well which of
03:23their clients with certain Jewish last names had sizable assets.
03:28And sometimes there would be a situation where a very nervous client would come in with two very stocky gentlemen
03:35in ill-fitting suits, and these would be SS officers or guards, and they would quickly, hastily arrange withdrawal of
03:41assets.
03:41And often, what was happening was just sheer extortion.
03:47To commit such violations of German law, Hitler needed accomplices in Switzerland's banking community.
03:58What we see in the evolution of economic relations between Germany and Switzerland during the 1930s and 1940s,
04:06is that Germany was traditionally Switzerland's most important economic partner.
04:14Swiss financial institutions had long been closely tied to the German economy.
04:22They'd granted Germany more loans than financial institutions in other Western countries.
04:29With the rise of Bolshevism in the 1920s and 30s,
04:33Swiss banks became increasingly attractive to German clients as a place to make deposits.
04:39While the Swiss sought to expand their loan business throughout Europe,
04:43the relationship with Germany grew.
04:49Before France's defeat, Switzerland's relations with its neighbors were relatively balanced.
04:56Although economically speaking,
04:59Germany's weight has always been more important than the other powers.
05:08The expropriated properties of Jews and other enemies of the Third Reich
05:13were not used solely for the public purse,
05:16but also to line the pockets of the Nazi elite.
05:23Professor Gene Ziegler is an outspoken, often controversial, member of the Swiss parliament.
05:28And put the money away.
05:29They became billionaires, you know, through the war.
05:32I mean, it was really a gangster logic, you know.
05:36They were not only murderers, it was a regime of organized crime, you know.
05:39It was not only stocks, bonds, jewelry and gems that were stolen from the victims of the Reich.
05:47There were also works of art.
05:50The Germans used Swiss art dealers to help unload their ill-gotten gains.
05:56In particular, Swiss dealers were retained to sell what the Nazis termed degenerate art.
06:03For the German and the German ideology, everything that wasn't classical was a degenerate art.
06:10But as they were gangsters before everything, more than ideologists,
06:16they knew very well the value that it had on the small international market that was Switzerland.
06:23And so they sold many things through Switzerland.
06:28Paris-based author Hector Feliciano has dedicated himself to the search for missing French art.
06:37Hitler had such an enormous taste for art that he wanted, and he planned it during the war,
06:43he wanted to create, to develop a big museum in Linz,
06:48which was the city where he had been raised as an adolescent,
06:51and he wanted to create this enormous museum that would be a museum of European art.
06:56The museum was supposed to, let's say, restructure all of art history into the Germanic point of view.
07:06While Hitler concentrated on his museum, which was never built,
07:10he had other plans for the rest of Europe.
07:15The looting the Nazis had committed in Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia prior to the start of the war
07:21had been quite profitable.
07:25Soon, all of Europe would be ripe for the picking.
07:30In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland.
07:35World War II had begun.
07:39The face of Europe and the history of the world would be changed forever.
07:51With the total war that was to rage throughout Europe
07:54came a shockingly systematic economic plunder.
07:59Occupation and the waging of war cost money.
08:02And Hitler was in need of further capital to expand his Reich.
08:07Hitler had two problems.
08:09Even on the highs of his power,
08:11he was dependent on the world market for the strategic raw material for the Wehrmacht, for the SS.
08:17He had to buy petrol, chrome, from countries outside his sphere of influence.
08:23He needed money, convertible money.
08:25So he stole gold in 11 occupied countries.
08:30Even before World War II broke out,
08:32Hitler had targeted the gold reserves of the countries his army eventually occupied.
08:41Officials of the Reichsbank, Germany's central bank,
08:44quickly followed the troops into Austria and Czechoslovakia
08:47to deplete their national treasuries.
08:52Once war broke out, the gold belonging to the rest of Europe's central banks was in Hitler's sights.
08:59There were plenty of riches available for the Third Reich to finance its war.
09:05Stealing the gold was only the first part.
09:10Then the Nazis had to launder it.
09:13What the Swiss did was not only lend money and trade credits to the Nazis
09:19and their various puppet regimes,
09:22but actually assisted in the looting of national treasuries,
09:26which means that the central banks of the various countries
09:29that were occupied by the Nazi forces,
09:31be it Czechoslovakia, Poland, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the list goes on.
09:37The Reichsbank would quickly follow the Wehrmacht, the German army,
09:40into a town or the capital city
09:43and quickly go to the central bank
09:45and hopefully they would find the national reserves, the gold reserves,
09:48and would simply loot it and send it off to the Reichsbank.
09:55It was not just the gold of Europe's national treasuries
09:58that made its way to the Reichsbank.
10:02Jewish communities in eastern territories were liquidated.
10:08Anything and everything belonging to these people
10:10was somehow turned into currency.
10:16Concentration camp victims were robbed of their dignity,
10:20their lives, and eventually their body parts.
10:23As long as the Nazis could find a way to use them.
10:28From slave labor and munitions factories to human hair
10:31used in the manufacture of submarine boots,
10:34the Nazis sought profit.
10:38I mean, so many people behaved
10:40with such an incredibly disgusting way.
10:44One wouldn't have known
10:45what was this kind of mercantile approach of death
10:51that the Germans had.
10:53They had in mind to exploit to the end all their ownings.
10:57One could say that one of the reasons
10:59why they prosecuted the Jewish
11:01was to take what they had.
11:04They were gangsters,
11:06and like the most organized gangsters that you can take.
11:09Hermann Goering was a gangster
11:11with an army of gangsters under him.
11:14He stole the gold in the concentration camps.
