The Great Gold Robbery: Nazi Germany Looted 600 Tons of Gold Worth Billions of Dollars Today
The German efforts during World War II were financed by gold, which today would be valued at billions of dollars. The country got this gold by robbing banks in countries like Austria, Knowledge at Wharton reported.
The robbery was part of a well-thought-out plan by Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht, a German economist, to ensure that the country does not have to depend on others for their combat needs like the previous World War.
Throughout World War II, the German authorities robbed more than 600 tons of gold from European countries, Time reported. At that time, the stolen gold's worth was around $600 million. Today, it would be worth $22 billion. The whole saga started with the invasion of Austria in 1938.
Schacht was a respected banker who was appointed by Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany, to arrange funds for the war and end the inflation that the country had found itself in after the previous war, Time reported. Schacht's plans centered on the philosophy of autarky or self-sufficiency.
Schacht championed the philosophy because of Germany's experiences in the First World War, Time reported. Germany's defeat in World War I had largely been due to the British blockade, which caused millions of Germans to starve. Schacht's main objective for his plan was that Germany would never again have to depend on other countries for food and war supplies.
The British Naval Blockade was a strategy employed by English authorities to starve Germany and Austria-Hungary into submission during the First World War, IWM reported. The authorities blockaded enemy ports, ensuring that Germans did not get any supplies from their foreign allies.
They blocked the English Channel, the North Sea, and the Adriatic Sea. The German allies found it hard to supply food and war commodities, and this weakened war efforts.
Schacht faced a multitude of problems in making Germany self-sufficient, Time reported. Essential war products like weapon-grade steel were not indigenous to the country. Germany had a high supply of low-quality iron ore but required tungsten to transform it into weapon-grade steel.
Tungsten was available in Spain and Portugal and needed to be bought because Germany had no alliances with them in place. Germany needed similar exchanges with Sweden and Turkey for materials like chromium and ball bearings. These countries wouldn't accept German currency and were willing to trade in gold, Time reported.
To get gold for trading Nazis began robbing central banks. The first victim was Austria's central bank, which Berlin invaded in March 1938. Germany stole 91 tons of gold and 14 tons of personal bullion from the country. The bullion (physical gold) was taken from the Jewish community in the country.
As Germany invaded, the authorities stole that nation's bullion, Time reported. The pursuit was successful in Czechoslovakia and Holland, but officials in Poland and Norway moved their gold to Canada and the U.S. to ensure it didn't fall into the German hands.
One of the recorded instances of such a transfer happened in September 1939, when a group of Poland Central Bank officials moved 81 tons south to Romania after which the British and French authorities transported it to Toulon for safety.
In 1940, German gold reserves were depleting and the country was coming face to face with a harrowing crisis similar to what happened in World War I, Time reported. The crisis was averted when the Germans got their biggest haul during the invasion of Western Europe. Berlin stole 205 tons of Belgium gold and 137 tons of Dutch gold. This gold aided in the invasion of the Soviet Union, a year later.
The last major booty Nazi Germany seized was 119 tons of Italian gold from Rome, Time reported.
In February 1945, when the war was at its closing moments, German authorities sent two trainloads of gold and precious artworks to a salt mine in Merkers, a village in central Germany. Two months later, the U.S. recovered the gold. They found only 219 tons of gold out of the more than 600 tons the Nazis had stolen.
To this date, several treasure hunters seek the gold that many believe had been hidden by Nazi authorities in various places, Smithsonian Magazine reported. The story of a mythical train loaded with Nazi gold, valuable art, and jewels hidden somewhere in European countries has become popular amongst people, causing multiple researchers to seek it over the years.