Report: Swiss Knew Nazi Gold Stolen

This nation’s central bank knew much of the gold it bought from Nazi Germany was stolen but turned a blind eye to its origins, according to a sweeping study released Monday by government-appointed experts.

The 190-page report confirmed earlier findings that Switzerland was the leading center of German gold transactions abroad during World War II and that the Swiss National Bank was the biggest client, buying 1.2 billion Swiss francs’ worth, or about $280 million at wartime prices.

The gold the central bank bought would be worth more than $2.5 billion today, officials have said.

But Swiss officials said Monday that they saw no need to make more amends for neutral Switzerland’s wartime role.

The report broke new terrain by being the first study sanctioned by the Swiss government to state clearly that wartime managers at the central bank knew they were buying stolen gold from the Reichsbank, Hitler’s central bank.

“There is no longer any doubt: The governing board of the National Bank was informed at an early point in time that gold from the central banks of occupied nations was being held by the Reichsbank, and the Swiss National Bank was also aware of other methods used by the Germans to confiscate gold from private individuals before and after the outbreak of the war,” the report said.

“Although it was plain for all to see that Germany was acquiring gold by illegal means, the [Swiss central bank] authorities appear to have remained wedded to ‘business as usual,’ ” the panel of nine Swiss, U.S., Israeli, Polish and British historians said.

The report drew a distinction by adding that there was no direct evidence Swiss central bank managers knew that the gold they bought included loot from death camp inmates and other individuals, or so-called victim gold.

However, a summary of the findings said that as of 1941, the central bank’s board of governors “became increasingly aware that Jews and other persecuted groups were being robbed, and in 1943 at the latest, the [Swiss central bank] had knowledge of the systematic extermination of victims of the Nazi regime.”

After the report was unveiled, the central bank expressed “profound regret” that it unintentionally bought gold stolen by the Nazis from Holocaust victims but added that it saw no need to make more amends for its wartime role.

The Swiss government said Monday that it believes the central bank made a sufficient gesture by contributing $68.2 million last year to a humanitarian fund for needy Holocaust survivors set up by Swiss banks and companies.

But the World Jewish Congress, which has led a crusade for Swiss banks to return assets belonging to Holocaust victims, said Monday that the refusal to make amends for the central bank’s gold purchases “desecrates the memory of the victims of the Nazis, both Jewish and non-Jewish.”