11:18The tooth, the gold fillings, the jewelry.
11:21And all this gold came to Berlin,
11:24smeltered it, refounded again,
11:27marked by the Swachiska,
11:29and sent to Switzerland.
11:31By the spring of 1940,
11:33the Third Reich had set its sights on the Western Front.
11:37After the low countries, France fell quickly.
11:40They come into Paris in the summer of 1940,
11:43and in the first few days,
11:44they already have a list
11:46of some of the Jewish art dealers
11:48that were the most important in Paris.
11:50We have to remember that Paris
11:51was the center of the art world at the time.
11:54There was New York and London did not exist.
11:56So we see this enormous market
11:58with great collectors, great art dealers,
12:01and the Nazis, they arrive,
12:04and immediately, in two or three days,
12:06they take over about 15 or 16 galleries.
12:09The Jeu de Pomme used to be the depot
12:11of all looted art that the Nazis used, okay?
12:15The trucks, with all the looted artwork,
12:18would come through here,
12:19then go up and go there,
12:21and there they would deliver all of their artwork.
12:24At the Jeu de Pomme, inside,
12:26there was a staff of some 60 people
12:29with art historians, art experts, photographers,
12:32and there, they would take all of this art
12:35and start doing inventories.
12:38Some of it would go to Germany,
12:39and some of it would just be taken to Switzerland,
12:42where it would be sold.
12:47In wartime France, under the Vichy regime,
12:50there were plenty of government officials
12:51and art dealers eager to do business
12:53with the Third Reich.
12:57We have to know that the Paris art market,
12:59being the biggest one in the world,
13:01with the war, all the international clientele,
13:04the British, the Americans, were cut off.
13:07So, in fact, the Germans came to replace
13:10the former clients,
13:11and the art dealers who were there,
13:13they wanted to sell, they wanted to collaborate.
13:15They were very eager to collaborate.
13:17So, a lot of them, they realize
13:19that all these looted collections
13:21are coming into the market.
13:23And they say,
13:24if I don't sell it, someone else will.
13:26Okay?
13:26And there is no ideology,
13:27there is no moral there.
13:31Despite the complicity of many art dealers,
13:33gallery owners, agents,
13:35and government officials,
13:36there were some heroic acts
13:38to save art treasures from the Nazis.
13:41There were some of these servants,
13:43let's say, of the Rothschilds,
13:44who managed to hide some of the art.
13:47And the thing is,
13:47there were even some, let's say,
13:49who did some even very complicated procedures
13:53in order to save it.
13:54One of the Rothschilds' mansions
13:56was taken over by one of Goering's deputy generals,
14:00okay?
14:00General Hansen.
14:01And the valet of the Rothschilds
14:04remained in the house,
14:06working for Hansen,
14:07in order to save part of the objects.
14:10So what he did was,
14:12he had a cousin who was a firefighter.
14:14So he calls his cousin,
14:16and they sort of create a fake fire
14:19in one of the entrances.
14:22There were two entrances
14:24to the Rothschild house.
14:26The German soldiers posted at the house
14:28tried to extinguish the fire
14:30along with the firemen.
14:32Meanwhile, the valet and his cousin
14:34carried pieces of priceless silverware
14:37and other artifacts out the other door.
14:43In spite of these heroics,
14:45the pillaging went on unabated.
14:48They would go to great lengths
14:50to grab a piece of art
14:51that Goering wanted
14:52or that Goebbels wanted
14:53or that Hitler wanted.
14:54They knew no rules.
14:56They felt it was their right
14:58to take what they could take.
15:00And people like Field Marshal Goering
15:03were simply insatiable
15:04when it came to art.
15:06Goering was very much interested
15:08because he wanted to expand
15:10his own personal collection.
15:12During the war,
15:13he asked the finance ministry
15:14whether he can have foreign money,
15:16foreign currency.
15:17They tell him,
15:18we are in the middle of the war,
15:19we cannot give it to you.
15:20So he has the idea
15:22of using all of this looted art
15:24at the Jeu de Pan.
15:25And then they start selling it
15:27or bartering it.
15:29You would also get,
15:30in order to get into Switzerland,
15:32in order to get all this art
15:33into Switzerland
15:34or part of it into Switzerland,
15:36they would use the diplomatic pouch
15:37in order to avoid customs.
15:48Switzerland's status
15:49as a neutral country
15:50was respected and upheld
15:52throughout the war.
15:53So the Swiss banks
15:55not only laundered the stolen money
15:58from the Nazi crime syndicate,
16:01they prolonged the war.
16:03There are very clear documents
16:04by Walter Funk,
16:06the Minister of Economy of the Reich
16:08and President of the Reichsbank,
16:10who says,
16:10without the Swiss bankers,
16:12we could not hold out
16:13more than two months.
16:16Why then did the Swiss
16:18allow themselves
16:18to become so involved
16:20with so many illegal activities
16:22of the Nazi regime?
16:25The first reason
16:26was the constant threat
16:27of invasion.
16:29From the time Hitler
16:30moved into the Tsar,
16:31into Austria,
16:32and then into Czechoslovakia
16:34in March 1939,
16:36the Swiss feared
16:37that the German-speaking
16:38part of their country
16:39would be the next target
16:41for annexation.
16:44In the year following
16:45these occupations,
16:47there was a great deal
16:47of planning
16:48by the Nazi high command
16:49for the full-scale invasion
16:51of Switzerland.
16:54Every evening
16:55when I went to bed
16:57during the war,
16:58I asked myself,
17:00what happened tomorrow morning
17:02at three o'clock?
17:03Shall we be invading?
