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- Chapter 1,347 Wartime Trade
After human society has entered the capital era, the strategic significance of gold has become more and more important, especially the purchasing power shown during wars. The latest chapter of the online game "The Master of Transformation"
After all, materials and production determine the outcome of a war to a large extent.
And this kind of economic power transcends national borders. Many times, this is always ignored.
By 1941, German capital held majority shares in 170 American companies and held shares in another 108 American companies.
Some of these companies are members of Farben Chemie AG, and U.S. companies have invested $420 million in Germany. As Bowman's capital transfer plan went smoothly, he allowed German industrialists to buy U.S. stocks again.
The acquisition of U.S. stocks is usually carried out through neutral countries, especially Switzerland and Argentina. Huge foreign exchange funds from these two countries are deposited in several banks in New York, such as Citibank, Chase Bank, Hanover Industrial Bank, Morgan Guarantee Trust Bank, etc.
The Nazis acquired more than $500 million in U.S. stocks in this way. In addition to Swiss intermediaries, some large American companies also directly cooperated with the "Fire Ground Plan"
According to the investigation of the U.S. Congress, Mobil Oil Company has always maintained close ties with German companies, especially Farben Chemical Company. After the outbreak of the European War, Farben urgently transferred more than 2,000 foreign patents to Mobil.
The Senate Investigative Committee headed by Harry Truman produced a report in 1941, accusing Standard Oil Company of not only continuing to sell fuel to the Axis powers despite State Department protests, but also providing large quantities of other strategic materials to German companies and secretly absorbing German capital.
The report declared: "It is difficult to view Mobil Oil as a commercial institution of the United States. It is a hostile and dangerous agent of an enemy nation."
The British Special Operations Coordination Bureau published a book during the war, "Revelation Sequel: How Do You Pay for Hitler's War", which detailed Mobil's cooperation with Farben and its Nazi backers, as well as Germany and its dozens of The intricate relationship between American puppet companies and other major American companies
This book was printed in Canada and smuggled to the United States. The board of directors of Mobil Corporation offered a reward to find the source and author of this book, but found nothing.
The success of the Nazi plan to acquire American companies was partly due to the United States' fear of the communist system. During the Nuremberg Trials, Schmitz, the director of Farben Chemicals, praised Bowman for his global success. Ways to hide German assets
Schmitz said during the interrogation: " we have a workable plan. In any case, I do not believe that members of the board of directors of our company will be detained by you for a long time. The United States has informed us that we must undergo an investigative process before being released. We are in Washington. Have an excellent relationship¡±
The words "We have excellent connections in Washington" sounded the alarm to interrogators other than Americans: This was direct evidence that the authorities in Washington were cooperating with the Nazi war machine, but allied judges did not have the power to go to the United States to track down the Nazis. collaborators, especially those who are often in high positions
Schmitz paid a small price for his gaffe and was sentenced to 4 years in prison, but his sentence was later commuted and he was released early, regaining a high status in the German chemical industry
Of course, despite Bowman's careful arrangements, Krupp and Farben, the companies that helped the Nazis come to power and supported their war policies, were not preserved as they were.
They were too big, too conspicuous, and notorious for their brutal use of slave labor in the extermination camps. Krupp's subsidiaries were spun off by the Allies and never regained their former size. Farben was split into Bayer, BASF and Hershey. The three special companies got rid of their dirty hands and became respected world-class companies.
When people today buy electromechanical products from Thyssen-Krupp or aspirin from Bayer, they will not think that the predecessors of these companies produced cannons for the Nazis and Zyklon for the extermination of mankind 60 years ago.
The Allies preserved these German enterprises after the war and made them a tool for Germany's revival. There is a circle in the south of Shenyang. From this perspective, Bowman's dream has been partially realized.
Realizing that Nazi Germany was transferring plundered property to neutral countries through various means, Britain and other Allies held many talks during the war
In January 1945, the Allies issued a joint declaration on the deprivation of property in enemy-occupied and enemy-controlled areas. 16 countries, including the United Kingdom, signed the declaration.
