Annex to the Report on the Investigation of the Deutsche Bank, March 1947, Copy 46 D.

Office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.) Finance Division

Published by Office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.), US Zone, 1947

About this Item

Folio. [2] 51 leafs, 2pp. index of names, 7 leafs exhibit list and certification of reproduction with facsimile signature of Charles E. Bancroft, 293 leafs with facsimile reproductions of 137 exhibits. Original half black binder tape over paper covered boards with title pasted on spine and front cover. This rare document is based on a great number of important records which became accessible at the Deutsche Bank's Hamburg branch only after the end of WWII. For the first time, information is revealed on some rather unusual transactions which tend to incriminate the bank even further for its participation in spoliation and aryanization from 1933 to 1945*. Of particular interest is the description of the manner in which the Deutsche Bank, following the Munich agreement of 1938, grasped control of two outstanding Czech banking institutions: the Boehmische Unionbank and the Deutsche Agrar- und Industriebank. This work recounts the Deutsche Bank's participation in the "aryanization" of the German economy from 1932 to 1940, drawing on internal Deutsche Bank records as well as material seized by Allied troops after World War II. It shows how, as the Nazis began to rise to power, the bank reluctantly purged itself of Jewish directors, followed by Jewish employees, in response to state pressure. Later, the regime enlisted the bank employees' professional skills, domestic and foreign relationships, and financial muscle to eliminate Jewish control and ownership of German companies. The expropriation was conducted gradually, since many hastily seized companies proved worthless without the management of their Jewish former owners, and also because this method muted foreign criticism and preserved a veneer of legality. This stands in stark contrast to the brutally simple methods used by the Nazis in occupied countries and, after 1941, in Germany as well. The numerous incriminating documents retrieved at the end of the hostilities are reproduced in facsimile. The index of names includes institutions as well as names of high level Nazis and their supporters. Rare! No listing in KVK. Sporadic and minor damp-staining on covers and at upper margin of pages (not affecting text). Text in English, documents in German. Binding and interior in overall good+ condition. * "After Adolf Hitler came to power, instituting the Third Reich, Deutsche Bank dismissed its three Jewish board members in 1933. In subsequent years, Deutsche Bank took part in the aryanization of Jewish-owned businesses; according to its own historians, the bank was involved in 363 such confiscations by November 1938. During the war, Deutsche Bank incorporated other banks that fell into German hands during the occupation of Eastern Europe. Deutsche provided banking facilities for the Gestapo and loaned the funds used to build the Auschwitz camp and the nearby IG Farben facilities. Deutsche Bank revealed its involvement in Auschwitz in February 1999. In December 1999 Deutsche Bank, along with other major German companies, contributed to a US$5.2 billion compensation fund following lawsuits brought by Holocaust survivors.[25][26] The history of Deutsche Bank during the Second World War has been documented by independent historians commissioned by the Bank. During World War II, Deutsche Bank became responsible for managing the Bohemian Union Bank in Prague, with branches in the Protectorate and in Slovakia, the Bankverein in Yugoslavia (which has now been divided into two financial corporations, one in Serbia and one in Croatia), the Albert de Barry Bank in Amsterdam, the National Bank of Greece in Athens, the Creditanstalt-Bankverein in Austria and Hungary, the Deutsch-Bulgarische Kreditbank in Bulgaria, and Banca Commercial Romana in Bucharest. It also maintained a branch in Istanbul, Turkey" (from Wikipedia). Bookseller Inventory # 37284

Bibliographic Details

Title: Annex to the Report on the Investigation of ...

Publisher: Office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.), US Zone

Publication Date: 1947

Binding: Hardcover

Book Condition:g+

Edition: First and only edition.