17:06In the early morning
17:07of the 25th of June,
17:091940,
17:10a few hours after
17:12the armistice
17:12between Germany and France
17:14went into effect,
17:15orders from the German army
17:17high command
17:18went out
17:18to prepare
17:19an invasion
17:20of Switzerland.
17:22A top-secret plan
17:24called for the quick defeat
17:25of any Swiss resistance
17:27in the partition
17:27of the country
17:28with Italy.
17:31Germany would take
17:33the northern four-fifths
17:34of the land
17:34and Mussolini
17:35would occupy
17:36the remaining area
17:37south of a line
17:38running east
17:39from Lake Geneva.
17:43However,
17:44Operation Christmas Tree
17:45never took form
17:46as the German war machine
17:48focused on other areas
17:50of Europe.
17:53It was late summer 1940
17:55and Hitler
17:56had other priorities.
17:59Remember that
18:00Switzerland was
18:01a landlocked country
18:02completely dependent
18:03on the surrounding countries
18:06for the provision
18:07of fuel
18:07and other
18:08essential supply.
18:09In the end,
18:10Hitler decided
18:11that it would cost
18:12too much
18:13to invade
18:14and to occupy
18:15the country
18:16and in the end
18:16he got most
18:17of what he wanted
18:18anyway
18:19by applying
18:20the kind of pressure
18:21that Germany
18:22was obviously
18:23in a position
18:23to apply.
18:27still,
18:28the threat
18:28of invasion
18:29never went away.
18:30The German press
18:32officially reminded
18:33Switzerland in 1942
18:34that she was
18:35originally part
18:36of the Reich.
18:40Hitler called
18:40the neutral country
18:41a pimple
18:42on the face
18:43of Europe.
18:46Despite Hitler's
18:47saber-rattling,
18:48most Swiss people
18:49were fully committed
18:50to their neutrality
18:51and prepared
18:51to fight for it.
18:55Switzerland
18:56was a mountainous
18:57country
18:57with plenty
18:58of bases
18:58from which
18:59to launch
18:59guerrilla attacks.
19:01It would not
19:02be easy
19:02to conquer.
19:05Following
19:06the defeat
19:06of France
19:07in June 1940,
19:08the popularly
19:09elected Swiss
19:10General Henri Guisan
19:12called his
19:13senior officers
19:13together
19:14to plan
19:14a defensive
19:15strategy
19:16against a
19:17Nazi invasion.
19:22The Swiss
19:23could blow up
19:23the St. Gotthard
19:24and Simplone
19:25tunnels
19:26as a defensive move.
19:28This would
19:29close off
19:30the main transit
19:31route for German
19:31supplies and arms
19:33to Italy.
19:35It would require
19:36an army of engineers
19:37to rebuild
19:38the tunnels,
19:39a difficult feat
19:40at any time,
19:41especially when
19:42under attack
19:42by roving guerrillas.
19:45The remaining
19:46Swiss army
19:47could then
19:47retreat
19:48to their
19:48mountain
19:49strongholds.
19:50These natural
19:52fortresses
19:52would be
19:53next to
19:54impossible
19:54to bomb
19:55even by
19:56the mighty
19:56Luftwaffe.
19:58The defense
19:59was
20:00a general
20:02military service
20:03with armaments.
20:04The defense
20:05was principally
20:07in the Alps
20:08because
20:09the landscape
20:10of the Alps
20:11is very good
20:12for defense.
20:12That is,
20:13makes the difference
20:14with Holland.
20:14Holland is flat.
20:16That is difficult
20:17to defend
20:18the Carbat
20:19in Switzerland.
20:20That is also
20:20a tradition.
20:23Despite
20:23this defensive
20:24strategy,
20:25a Nazi invasion
20:26would have
20:26eventually proved
20:27too much
20:28for General
20:29Guizan's forces.
20:31The Swiss,
20:32I believe,
20:33in their day,
20:34said that
20:35we are
20:35no match
20:36for the Nazis,
20:37no match
20:38for the German army
20:39and the Air Force.
20:40And if
20:41they don't like
20:42what we do,
20:43we'll be victims
20:45like all the rest
20:45of Europe.
20:47Hitler continued
20:49to be troubled
20:49by Switzerland's
20:50persistent neutrality.
20:53In 1943,
20:55with the German armies
20:56on the defensive,
20:57Hitler closed ranks
20:58on those areas
20:59he firmly controlled.
21:02Switzerland remained
21:04the thorn
21:04in his side.
21:06The Germans
21:07were afraid
21:08that once
21:09the Allies
21:09invaded Europe,
21:10Switzerland
21:11would allow
21:11them free passage
21:12through Swiss territory.
21:16As a result,
21:17German army
21:18intelligence
21:18was reviewing
21:19plans
21:20for a preventive
21:21occupation.
21:24But Himmler
21:25and his SS
21:26were also keen
21:27to occupy Switzerland.
21:28Hitler's generals
21:29and economic advisers
21:31won the day
21:32by arguing
21:32against such a move.
21:37Many of them
21:38had fortunes
21:38locked away
21:39in Swiss banks,
21:40a violation
21:41of German law,
21:43and they wanted
21:44to keep them secret.
21:46This precarious
21:48strategic situation
21:49gave new meaning
21:50to Swiss neutrality.
21:52There was a myth
21:53of Swiss neutrality
21:56before the war
21:57and it continued
21:58after the war.
21:59And I think
22:00the Swiss themselves
22:01fostered the retention
22:03of that myth.
22:04They tried their very best
22:06to stay out
22:07of controversial issues.
