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History Associates Incorporated' • Chronology of
Treasury Safehaven Activities, 28 January 1997
so
27 jun 45
Interagency Negotiations
Taylor, the Treasury representative in London, drafted a memo outlining his
concerns over the lack of Treasury involvement in the Safehaven program. In
particular, he noted the Treasury offi,ce had been removed from the Safehave~ cables
distribution list despite theState Department's assurances that Treasury would receive
copies of all Safehaven notices. 145
29 Jun 45
Sweden
Freezing Assets
,
The Swedish government formally froze all German property in Sweden.146
29 jun 45
Switzerland
Safehaven
"........
An FCC Co~pliance Section memo outlined the Swiss failure to implement an
adequate Safehaven-type program. The Swiss were noted as failing to institute a
reliable census of Nazi external assets in Switzerland, failing to implement blocking,
decrees, and failing generally to take measures relating to looted property. The memo
recommended that in order to achieve Swiss cooperation the United States put special
blocking controls on leading Swiss banks, abandon the contemplated General License
for the Swiss, and revoke the outstanding Swiss General License. 147
<
jul45
Paris Reparations Agreement
Vesting Decree
<
I
Edwin W. Pauley, US Representative to the Allied Commission on Reparations,
and Isador Lubin, Associate Representative, issued a progress report on the
commission's activities and decisions. In a summary of problems to be resolved before
completion of a final reparations settlement, Pauley and Lubin listed as Problem V the
"extent and manner in which German foreign assets shall be used in payment of
reparations." They noted also that as of 12 July 1945 the problem had not reached
"active discussion" by the commission but that the Yalta declaration as well as the
145 Memo to the files, Taylor, 27JlJn 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 388, fldr:
letters to the Field [C38].
146
Report of the S<afehaven Program in Sweden, 26 Oct 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94
001, box 390, fldr: Swedish War Trade [C65].
Memorandum for the Files, 29 June 1945, RG 56, acc. 67A-1804, box 27, fldr:
Switzerland: Safehaven [031].
147
"
�i"
~.
History Associates Incorporated • Chronology of
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Soviet proposal before the commission indicated German foreign assets as a source of
reparations funds.
,
In an informal meeting with British and Russian representatives, however, the
American delegation raised the matter of control of assets through an Allied Control
Council vesting decree. According to the progress report, the British preferred a .
freezing decree to a vesting decree and suggested that the matter of freezing or
vesting, as well as the means, should be left to the respective Allied governments. The
delegates informally agreed to recommend to each Allied government "effective and
speedy" action to prevent dissipation of Nazi assets in neutral nations. '48
2 Jul 45 .
Switzerland
In· a widely publicized statement before the Senate Kilgore Committee, Orvis
Schmidt of the FFCreported that Germany's extensive holdings in Swiss accounts were
protected from Allied investigations by the Swiss banking secrecy laws. The Swiss
National Bank vehemently protested the Treasury Department's assertions. 149
3Jul45
Sweden
Vesting.Decree
Treasury 'FFC Acting Director Michael Hoffman recommended that a qible be
.sent to the American legation in Sweden urging the Swedish government not to take
independent vesting actions that might be prejudicial to operation of the Allied Control
.
Council vesting decree. ISO .
148 Progress Report on Allied Commission on Reparations, july 1945, Papers of Harry S
Truman, White House Central files, Confidential files, Box 2, fldr: Allied Reparations
Commission, at Harry S Truman Presidential library, Independence, MO [0-20].
"Swiss Shield German War Plans," undated newspaper article, RG 131, entry NN3-131
94-001, box 386, fldr: Clippings [C39]; State telegram, Harrison to Secretary of State, 12 Jul
1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 384, fldr: Safehaven Project (Not Processed), jul1
15, 1945 [C42]; Statement of Schmidt before the Kilgore Committee, 2 jul 1945, RG 56, entry
66A-816, box 45/ fldr: Schmidt's Statement before the Kilgore Committee and Exhibits B
through K [C84].
.
149
ISO Hoffman to Oliver, 3 ju11945, enclosure in Delaney to Coe, 6 jul1945, RG 56,
Accession 67A-245, Box 35, fldr: Sweden: Safehaven [03].