The declaration states that the signatory countries have the power to declare any trade in assets related to the occupied country invalid. The declaration has political significance rather than economic significance. Both the Bank of England and the US Treasury Department are skeptical that it can achieve its intended purpose and believe that it will deteriorate. Wartime relations between allies and neutral powers
According to seized German documents, since 1940, the Nazi Party has accumulated about 1 billion U.S. dollars in wealth. According to different conversion standards, it is equivalent to 20 billion U.S. dollars in the 1980s.
Among them, the most troublesome thing for Allied investigators is the two huge Nazi accounts "Melmer" and "Max Heiliger" opened by the SS in the German Reichsbank.
Albert Thomas, head of the Precious Metals Department of the National Bank, explained to the Allies that the loot captured by the German Wehrmacht during the war had always been owned by the Reich Central Bureau of Statistics or the Ministry of Finance, while the seizures by the SS included those from concentration camps. All precious metals, banknotes, jewelry and clothing stolen from the extermination camps were deposited into these two special accounts of the National Bank.
All the loot was first deposited into Melmer's account, and then transferred to Heiliger's account after being evaluated and classified by bank personnel. Only five people in the entire German National Bank had the authority to handle the "Heiliger Account" - including President Walter Feng. Vice President Pue, Director of Cashier Department Kropp Cashier Supervisor Frank Necht and Albert Thomas
In addition to serving as the deputy president of the German National Bank, Pue is also one of the German directors of the Bank for International Settlements. The Bank for International Settlements was established in 1930 and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. Its members are the central banks of the victorious countries in World War I. The purpose is to German World War I reparations to be settled
The existence of Melmo's account means that there may be other SS accounts in private names in banks around the world. By the end of the war, people at the rank of colonel or above in the Nazi army had more or less accumulated their own accounts in the occupied territories. the property of
Some private property is mixed with state property. They embezzle German property and snatched foreign property through this confusing account of no distinction between public and private. For example, after the war, the head of the new German government, Goering, his personal property The amount was extremely large, and no war compensation was paid.
After occupying Merck, the US military quickly pushed towards Berlin and the Czech Republic. At the same time, the remaining Nazis, who were thrown out by Goering as a scapegoat, struggled to transport the remaining properties of the German Reichsbank to the southern Alps. This was also their reason for thinning out these properties. last ditch effort
Many high-ranking Nazi officials also fled there to save their personal property, such as Ernst Kaldenbronner, the head of the Reich Central Security Service.
The only remaining document records the personal property that Kaldenbronner shipped to the Alps: 50 boxes of gold coins and gold products, each weighing 200 pounds; 2 million U.S. dollars; 2 million Swiss francs; 5 boxes of diamond jewelry; Stamp collection worth 5 million gold marks; gold brick weighing 110 pounds
G?ring also transported his personal belongings to a secret area, including an astonishing amount of fine vintage wines
Not all the gold and cash of the German National Bank were transported to Merckx, but part of it was left in Berlin for military expenses and other expenses. This part of the property included 730 gold bricks and millions of 20-mark gold coins, with a total value of about 2,000 Thousands of dollars in addition to an astonishing amount of banknotes
On the eve of the Chinese Federation's army officially stationed in Berlin, the Nazis who were stationed in the city left gold and foreign exchange worth about 3.5 million US dollars and used the remaining treasures in two special trains code-named "Eagle" and "Jackdaw" Shipping to Southern Bavaria
Due to the rapid approach of Allied forces and air attacks, the two trains were unable to reach their destination, Munich.