22:10The historical roots
22:11of Swiss neutrality
22:12can be traced
22:13to Swiss internal policy
22:15in the 16th century.
22:18Regional leaders
22:19were admitted
22:19into the Swiss confederacy
22:21only after they'd
22:22made a pledge
22:22of strict neutrality
22:24in the event
22:24of disputes
22:25between confederate states.
22:29In 1511,
22:31the Swiss opted
22:32to appease France
22:33and Austria
22:34by staying neutral
22:35in their disputes.
22:37There is a big,
22:38big lie,
22:39the lie of neutrality.
22:40First of all,
22:41the Second World War
22:42was not just any war.
22:44It was not just
22:44one of thousands
22:46of other conflicts
22:47in the long,
22:48long history
22:48of our continent.
22:50It was a crime
22:51against humanity.
22:53It was the fight
22:54between civilization
22:55and barbarism.
22:57And Hitler
22:58was not just
22:58a chief of state
23:00or a general
23:01making war
23:02to some other country.
23:03He was the incarnation
23:05of evil.
23:06He was a mass murderer.
23:08It was a criminal regime
23:09from the top
23:11to the base.
23:12So to be neutered
23:14in such a case
23:15to then humanity
23:16is fighting
23:16for its survival,
23:18this attitude
23:18is criminal.
23:20It's totally
23:23intolerable.
23:25I don't think
23:27that we could say
23:27that the whole country
23:28got richer.
23:31It has had
23:32the great privilege
23:33to avoid being invaded,
23:35to live relatively normally
23:37compared to its neighbors.
23:40The Swiss banks,
23:42they made
23:43an immense amount
23:44of money
23:44out of this relationship
23:47with the Reich.
23:48And the planetary power
23:49of the Swiss banks,
23:51which you can see today,
23:52comes from the days
23:53of the Second World War.
23:55So they had
23:56this immensely profitable
23:57business relation
23:59with Berlin.
24:00So when the Reichsicherheitshound
24:01asked something
24:02from their business friends,
24:04they were very inclined
24:05to give it
24:06as to keep up business.
24:08The Allies
24:09also colluded
24:11in the matter
24:11that by
24:13pretending
24:14that Switzerland
24:15was truly neutral
24:17for one simple reason.
24:19It was useful
24:19for them as well.
24:22Indeed,
24:23Switzerland did provide
24:24a useful site
24:24for diplomatic exchanges,
24:26intelligence gathering,
24:28and financial dealings
24:29among Allies,
24:30Axis,
24:30and Neutrals.
24:34Alan Dulles
24:35led the European Office
24:36of Strategic Services
24:37in Europe,
24:38the precursor
24:39to the Central Intelligence Agency
24:41in Bern.
24:44His Swiss office
24:45was the main source
24:46of information
24:47for the Allies in Europe.
25:00Another clear asset
25:01for the Allies
25:02was their reliance
25:03on the Swiss-operated
25:04International Committee
25:05of the Red Cross
25:06to protect Allied airmen
25:07who were shot down
25:08over Central Europe.
25:14German espionage networks
25:15in Switzerland
25:16were quite elaborate
25:17in their organization.
25:20The Nazis used
25:21German residents
25:22of Switzerland
25:23for their espionage work,
25:24and the Swiss
25:26could do little
25:27to deter such activities
25:28for fear of provoking
25:29and antagonizing Germany.
25:32Moreover,
25:33during these unsettling times
25:34for Switzerland,
25:36Swiss banks provided
25:37necessary financial intermediation
25:39for the Allies.
25:41The Julius Baer Bank
25:42was a small private bank
25:44owned by a Jewish family.
25:46It assisted the OSS
25:48by arranging
25:49for the foreign exchange
25:50the organization required
25:52for many of its operations.
25:55The Allies were themselves
25:56doing business in Switzerland.
25:58Let's remember
25:58that Alan Dulles
25:59sitting in Bern
26:00was able
26:02through Swiss banks
26:03to finance
26:04the French resistance.
26:08Such acts
26:09point to the
26:09anti-Nazi sentiment
26:11that prevailed
26:11among the Swiss people.
26:15I think that
26:1699%
26:18of the Swiss
26:20were against Hitler.
26:21The resistance
26:22against Nazi Germany
26:24in Switzerland,
26:25the grassroots resistance
26:27was rather stronger
26:28in Switzerland
26:29than in any other country
26:30in Europe
26:30for a very simple
26:31historical fact.
26:32It is that Switzerland
26:34has been created
26:35against the German Empire.
26:38Switzerland was not alone
26:40in doing business
26:41with the Germans.
26:42Other neutral countries
26:44cooperated with Hitler,
26:46most significantly
26:46Vichy France.
26:48Turkey bought Nazi gold,
26:50as did Sweden.
26:53Francisco Franco's Spain
26:55considered entering the war
26:57on the side
26:57of the Axis powers,
26:58but could not reach
26:59a deal with Hitler
27:00on Spain's access
27:01to the spoils of war
27:03following an Axis victory.
27:07Instead,
27:08Franco aided Germany
27:09by buying stolen gold
27:11from Europe's national treasuries
27:12via Switzerland.
27:15Juan Antonio Sadezar's Portugal
27:17also enjoyed economic gain
27:19by doing business
27:20with the Nazis
27:21via Switzerland.
27:24And Juan Perón's Argentina,
27:26which became a haven
27:27for Nazis after the war,
27:28buzzed with rumors
27:30of U-boats delivering gold
27:31to the port of Mar de Plata.
