Nazi Millionaires
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19. Von Kurt Emmenegger, Sie und Er (February 1963), “Mord an Dr. Billitz?” p. 18, Magyar Országos Levéltár, Hungarian National Archives, Budapest, Hungary.
20. Von Kurt Emmenegger, Sie und Er (February 1963), “Mord an Dr. Billitz?” p. 18, Magyar Országos Levéltár, Hungarian National Archives, Budapest, Hungary.
21. Von Kurt Emmenegger, Sie und Er (February 1963), “Mord an Dr. Billitz?” p. 18, Magyar Országos Levéltár, Hungarian National Archives, Budapest, Hungary.
22. Nuremberg Trials, Document 2605-PS.
Chapter 5 Notes
1. CIC “Interrogation of SS Captain Erwin Haufler,” September 14, 1945.
2. 970th CIC “Report of Interrogation of SS Lieutenant Hans Schiffler,” September 17, 1945; “Interrogation of SS Captain Erwin Haufler,” September 29, 1945.
3. Arrest Report, Julius Schaub, May 11, 1945, 36th CIC Detachment, Kitzbühl; “Report of Conversation among Gretl Braun Fegelein, Frau Herta Schneider, and Walter Hirschfeld,” September 25, 1945. Hirschfeld later served the Allies as an undercover agent, a fascinating story told elsewhere in this book.
4. 101st Airborne Division Headquarters, CIC, “Interrogation of Christa Schroeder,” July 13, 1945.
5. “Haufler Interrogation,” September 15, 1945.
6. “Haufler Interrogation,” September 15, 1945.
7. “Haufler Interrogations,” September 15 and 29, 1945; 1945.
8. CIC, “History of SS Major Johannes Göhler,” Seventh Army Interrogation Center, August 6, 1945; Haufler Interrogation, September 15, 1945.
9. “Göhler History,” August 6, 1945.
10. Seventh Army Interrogation Center, “Report: Hedwig Potthast, Reichsführer Himmler’s Mistress,” by Major Paul Kubala, May 22, 1945; 970th CIC, “Interrogation of Miss Erika Lorenz,” October 17, 1945.
11. “Haufler Interrogation,” September 15, 1945; “Konrad Interrogation,” August 21, 1945.
12. “Interrogation of Erika Lorenz,” October 17, 1945; “Konrad Interrogations,” August 21, 1945, and October 29, 1945.
13. CIC, “Interrogation of Johannes Haferkamp,” November 8, 1945.
14. CIC, “Interrogation of Willy Pichler,” November 1, 1945; “Haferkamp Interrogation,” November 8, 1945.
15. “Interrogation of Willy Pichler,” November 1, 1945; CIC, “Interrogation of Frau Konrad,” November 1, 1945.
16. “Interrogation of Frau Konrad, November 1, 1945.
17. “Interrogation of Fritz Konrad,” October 31, 1945.
18. 970th CIC, “Interrogation of Mrs. Minna Konrad,” October 31, 1945.”
19. 970th CIC, “Interrogation of Mrs. Martha von Broskowitz,” August 16, 1945.
Chapter 6 Notes
1. Wilhelm Höttl, The Secret Front: The Story of Nazi Political Espionage (New York, 1954), pp. 85–86.
2. “Contents,” p. 2, signed by Major J. McNally, Chief, Counterfeit Detection Section, undated; Heinz Hohne, The Order of the Death’s Head: The Story of Hitler’s SS (New York, 1970), pp. 295–297.
3. “Contents,” p. 2, Major J. McNally, undated.
4. Höttl, The Secret Front, pp. 85–86; Wilhelm Höttl Testimony, Nuremberg, October 28, 1945. According to Höttl, Walther Funk “succeeded in preventing any wholesale distribution of the forged notes in countries under German domination, and operations were therefore confined to enemy territories.” The Secret Front, p.86.
5. Höttl, The Secret Front, p. 85; CIC, “Report of Former Jewish Prisoner Max Bober,” unsigned and undated. The number of Jews working on the project quickly rose from 60 to 140.
6. Germany lost Turkey as an ally in August 1944. This interrupted the free flow of goods between the two countries, including the precious linen imported from Turkey that had become indispensable to the manufacture of paper for the counterfeiting process. Although the Germans improvised, the forged notes produced in 1945 were not nearly as good as those produced in 1943 and 1944.
7. Murray T. Bloom, Money of Their Own: The Great Counterfeiters (New York, 1957), p. 245.
8. “Contents,” p. 5, Major J. McNally, undated.
