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Nazi Gold Essay

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Nazi Gold

The twentieth century has been credited with introducing the world to total war. World War II was one of the most devastating wars that affected almost all the major nations in the world. A vital part of financing the war machines of each country was the ability to pay for it all. Under the circumstances, gold and silver were quite useful to the nation that obtained large amounts of either, and the means to convert it all into monetary credits. Between 1938 and 1945, Nazi Germany met the aforementioned requirements easily, as Hitler looted the central and commercial banks of occupied Europe. Nazi gold is still being heavily debated among the world powers, for to this date, not all of it has been recovered or …show more content…

These other nations, either neutral or independent, were in constant fear of a Nazi invasion, so they reluctantly complied with Germany on the storage of the looted gold (Smith 1). At first, Austria had not been considered a "looted" nation, as most European governments were under the opinion that the two nations were on the verge of merging (Smith 2). This was clearly shown when, in a 1940 American court case involving Austrian assets, it was mentioned that, "'This change [the annexation] has occurred in a manner acceptable to our notions of international law; the Anschluß has in no way been disavowed….'" (Smith 2) As no nation interfered with Germany's takeover of Austria, the Nazi party was able to annex the Anschluß, or Austria's Central Bank, by March 17, 1938 (Smith 2). By 1939, Hitler had already taken over much of Czechoslovakia, as a result of the Munich Agreements, signed in September of 1938 (Smith 4). Slowly, Czechoslovakia's assets were "pulled in" by the Reichsbank, much of which was located in the Bohemian Discount bank and the Bohemian Union Bank. Soon, after Bohemia became a German protectorate, the Nazi party was able to delve into the large gold reserves of the Czechoslovakian National Bank, which was located in Prague (Smith 5). Both Luxembourg and Belgium's assets were indirectly liquidated by the Nazis when France

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