Nazi Gold

A "compelling [and] carefully researched" account of greed, duplicity, and an unholy partnership between Switzerland and the Third Reich (The Washington Times). In the third and fourth decades of the twentieth century, the European continent fell, nation by nation, to Nazi Germany's invincible war machine. But Switzerland remained neutral during World War II, taking no side and bowing to no master. For a long time after, that was the accepted history-but it was a lie. Respected British investigative journalist Tom Bower reveals the shocking truth about how the government of Switzerland and the Swiss banking industry knowingly collaborated with the Reich during the darkest era in modern history. With the knowledge and acquiescence of the Swiss government, hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from Jewish Holocaust victims-including gold teeth extracted from the mouths of those murdered-were systematically hidden away in Swiss bank accounts. But these crimes did not end with the defeat of Hitler. For the next half century, Swiss authorities engaged in a covert campaign of lies, subterfuge, and corruption to hide the wealth from its rightful owners-concentration camp survivors and the families of the slain-while freely dispensing the illegally obtained funds to fugitive Nazis. Written by "one of the finest investigative journalists in the English-speaking world," Nazi Gold is an explosive true account of state-endorsed crimes and atrocities; of former victims fighting courageously for their due in the face of prejudice, hatred, and indifference; and of the dedicated US Treasury agents who worked tirelessly for decades to right an unconscionable wrong (The Washington Times).

Autorentext

Tom Bower (b. 1946) is a British writer and investigative journalist. A former reporter for BBC's Panorama, his books include unauthorized biographies of Tiny Rowland, Robert Maxwell, Mohamed Al-Fayed, Geoffrey Robinson, Gordon Brown, and Richard Branson. He won the 2003 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award for Broken Dreams, an investigation into corruption in English football.

Zusammenfassung
A compelling [and] carefully researched account of greed, duplicity, and an unholy partnership between Switzerland and the Third Reich (The Washington Times). In the third and fourth decades of the twentieth century, the European continent fell, nation by nation, to Nazi Germany's invincible war machine. But Switzerland remained neutral during World War II, taking no side and bowing to no master. For a long time after, that was the accepted historybut it was a lie. Respected British investigative journalist Tom Bower reveals the shocking truth about how the government of Switzerland and the Swiss banking industry knowingly collaborated with the Reich during the darkest era in modern history. With the knowledge and acquiescence of the Swiss government, hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from Jewish Holocaust victimsincluding gold teeth extracted from the mouths of those murderedwere systematically hidden away in Swiss bank accounts. But these crimes did not end with the defeat of Hitler. For the next half century, Swiss authorities engaged in a covert campaign of lies, subterfuge, and corruption to hide the wealth from its rightful ownersconcentration camp survivors and the families of the slainwhile freely dispensing the illegally obtained funds to fugitive Nazis. Written by one of the finest investigative journalists in the English-speaking world, Nazi Gold is an explosive true account of state-endorsed crimes and atrocities; of former victims fighting courageously for their due in the face of prejudice, hatred, and indifference; and of the dedicated US Treasury agents who worked tirelessly for decades to right an unconscionable wrong (The Washington Times).

Inhalt

• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• List of Abbreviations
• 1 Confrontation and Tears
• 2 The Seeds of Crime
• 3 The Crusade
• 4 Looted Gold
• 5 "An Impenetrable Racket"
• 6 Cracks
• 7 The Nazis' Friends
• 8 The Pawns
• 9 Washington Showdown
• 10 The Hidden Millions
• 11 Perfidious Swiss
• 12 The Polish Conspiracy
• 13 New Hope
• 14 Keepers of the Flame
• 15 Complicating the Riddle
• 16 The Deal
• Final Words
• Postscript
• Sources
• Bibliography
• Index
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author