9. “Complimentary Report of Counterfeiting of British Banknotes,” Attachment, S. G. Michel, July 25, 1945, Captain, French Army; “Contents,” p. 9, Major J. McNally, undated. Krüger came up with a remarkable idea in order to keep up the morale of those laboring under a death sentence: he awarded medals to his most deserving workers. Six employees, including three Jews, were bestowed the Iron Cross, Second Class, and twelve other prisoners, almost all of whom were Jewish, accepted a lesser decoration. Krüger’s superior had initially shot down the idea. Krüger, however, pulled some strings with Ernst Kaltenbrunner’s aide-de-camp and made it appear as though all those receiving the award were German. Kaltenbrunner signed the papers without examining them closely. Although some of the SS guards grew incensed when they spotted Jews wearing German awards, Kaltenbrunner was amused (a rare state for him) by the whole affair when he discovered what Krüger had done.
10. Headquarters Counter Intelligence Corps, Fifteenth Army Group, 430th CIC Detachment, “Memorandum for Officer in Charge,” Special Agent Richard W. Lindsey, July 13, 1945; Detachment A-2, 2677 Regiment OSS, “Subject, Documents, Counterfeit,” Civilian OSS Erick A. Harris, June 22, 1945; Höttl, The Secret Front, pp. 85–86. At the end of the war the British withdrew all the five pound notes from circulation and replaced them with a fresh series. The only certain way to distinguish the forged notes from the originals is the watermark. In the original, the line into the bottom “N” of “England” is slightly offset. This “error” was inadvertently corrected in the German version, where the line runs into the middle of the bottom “N” of word “England.” It has been estimated that by war’s end some 40% of the British notes in circulation were forgeries.
11. CIC, “Report on Interrogation of Walter Schellenberg,” June 27, 1945, and July 12, 1945; Bloom, Money of Their Own: The Great Counterfeiters, p. 251.
12. PIR, No. 96, USFET MIS, Lieutenant George Wenzel, January 17, 1946.
13. Friedrich Schwend’s files have been carefully and intentionally purged. The United States acquired all the SS personnel files in our Berlin sector immediately after the war ended. Today, Schwend’s file–and his RuSHA file–are not among them. The RuSHA (Race and Settlement Main Office) file was also known as the “purity” file, a genealogy certificate stretching back five generations for SS members and their wives. Accepted “purity” was 1/5 Jew, or less. A microfilm copy of these SS files, RuSHA files, and the captured Nazi Party membership list (captured by the U.S. Seventh Army from Munich) are all available at the National Archives, complete with a master index. Both Schwend’s Nazi Party index card and his Nazi Party file are missing. Someone went to considerable trouble to expunge his background. Perhaps he bribed a high ranking American officer to pull the card and files, or perhaps someone in the Intelligence service or U.S. Army was ordered to remove the information. The result is that the little information available on Schwend is derived from third party files and secondary sources.
14. CIC, “Interrogation Memorandum of Josef Dauser,” May 30, 1945.
15. “Interrogation Memorandum of Josef Dauser,” May 30, 1945. Gröbel was killed by partisans near Trieste, Italy, in September 1943.
16. PIR, No. 96, United States Forces European Theater, Military Intelligence Service, Lieutenant George Wenzel, January 17, 1946.
17. Headquarters U.S. Forces European Theater, Interrogation Center, Prisoner O/Fuerher Spacil, Josef, Chief of Amt. II, RSHA,” August 4, 1945; PIR, No. 96, USFET MIS, Lieutenant George Wenzel, January 17, 1946; CIC, “Interview with Rudolf Guenther,” conducted by George Wenzel, February 8, 1946.
18. CIC, “Interview with Rudolf Guenther,” conducted by George Wenzel, February 8, 1946.
19. Undated statement signed by Mr. Erna Hoffmann (the wife of Adolf Hitler’s photographer Heinrich Hoffmann).
20. Memorandum, “Sale of Foreign Currency by the RSHA,” May 1
7, 1945. According to Spitz, ibid., Friedrich Schwend was at the meeting and also threatened him with harm if he refused to act as his agent. See also, “RSHA Financial Operation,” Memorandum compiled by Lieutenant Winston Scott, USN, to Sir Edward Reid, MI5, June 13, 1945.
21. “RSHA Financial Operation,” June 13, 1945. Josef Dauser’s reference to Obersturmführer Gröbel is curious because that officer was killed in Trieste, Italy, in the Fall of 1943. Dauser’s secretary kept the accounts in the Munich branch and was, according to Dauser, “well informed on the whole plan.” Exactly what “well informed” meant is open to some debate. He may have told her everything once he came to fully realize several men were pulling a gigantic scam and that the operation was being carefully hidden from Berlin’s prying eyes.
22. “RSHA Financial Operation,” June 13, 1945.