27:36What these central banks
27:38in Spain, Portugal,
27:39Sweden, or Turkey
27:40would say is,
27:42we don't want to deal
27:42directly with the Reichsbank.
27:44So the Swiss National Bank,
27:46the central bank of Switzerland,
27:47would be the clearinghouse
27:48then selling gold
27:50to various third parties.
27:54As the tide of the war
27:56turned against the Germans
27:57following their failed siege
27:58of Stalingrad,
27:59the voracious appetite
28:00for capital
28:01and property continued.
28:07As Hitler's feast
28:08was coming to an end,
28:10he was still obsessed
28:11with the stolen art treasures.
28:13What is really interesting
28:15is that, let's say,
28:16in the middle of the war,
28:18in the middle of defeat,
28:20in the middle of persecution,
28:21in the middle of being vanquished
28:23and being also completely
28:25disheveled psychologically,
28:28when he writes his testament,
28:30his will,
28:31at the end of the war,
28:32he still talks about this collection.
28:35The war had become a second priority
28:38to Hitler and the SS.
28:42With their armies in retreat,
28:44the Nazis accelerated their quest
28:46for the spoils of war.
28:57There were plenty of Swiss
28:59financial intermediaries
29:01willing to assist
29:02in laundering and hiding
29:04the fruits of Nazi pillaging.
29:12Switzerland was providing
29:14government trade credits
29:15to the Reich
29:16what it manufactured
29:17war material
29:18for the German military.
29:22We went on
29:23with producing,
29:24producing,
29:24producing,
29:25and furnishing the Reich
29:27with locomotives,
29:29with arms,
29:30with precision instruments,
29:31with optical instruments,
29:32and kept on going to war.
29:37The entry of the United States
29:39into the war
29:39and the failure of Germany
29:41to obtain a decisive victory
29:42over the Soviet Union
29:44put increasing pressure
29:45on Switzerland
29:46to appear more neutral
29:47than it had become.
29:53But this image
29:54was difficult to change
29:55since German forces
29:57still surrounded Switzerland
29:58and certain Swiss banks
30:00continued to launder
30:01looted gold
30:02and accept secret deposits
30:04by Nazi leaders.
30:10before the United States
30:12entered the war,
30:13its Department of Treasury
30:14issued a policy
30:15to curb Swiss economic support
30:17of the Third Reich
30:18in 1941.
30:23Swiss firms
30:24suspected of doing business
30:25with the Nazis
30:26were blacklisted
30:27and their Swiss assets
30:29were frozen
30:29in the U.S.
30:32It's important to underscore
30:35that unlike the case
30:36with other neutrals
30:38who began to sense
30:40around the end of 1942
30:44and the beginning of 1943
30:46the Battle of Stalingrad
30:47is a commonly identified landmark,
30:50the other neutrals
30:51began to assess
30:52that Germany might not
30:54win the war after all
30:55and began to pull back
30:57from their relationship
30:58with the Germans,
30:59the Swiss were reluctant
31:01and they continued on
31:03on into 1943
31:05despite the spectacular
31:07allied victories
31:07in North Africa
31:08which ought to have been
31:09a signal
31:10despite the collapse
31:11of Mussolini in Italy
31:13which ought to have been
31:14a signal
31:14on and on
31:15they continued
31:16and they were doing
31:17very well.
31:19The U.S. was determined
31:20to put an end
31:21to the trafficking
31:22of looted gold
31:23by the neutrals
31:24and signed international treaties
31:26and declarations
31:27with its allies
31:28to ensure
31:28that title
31:29to any property,
31:30gold
31:31or other assets
31:32obtained
31:32through economic plunder
31:34would not be recognized
31:35after the war.
31:42Agents of the U.S. Department
31:44of the Treasury
31:44vigorously conducted
31:46a worldwide hunt
31:47known as
31:48Operation Safe Haven
31:49to uncover,
31:51to uncover,
31:51control and prevent
31:52the sale and disappearance
31:53of German property
31:55and valuables
31:56once the war
31:57finally came to an end.
32:04A dark suspicion remained
32:06that the remnants
32:07of the Nazi leadership
32:08would use secret funds
32:10deposited in neutral countries
32:12as a means of establishing
32:13a forthright.
32:17that was a central concern
32:19in 1945
32:20to make sure
32:22that Nazi Germany
32:23wouldn't revive
32:24with the aid of resources
32:26that were deposited
32:28in Swiss banks.
32:28So, there was
32:30at the 10th of August 1944
32:32this mysterious conference
32:35the SS convoked
32:37in Strasbourg
32:38to prepare
32:39the resurrection
32:40of a fourth Reich
32:41with or without Hitler
32:43and to assure
32:44the flight
32:45of the principal leaders
32:46of the principal criminals.
32:50The loot pillaged
32:51by the Nazis
32:52over five years of war
32:54and 12 years
32:55of dictatorship
32:55was now spread
32:57throughout Europe.
32:59Some even traveled
33:01as far as South America.
33:03As the Allies
33:04captured the retreating
33:05German military forces,
33:07catches of gold
33:09were found
33:09across Germany
33:10and Austria.
33:13Uncovered were gems,
33:15artwork,
33:17jewelry,
33:18gold fillings,
33:20industrial patents
33:21and other assets
33:23stolen by the Nazis.
33:28In the closing days
33:29of the war,
33:30American troops
33:31discovered gold reserves
33:33in the salt mines
33:34of Merkers
33:34and in the Buchenwald
33:36concentration camp.
33:39The gold from Merkers
33:41and other Nazi sources
33:42was valued
33:43at $200 million.