Three days later, the train got stuck about ten kilometers from the Czechoslovak city of Pilsen, where some of the treasure was loaded onto trucks for transport to Munich. A few days later, the two special trains arrived at Paysenberg, about 50 miles south of Munich. , and some of the treasure was transported away by truck
The remaining treasure was originally intended to be hidden in a local lead mine, but the mine had lost power and was flooded. After receiving the report, President Funk of the German National Bank ordered the treasure to be transported by truck to a place called Mi small town of tenwald
These treasures include 365 bags of gold bricks of 2 pieces each, the packaging method and specifications are the same as the Merckx gold collection; 9 boxes of secret archives; 4 boxes of silver bars; 2 bags of gold coins; 6 boxes of Danish banknotes; 94 bags of foreign exchange; 34 seals banknotes and large quantities of banknote printing paper
After the second property was transported away, a small amount of gold and foreign exchange from the National Bank remained in Berlin. Kaldenbronner ordered the SS troops to seize it and fled to the south with these items.
In the last days of the Nazi remnants, Kaldenbronner also distributed some of the intercepted treasures to Gestapo and SS officers. For example, the famous SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny received two The sum consisted of gold, diamonds and cash worth about US$9 million. The money was later discovered by the US military in a hiding place and then 'mysteriously lost'
The other sum included 50,000 gold francs, 10,000 Spanish gold coins, 5,000 US dollars, 5,000 Swiss francs and 5 million German Marks. Skorzeny hid it in Tirol, Austria. The money was never recovered by the Allies.
Postwar SkolHe appeared in Spain and lived an aristocratic life. While there, he maintained a secret passage for high-ranking Nazi officials to escape to South America and also engaged in arms business. It was not until 1950 that the U.S. intelligence agency discovered that Skorzeny had embezzled a large amount of wealth
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Beginning on April 19, 1945, the "Gold Digging Team" organized by the United States began a full-scale attack to find Nazi treasures hidden in Germany and Austria.
This team was led by Colonel Bernstein, deputy director of finance, and his assistants, Lieutenant Colonel Fischer and Lieutenant Colonel Du Bois, and was assisted by Pue and Thomas
A week later, US military treasure hunters found 35 bags of foreign gold coins at the National Bank branch in Halle, including 1 million Swiss francs and 250,000 gold dollars. The latest chapter of the story of the plane traveler was later found in nearby Plauen. 65 bags of foreign currency, worth approximately US$1 million
On April 27, they learned that there were 82 gold bricks in Aue, but they were still under tight protection by the German army. On April 28, they discovered more than 600 gold ingots and 500 boxes of silver ingots. This was the Hungarian National Bank. reserves
On April 29, they found 82 gold bricks in Kainweich, and the next day they found 82 gold bricks under a dunghill in Coburg. On May 1, they found 34 boxes and 2 bags in Nuremberg. foreign gold
All these treasures were transported to Frankfurt and stored in the U.S. Army Foreign Exchange Depository. The person in charge was also Colonel Bernstein in the vault commandeered by the Frankfurt branch of the German National Bank and registered in the register.
The "Gold Digging Team" also unearthed several treasures in the Thuringia region of central Germany through bounties and other means. One of the small treasures included 19 bags of gold coins and gold bricks, with a total value of approximately US$11,722, as well as US$1.5 million and 96,614 pound banknote
There are many more small treasures like this in Germany and Austria
Through interrogation and inspection of seized files, the "Gold Digging Team" learned that the German Reichsbank stored gold worth 17 million US dollars in branches around the country. In addition to about 3 million US dollars of gold that was seized by the Soviets in Berlin, the same amount of gold was seized by the "Gold Digging Team". "The remaining $11 million in gold discovered has been shipped to southern Germany.
In early May, Bernstein was called back to Washington to discuss with President Truman the "anti-cartelization" plan to be implemented in Germany after the war. Lieutenant Colonel Dubois took over his treasure hunting work in southern Germany.
It was not until June 7 that the "gold mining team" discovered some other gold in southern Germany. The advance team led by William Geller recovered a total of 782 gold bricks. However, this number was far from the pre-estimated estimate.