23. CIC, “Sale of Foreign Currency by the RSHA,” May 17, 1945; “RSHA Financial Operation,” June 13, 1945; Edgar Breitenbach, “Goudstikker Paintings and Rugs bought by George Spitz,” November 11, 1949, U.S. Army. All art transactions conducted with Germans after 1939 were considered invalid and the pieces, if located, were returned to their country of origin.
24. Lynn N. Nicholas, The Rape of Europa (New York, 1994), pp. 83–85.
25. Wealth has its privileges. Joseph Kennedy, the U.S. Ambassador to England, obtained visas to America for the widow, Desirée Goudstikker, and her child. Office of Strategic Services, Art Looting Investigating Unit, “The Göring Collection,” by Lieutenant Theodore Rousseau, September 15, 1945.
26. “RSHA Financial Operation,” June 13, 1945; “The Göring Collection,”by Lieutenant Theodore Rousseau, September 15, 1945.
27. “RSHA Financial Operation,” June 13, 1945; “Report on Interrogation of Walter Schellenberg,” June 27, 1945, and July 12, 1945.
28. “RSHA Financial Operation,” June 13, 1945; “Interrogation of Rudolf Guenther,” February 6, 1946. Notorious Einsatzgruppen commander Otto Ohlendorf claimed after the war that Josef Spacil spent considerable effort placing forged British banknotes into circulation for the purchase of black market items in southern Europe. CSDIC (UK) GG Report, SRGG 1322 C, July 7, 1945, IRR File Ohlendorf, National Archives. The gigantic Nazi criminal bureaucracy made it relatively easy for unscrupulous men to stockpile fortunes beyond their wildest dreams; Operation Bernhard proved that conclusively. During his postwar trial Ohlendorf explained how several Nazi party district leaders, particularly in Poland, plundered the system. Erich Koch, the Gauleiter of East Prussia, created a foundation in his own name of which he was the sole member, manager, and director. He protected his little fiefdom by lavishing senior officials and officers, like Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, with expensive gifts. Koch absconded to Flensburg aboard a ship “loaded with riches,” Ohlendorf testified in May 1945. Koch eluded capture until 1949, when he was tried by the Polish government and sentenced to death. His sentence was later commuted and he died in prison in 1986 at the age of 90. Another similar operator was Arthur Greiser, the Gauleiter of Posen, who was connected “with shady dealings in gold articles which originated from the Lodz ghetto.” According to Ohlendorf, Greiser bought luxurious houses and a big country estate. Ibid.
29. CIC, “Interrogation of Walter Schellenberg,” June 27-July 12, 1945.
30. Unpublished report, “Interrogation of Harry Stolowicz,” by W. Rukin, Chief Inspector, Criminal Investigation Department, New Scotland Yard, September 7, 1945. Although Great Britain did not suffer unduly, several prominent but unsuspecting victims did suffer as a result of the counterfeit operation. Miedl & Co. Bank of Amsterdam dealt in foreign exchange on the Iberian Peninsula. One of its prestigious customers was Hermann Göring. Another victim was Dalmann shipbuilders of Sweden, which purchased nautical material from Great Britain with the counterfeit pound notes and in turn sold seafaring supplies to the German Navy. PIR, No. 96, USFET MIS, Lieutenant George Wenzel, January 17, 1946.
31. “Interrogation of Harry Stolowicz,” by W. Rukin, September 7, 1945.
32. CIC, “Report of Jewish Prisoner, Max Bober,” May 6, 1945.
33. www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,251320-412,00.shtml.
34. “Interrogation of Harry Stolowicz,” by W. Rukin, September 7, 1945. There seems to be good reason why the Jews in Sachsenhausen liked Bernhard Krüger. According to the O.I.P.C. (Interpol), some 300 people eventually worked in the concentration camp on the counterfeiting operation. Blocks 18 and 19 were only built to accommodate half that number. Krüger stuffed Jews into the barracks, worked them hard–but by doing so saved their lives. Few summary executions seem to have taken place on his watch, even though warranted under German law. One Jewish prisoner known only has “Gutig” pilfered several sheets of English notes, although what he intended to do with them inside a concentration camp is anyone’s guess. Instead of a bullet to the head Gutig was ordered to return the notes and never repeat the crime. Another prisoner, “Sukenik,” was not so fortunate. He contracted tuberculosis. In an effort to prevent the disease from spreading through the counterfeiting operation, the prisoner was immediately executed (probably on Krüger’s orders) and his body incinerated.
35. 430th CIC Detachment, “Counterfeit Money Statement by Eric Victor Doubrava,” July 13, 1945, Appendix E.