33:48The U.S.,
33:50Britain
33:50and France
33:51formed a commission
33:52to evaluate
33:53how to redistribute gold
33:55back to those countries
33:56whose central banks
33:57had been looted.
34:01But where was
34:02the balance
34:03of the gold
34:04stolen from the
34:04ten central banks
34:05of Europe,
34:06estimated to be worth
34:07some $621 million
34:10U.S. dollars
34:11at the time?
34:14The focus turned
34:15to Switzerland.
34:17The Allies
34:18could not agree
34:18on a common strategy
34:20to deal with the Swiss.
34:22The U.K.
34:23and France
34:24needed trade credits
34:25and national loans
34:26to jumpstart
34:27their respective
34:28post-war economies.
34:30The U.S.
34:31was concerned
34:32that the rest of Europe
34:33lying in ruins
34:34could fall prey
34:35to a communist
34:36takeover.
34:39There was even
34:40concern
34:40that Switzerland
34:41would begin
34:42buying Siberian gold
34:43from Moscow,
34:44bringing them
34:45within the
34:45communist sphere
34:46of influence.
34:49In addition,
34:51the American government
34:51was shifting politically.
34:55Truman was in power
34:57and the Cold War
34:58was just starting.
35:00In March 1946,
35:03Switzerland
35:03was invited
35:05very strongly
35:06to Washington
35:07as the accomplice
35:09of Hitler.
35:10Hitler was dead
35:10since one year
35:11and then the Allies
35:13they said,
35:13now you have to
35:14render account.
35:15You have to explain
35:16your behavior
35:17and give back
35:18what stolen money
35:19there is in your
35:20bank vault,
35:22especially the Nazi
35:23gold.
35:24They negotiated
35:2568 days
35:26up till
35:27May 46
35:30and they lied
35:32like hell,
35:33I'm sorry to say.
35:34They lied
35:35in the most cynical way.
35:36They said,
35:37what should we
35:37do?
35:38Reparations,
35:38Swiss reparations?
35:40We don't want
35:41to do it.
35:41We are neutral.
35:44We never were
35:45allied to anyone
35:46of the parties
35:47in the conflict.
35:48Why should we
35:49give reparations
35:50and so on and so on?
35:52The Washington
35:52agreement between
35:53the U.S.,
35:54U.K.,
35:55and France
35:55on behalf
35:56of all the Allies
35:57and Switzerland
35:58was signed
35:59in May 1946.
36:06The government
36:07of Switzerland
36:07agreed to return
36:08250 million
36:10Swiss francs,
36:12approximately
36:13$52 million
36:14worth of gold
36:15to the Allies
36:15to distribute
36:16to the central banks
36:17that were looted
36:18by the Nazis.
36:22In exchange,
36:24all national claims
36:25against Switzerland
36:25were to be dropped
36:26and no further claims
36:27would be pressed.
36:35Strangely,
36:35the Washington Accord
36:36never attributed guilt
36:38or liability
36:38to the Swiss.
36:43Instead,
36:44it's stated
36:44that Switzerland
36:45was merely making
36:46a financial contribution
36:47to the economic
36:48reconstruction of Europe.
36:54After the war,
36:55when they had
36:57all of this information
36:58from Safe Haven,
36:59the Allies chose
37:01to largely ignore
37:03a lot of it
37:03when they were
37:04hammering out
37:04treaties with Switzerland.
37:06The Washington Accord
37:08is the most important
37:09of that.
37:10And they chose
37:11not to press Switzerland
37:12even though
37:13they had all
37:13of this information
37:14because by the end
37:16of the war,
37:16Britain and France
37:17knew that they needed
37:18Swiss banks
37:19in order to restart
37:21their economies
37:21which were shattered
37:22as a result of the war.
37:23And so they put
37:24a lot of pressure
37:24on the United States
37:25not to use
37:27the Safe Haven documentation
37:29to punish Switzerland.
37:31Essentially,
37:32it allowed the Swiss
37:32to get away
37:33with murder.
37:36The books
37:37of the Swiss
37:38National Bank
37:39and the Switzerland-based
37:40Bank of International
37:41Settlements,
37:42another bank
37:43associated with
37:44laundering Nazi gold,
37:45were never opened
37:46to the Allies.
37:50To this day,
37:51only a few Swiss bankers
37:52know how much
37:53stolen gold
37:54was laundered
37:55through Switzerland.
37:59The money that
38:00Switzerland returned
38:01to the Allies
38:03did not involve
38:04money that had been
38:05expropriated
38:06from individuals.
38:07There was
38:08a side letter
38:09to the Washington
38:10Accord
38:11saying that
38:12Switzerland would
38:12have to do
38:13its utmost
38:14to get the money
38:15that had deposited
38:16in its banks
38:17back to those people,
38:18those individuals
38:19who had made
38:20those deposits
38:20before and during
38:21the war.
38:22Except that
38:23nothing happened
38:24for years.
38:32After the war,
38:33little was done
38:34for individuals
38:34seeking restitution
38:36for their lost assets,
38:37homes,
38:38personal belongings,
38:39and artwork.
38:46The world
38:46had just entered
38:47the nuclear age
38:48and the Allies
38:49were contending
38:49with a new kind
38:50of war
38:51with the Soviets,
38:52their former comrades
38:53in arms.
38:56The map of Europe
38:56was quickly being
38:57divided between
38:58the two power blocks.
39:02The Allies
39:03showed little interest
39:04in assisting individuals,
39:05so it was no surprise
39:07that the Swiss government
39:08and their commercial banks
39:09followed suit.
39:13Switzerland didn't really
39:14pay attention
39:15attention to individual claims.