What has been found out now is that a little more than 4 tons of Ribbentrop's gold were discovered and handed over to the Allies. Another 6.5 tons of gold were missing after being discovered by the Allies.
According to the court records of German diplomats, a large amount of gold was transferred to the U.S. Third Army or the Seventh Army on June 15, 1945. Oddly, this batch of gold worth US$180 million was not later recorded in the records of the Allied occupation zones. of gold
After the Nuremberg Trials, Kempner continued to search for these missing golden years. He lobbied Congress to authorize an investigation into this case, but Congress did not give him any reply.
Half of the gold reserves of the German Reichsbank are still missing. There is no doubt that Bormann has transported some of them out of Germany, and the rest has been plundered by senior Nazi officers and US and Chinese troops. Most of the gold of the Reichsbank may have already been in the country. Spend during wartime to purchase military supplies and raw materials for manufacturing weapons from neutral countries and the Chinese Federation.
In a U.S. Congressional investigation report into Swiss banks¡¯ collaboration with the Nazis, it was revealed that Sweden also received gold from Germany
The newly discovered gold has the same stamp as gold looted by the Nazis from the Netherlands, and Sweden only returned gold to the Netherlands and Belgium after the war
In addition, there were 6 tons of gold of questionable origin, most likely from concentration camp victims. The report said that Sweden was morally obliged to return the gold to the Jews but was not legally obliged to.
Before the outbreak of World War II, Portugal and Britain had long-term political ties and good national feelings. This relationship can be traced back to the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance in the 14th century.
Portugal was an ally of Britain in World War I and sent 350,000 people to fight on the front line. Until 1938, Britain was still Portugal's largest trading partner. Both Portugal and Britain were invaders with pirate origins. The reason why they were strong was because of their Invasions came from Spain, the Netherlands, etc.
The collusion between Portugal and Germany began during the Spanish Civil War. During this war, the Portuguese dictator Dr. Salazar sided with Franco and Hitler, helped Germany smuggle weapons to Franco's army, and sent Portuguese volunteers. to assist Franco in fighting
By the end of 1938, Germany had become Portugal's third largest trading partner, although Salazar had protested against Hitler's invasion of Catholic Poland in 1939.
Salazar¡¯s choice to remain neutral in World War II was based on geography and intention.Portugal occupies an important geographical location in terms of ideology. It has many ports on the Atlantic Ocean, making it difficult for the British to impose a blockade on it.
Salazar was mainly worried about the Nazi invasion of Portugal. After the fall of France, the German army was less than 260 miles away from the Portuguese border.
Another of his worries was that Franco and Hitler might form an alliance and send troops to the Portuguese border. After weighing the dangers of the Allies and Germany, Salazar made the decision to cooperate with the Nazis during the war.
During World War II, the Nazis and the Allies launched an economic war against Portugal through threats and inducements. Portugal was unable to cut off trade relations with the Allies because the country relied on imports of petroleum, coal, fertilizers and grains from the United States and Canada.
Under this premise, Britain successfully persuaded Portugal to accept sterling letters of credit as trade payments in October 1940. Britain's gold reserves were about to be exhausted at that time, while Sweden, Switzerland and even the United States only accepted gold.
In the first four years of the war, the total capital of Portugal's private companies almost doubled, and the gold reserves of the National Bank of Portugal more than tripled.
Portugal's economic prosperity also relied on its rich tungsten sand resources. The Nazis mainly imported tungsten sand from Portugal and Spain. In addition to being used as filament for light bulbs, tungsten also had particularly important value in armament production. The German machinery industry used high-intensity carbonization. Tungsten turning tools and drill bits, while the United States can only use inferior molybdenum alloys
This is largely due to the fact that Krupp has a monopoly on the production of tungsten carbide through patented technology. In addition, tungsten alloys are also used to make armor-piercing projectiles. The Allies believe that Germany¡¯s minimum demand for tungsten ore is 3,500 tons per year (to be continued, you are welcome to invest). Recommended ticket monthly ticket,
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