Chapter 7 Notes
1. G-2 (Intelligence) Records Section, undated memorandum, “Concerning Spacil,” page stamped 210294–95.
2. For a full account of this remarkable story, see selected indexed entries in Adam Labor, Hitler’s Secret Bankers: The Myth of Swiss Neutrality During the Holocaust (New York, 1997). Just before this book went to press, author Kenneth Alford discovered a two-page consignment from the Melmer account to the Municipal Pawn Brokerage, 111 Central Office, Berlin N 4, Elsaesser St 74, dated September 15 1942. It has about 6,000 pieces of gold, diamonds, platinum, and silver jewelry listed, and is broken down into ten categories, each weighed by kilogram gross. The instructions read: “We submit to you the following valuables with the request for the best possible utilization.” International Military Tribunal, “Nazi Conspiracy and Aggressors,” Document 3948-PS, Volume supplement A (U.S. Printing Office, 1946–1949), page 677.
3. Special Investigations Squad, 970th CIC, “Ownership and Disposal of Effects Recovered as a Result of Interrogation of Oberführer Wilhelm (sic) Spacil, Head of Amt. II, RSHA,” by Robert Gutierrez, February 4, 1946.
4. “Concerning Spacil,” page stamped 210294; CIC, “Interrogation of Kurt Schiebel,” July 5, 1945; CIC, “Interrogation of Kurt Schiebel in Camp 71, Ludwigsburg, Germany,” undated.
5. Undated and untitled CIC Memorandum; “Interrogation of Kurt Schiebel,” July 5, 1945; “Ludwigsburg Interrogation of Kurt Schiebel.” One of the more interesting items stashed aboard Spacil’s plane was microfilm of the original papers used in proceedings filed against those accused of plotting to kill Adolf Hitler in the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt. The film was removed from Berlin for safekeeping on Ernst Kaltenbrunner’s orders.
6. “Interrogation of Kurt Schiebel,” July 5, 1945; 307th CIC Document, “Diary of Spacil Concerning Period Under Investigation.” It is unclear whether Kurt Schiebel’s description of the responsibilities given to Spacil and himself were assigned at this meeting, as described in the text, or before Spacil left Berlin for Salzburg. Our research suggests the specific tasks were ordered after he landed in Salzburg. This initial meeting with Kaltenbrunner in Altaussee—even though Spacil does not elaborate on it in his diary entry—seems the most likely scenario. Regardless of when this order was assigned, we know for a fact that Kaltenbrunner ordered it, Spacil knew of it, and that he acted accordingly.
7. “Undated Memorandum Concerning Spacil,” page stamped 210296.
8. Exhibit B, “Spacil Diary,” p. 40. For a fascinating insight into Skorzeny’s career and how he viewed his service for Hitler’s Nazi Germany, see Otto Skorzeny, My Commando Operations: The Memoirs of Hitler’s Most Daring Commando (Schiffer, 1995). Accordin
g to one Allied record, Schuler had kept considerable funds belonging to Bureau VI at his office in Innsbruck. These funds, concluded the report, “were probably given to Otto Skorzeny and consisted of approximately 2 million Reichsmarks and a considerable quantity of dollars.” They were never accounted for. See “Undated Memorandum Concerning Spacil,” page stamped 210294.
9. Exhibit B, “Spacil Diary,” p. 40. According to Kurt Schiebel, Skorzeny’s staff officer was given 10,000 Swedish crowns, $5,000 U.S. dollars, 5,000 Swissfrancs, and 5,000,000 Reichs marks—in addition to the 50,000 gold francs. “Interrogation of Kurt Schiebel,” July 5, 1945. Regardless of what Captain Radl received during his short visit to Spacil’s headquarters, it is unclear whether these funds were utilized to pay troops and purchase supplies, or whether they were concealed for later use.
10. A good example of just how freely fortunes were paid out is offered by Josef Spacil himself, who admitted that many of the heads of various RSHA offices turned over their “liquid assets” to him at Salzburg. He, in turn, “distributed them to persons urgently requesting funds.” One member of Heinrich Himmler’s staff received 500,000 Reichsmarks. Several different amounts were paid to the commander of the Salzburg garrison “and the last of the gold and foreign exchange went to Kurt Scheidler.” None of these funds were officially logged, and it is impossible to discern exactly when these transactions occurred. The ultimate fate of the money is unknown. “Undated Memorandum Concerning Spacil,” page stamped 210294. Spacil’s adjutant, Kurt Schiebel, told Allied interviewers that almost immediately after they were in Salzburg three agents received large sums of money. One was handed 10,000 gold francs, $1,000 in U.S. dollars, 2,000 Swiss paper francs, and 1,000 Swedish crowns. His assignment, remembers, Schiebel, “was to retreat to the hills above the town of Lent and to continue resistance.” Whether these funds came out of the Heiliger account or some other slush fund provided by Kaltenbrunner or other RSHA officials is unclear. Even the recipient is unknown. “CIC Interrogation of Kurt Schiebel,” July 5, 1945.