39:16I mean,
39:16you've got people,
39:17you've got Holocaust survivors
39:18going back to Switzerland
39:20with little documentation,
39:21knowing that their families
39:22perhaps had Swiss bank accounts
39:24and Swiss banking officials
39:27being incredibly nasty
39:28and asking them
39:29in a very legalistic way,
39:30well,
39:30we need a death certificate.
39:32And their response
39:33was always,
39:34well, Auschwitz
39:34didn't issue death certificates.
39:38Claims for personal assets
39:39after the war
39:40became a bureaucratic nightmare.
39:43Even if the descendant
39:45of a Holocaust victim
39:46could produce
39:47what we call
39:48a declaration
39:49of disappearance,
39:50the banking clerk
39:51would ask,
39:52now prove me
39:53that you are
39:53the only hire,
39:55that you are
39:55the only hire.
39:56And as the SS monster
39:58killed whole families,
40:00whole villages,
40:01whole cities,
40:02this second proof,
40:03you could never produce it.
40:05You could never produce it.
40:06And this is a denial of justice
40:09produced by the banking secrecy
40:12because now the banks
40:13are turning the banking secrecy
40:15against the claim,
40:16which is a very perverse way
40:20of applying an existing law.
40:25The Swiss government
40:26and the country's
40:27financial institutions
40:28struggled to come to grips
40:30with a newly focused attention
40:31on their country's
40:33banking practices
40:34during and following the war.
40:38In addition,
40:39the return of artwork
40:40stolen by the Nazis
40:41during their occupation
40:42of France
40:43had been no easy matter.
40:48With post-war Europe
40:49on the verge
40:50of mass starvation,
40:51the Allies
40:52did not put the return
40:53of art plundered
40:54by the Nazis
40:55on their list
40:56of post-war priorities.
41:01The Allies did start tracking
41:03this art
41:05and they started knowing
41:07about it
41:07very slowly
41:08during the war.
41:09But in fact,
41:10they knew
41:11the dimension,
41:12the proportions of it
41:13only after 44, 45,
41:16once Paris is liberated
41:17and they realized
41:18everything that had been stolen.
41:23The official policy in France,
41:25there was a denial phase.
41:27Many of these people
41:28felt that the 50 years,
41:30that 40, 50 years
41:31after the war,
41:32they could talk.
41:33Some of them
41:34even told me,
41:35you know,
41:35I was just so happy
41:36after the war
41:37to have survived
41:38that I didn't even dare
41:40ask for material things.
41:42But now they realize
41:43that art
41:44is not only
41:45a material thing,
41:46it goes beyond that
41:47and they're trying
41:47to recover it.
41:50Only since the end
41:51of the Cold War
41:52and the collapse
41:53of the Soviet Union
41:54have there been
41:55worldwide efforts
41:56to expose
41:57the lack
41:57of individual justice
41:59and address
41:59restitution
42:00of economic crimes
42:01that occurred
42:02during World War II.
42:09With the passing
42:10of the 50th anniversary
42:11at the end of the war,
42:13there's been renewed interest
42:14in the whereabouts
42:15of individual assets,
42:17sparking a number
42:18of inquiries
42:19and discoveries
42:20across Europe.
42:27In 1995,
42:29the Austrian government
42:29returned artworks
42:31stolen by the Nazis
42:32for which there were
42:33no heirs.
42:35For over five decades,
42:37the works had been
42:38stored at a monastery
42:39in Marbach,
42:40collecting dust.
42:45Ownership of the art
42:46was transferred
42:47to the Austrian-Jewish
42:48community,
42:49which, with Christie's,
42:50organized an auction
42:51in Vienna
42:52in October of 1996
42:53to raise money
42:54for a variety
42:55of charities
42:56and Holocaust education
42:57trusts.
43:05The Swiss banks,
43:06however,
43:07have been slower
43:07in dealing
43:08in dealing
43:08with their nation's
43:09activities
43:09during the Second World War.
43:15When the U.S. government
43:16declassified a number
43:18of military intelligence documents
43:21concerning the role
43:22of Switzerland,
43:23the Swiss National Bank,
43:25and its commercial banks
43:26and financial intermediaries,
43:30the American press,
43:31the American press
43:32began to take
43:32a keen interest
43:33in the issue.
43:38So did World Jewish Congress
43:40President Edgar Bronfman,
43:42Sr.
43:42and U.S. Senator
43:43Alphonse D'Amato,
43:45chairman of the Senate
43:45Banking Committee.
43:48Bronfman, Sr.
43:49and Senator D'Amato
43:50accused the Swiss government
43:52and Swiss banking industry
43:53of profiting from the Holocaust
43:54and withholding bank accounts
43:56worth an estimated $7 billion
43:59from their rightful owners.
44:08Others believe that these estimates
44:10were inflated.
44:12I would be extremely suspicious
44:14of anyone who assumes
44:15that we can have
44:16an accurate accounting now
44:18of the, quote,
44:21billions of dollars
44:23or Swiss francs
44:24in assets stolen from Jews
44:26or stolen from occupied countries
44:28or for that matter,
44:30anyone who assumes
44:31that we can have
44:33an accurate inventory
44:35of works of art
44:36that were taken.
44:38I think that Jewish people
44:41having brought money
44:42to Switzerland,
44:44seeing the invasion
44:45of European countries
44:47by the Nazi,
44:47they decided
44:49to bring it
44:49to England
44:50or to the U.S.
44:52That's the reason.
44:53These are the reasons
44:55why I suppose,
44:57I repeat,
44:58I suppose,
44:58that all the sums involved
45:00are not very important.
45:03Regardless of the estimated value
45:05of the dormant bank accounts,
45:07political events
45:08continued to drive the issue.
45:12The Swiss parliament
45:13launched its own inquiry
45:15in December 1996.
45:20A commission of experts
45:21was appointed
45:22to review mountains
45:23of archival material
45:24to determine Switzerland's role
45:26in the laundering
45:27of Nazi gold
45:28and looted property.
45:31It happens very rarely
45:33that parliament
45:33adopts a law
45:36by unanimity.
45:38This has been the case
45:39in both chambers,
45:40so our commission
45:41has, I think,
45:42a very solid political basis
45:45in Switzerland.
45:46I think from the moment
45:47on where this commission
45:48has been established
45:49by the parliament,
45:51private persons
45:52and private enterprises,
45:53corporate enterprises
45:54have understood the message
45:55and they,
45:56until now,
45:57they cooperatively
45:58very willingly with us.
46:02It is very difficult
46:03to assess Switzerland's
46:05acting margin
46:05at the time.
46:06I think it depended
46:07a lot with time.
46:09According to me,
46:10this margin was very limited
46:12during the summer of 1940.
46:13And although I think
46:15that Switzerland could have,
46:16of course,
46:16it is easy to say it,
46:18it could have been more open,
46:19more critical
46:20despite everything,
46:21at least during the second part
46:23of the war.
46:24It has tried
46:25to slightly limit
46:26its economic allowances,
46:27but I think it could
46:29have done more.
46:30And above all,
46:31and it's a big point for me,
46:33it could have politically
46:34done more regarding
46:35the welcoming
46:36of Jewish refugees
46:37during World War II.
46:39Here,
46:40it had an acting margin
46:41that seems quite obvious
46:42to me,
46:43and it could have done better
46:44in this field.
46:45We cannot be
46:46the Red Cross country
46:48that gives of itself
46:49a generous idea
46:50if at the same time
46:52our attitude
46:53is as closed
46:53as it was at that time.
47:00The entire affair
47:01became a public relations
47:03nightmare for Switzerland.
47:04They are sitting
47:05on this country
47:06impenetrable
47:07to any moral argument,
47:10you know,
47:10they say we are people apart,
47:12we are neutral,
47:13we do not care
47:15about the wars around us,
47:16the conflicts around us,
47:18the misery around us.
47:19We do business
47:20with everybody,
47:22be it Mr. Hitler,
47:23be it.
47:24And this institutionalized blindness
47:26is the biggest problem
47:28of Switzerland today.
47:31Questions also remain
47:32about the whereabouts
47:33of thousands
47:34of the world's
47:35great pieces of art.
47:37We have to remember
47:38that there's still
47:39about 20%
47:40of all the art
47:41Luther in France
47:42that's still missing.
47:44So I believe
47:45that part of it
47:46must be somewhere
47:47in Switzerland,
47:48but that if we are
47:50patient enough,
47:51it will come up.
47:52What is interesting
47:52is that many
47:54of these artworks,
47:55much of these artworks,
47:57once it was looted
47:58and disappeared,
47:59it disappeared
47:59for a few years.
48:00But then, of course,
48:01it naturally came
48:02to North America,
48:03to the United States
48:04especially,
48:05because that was
48:06where the market was.
48:07A lot of these
48:08looted paintings,
48:09they all come
48:10from France
48:11because France
48:11was the biggest
48:12looted place.
48:14And so a lot
48:15of them,
48:15you can really trace
48:16them from the place
48:17where they were looted
48:18down to the Jeux de Pomme,
48:20then to Switzerland
48:21and then to the United States.
48:23Are there any
48:24legitimate rules
48:26about what spoils
48:28of war are legitimate?
48:30That's a kind
48:30of question
48:31that's basically
48:32an oxymoron
48:33because you're
48:34dealing with war
48:35which at its essence
48:36is an immoral enterprise.
48:38Of course,
48:38its objective is
48:39to kill as many people
48:41as you can possibly do
48:42and whether they're
48:44soldiers or civilians,
48:46that difference
48:47which formerly
48:48was observed
48:49to some degree
48:49is now generally
48:51no longer observed.
48:53I do know
48:54that the Nazis
48:55observed nothing.
48:57Let's remember
48:58that these assets
48:59were stolen
49:00in a time
49:01in which there were
49:02desperate people
49:03making desperate arrangements
49:04in which there were
49:06at the same time
49:07some of the most
49:08brilliant minds
49:09in the banking world
49:10turning their energies
49:12and their talents
49:13to covering up.
49:15Now,
49:15assuming now
49:17that we can go back
49:18and provide
49:19an accurate accounting,
49:21I think this is
49:22highly dubious.
49:25Considering the amount
49:26of time that has passed
49:27since World War II,
49:28the true economic loss
49:30is certainly hard to grasp.
49:34recovery of the valuable
49:36assets stolen
49:37from individual Europeans
49:38by the Third Reich
49:39is scarcely guaranteed.
49:47Moreover,
49:49simply attributing
49:49a monetary figure
49:50to this restitution
49:51would probably be
49:52an injustice
49:53to the victims
49:54as Nazi-ism.
50:03The chilling methods
50:04the Nazi regime
50:06employed
50:06to rob Europe
50:07and its people
50:08of artwork,
50:10money,
50:10property,
50:11and other assets
50:12have become
50:13more clear.
50:19But the precise amount
50:20of Nazi gold
50:21and their assorted
50:22spoils of war
50:23may remain
50:24a mystery forever.
50:25ever.
50:30The End
50:30The End
50:33The End
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