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6Jul45
Sweden
Safehaven
An internal Treasury memo noted that the Swedish parliament had passed
Safehaven legislation but that the issue of providing external assets information to the
Allied Control Council remained to be settled. 151
11 Jul 45
Switzerland
Interagency Negotiations
In a telephone conversation with Covey Oliver of the State Department, M. E.
locker of the Treasury discussed the problem of which agency was responsible for
handling the foreign policy implications of Safehaven, particularly questions 'arising from'
perceived Swiss failures to live up to the Currie mission accords. Oliver insisted that
the State Department's diplomatic representatives alone had the authority to approach
Swiss officials. 152
12 Jul 45
Vesting Decree
Interagency Negotiations
Treasury and State legal experts debated the terms of the Trea~ury Department
draft for the proposed vesting decree on German external assets. In particular, Covey
Oliver of the State Department argued that the decree presented in the draft would
create an enormous' administrative problem, and' suggested instead that the decree be .
geared only to target the most imp,ortant "spearhead" German firms.153 ,
1,4 Jul 45
DIS
TreaSury Policy
,
In a letter sent to all delegates to the Bretton Woods Conference, Morgenthau
noted that he did not plan to answer BIS President McKittrick's 2 May 1945 letter
defending the wartime conduCt of the BIS, since Bretton Woods Resolution V ma~dated
liquidation of the bank. Morgenthau requested the Bretton Woods signatories to
151
Delaney to Coe, 6 jul1945, RG 56, Accession 67A-245, Box 35, fldr: Sweden: Safehaven
[04].
Memo re: conversation with Covey Oliver, 11 jul1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001,
box 384, fldr: Safehaven Project (Not Processed) july 1-15, 1945 [C41].
152
153 Memo to 'the files, 12 jul 1945, RG' 56, entry 69A-7584, box 2, fldr: Country Files
Germany [C91].
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Indicate how they planned to treat the 2 May letter and any further communications
from the BIS. 154
16jul45
Interagency Negotiations
, In response to a request from Morgenthau, the Navy Department agreed to
advise the Coast Guard that its interrogations of neutral seamen should include
questions on hidden Axis assets and looted property. (NOTE: The Coast Guard is
usually part of the Treasury Department but becomes assigned to the Navy during
wartime).155
18 jul45
Switzerland
Safehaven
Treasury Policy
In an attachment to a memo to Harry White, Acting FFC Director Hoffman
summarized the Treasury position on the demands to be made on the Swiss
government. According to Hoffman, Treasury would insist that Switzerland disclose to
the United States "all information contained", in census reports on German property
held there; that the Swiss "hold intact" all German assets for eventual disposition by
the Allied Control Councilor the Allied Reparations Commission; and that Switzerland
disclose detailed information on all Swiss gold holdings and purchases of gold during
the war from Axis countries, Axis-occupied countries, and other neutrals. The
sunmlary attachment noted that if Switzerland did not comply with the demands, the
United Stat~s s~ould be prepared to impose sanctions, which should include an end to
shipments of coal and oil to Switzerland, a further embargo on essential commodities,
and complete freezing of all Swiss accounts in the United States. l56
Harry White forwarded Hoffman's summary memo to Secretary Vinson for his
'
reference on 28 july.157
154 Morgenthau to Anderson, 14 jul 1945, RG 56, Accession 56-75-01, Box 169, fldr:
BIS/O/OO Letters to Finance Ministers [ 0 5 ] . '
'
155 Waesche to Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, 16 jul 1945, RG 131, entrY NN3-131-94
001, box 384, fldr: Safehaven Project (Not Processed), jul 16 - 31, 1945 [C43].
156 Hoffman to White, 20 july 1945, Papers of Fred Vinson, Box 129, fldr: Foreign Funds
Control-Gene'ral-1945, copy at Harry S Truman Presidential Library, Independence, MO [022].
157 White to Vinson, 28 July 1945, Papers of Fred Vinson, Box 129, fldr: Foreign Funds
Control-General-1945, copy at Harry S Truman Presidential Library, Independence, MO [023].
�History AssoCiates Incorporated. Chronology of
Treasury Safehaven Activities, 28 January 1997
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21 Jul45
Tracing Assets
Portugal '
The US Embassy in Lisbon reported that there was an estimated $30 million in
German assets held in Portugal, although the Portuguese rejected this figure. Key
issues included assets from the sale of German ships to the Portuguese
government. 158
Aug-Sep 45
Vesting Decree
Treasury Policy
Interagency Negotiations
Treasury worked with the State Department in an effort to reach agreement on
procedures for vesting and to get Allied action on the proposed Allied Control Council
vesting decree. Treasury suggested that the decree be accompanied by an immediate
approach to all neutrals requiring them to hand over German assets under the threat of
economic sanctions. The FFC believed that the deadlock over the issue, which it
blamed on the British refusal to support any such decree until a policy towards the
neutrals had been decided upon, had brought the entire Safehaven program to an
impasse. 159
?Aug? 45
Tracing Assets
Switzerland
The Swiss issued a provisional decree providing for the restitution of all personal
property in Switzerland that was looted between September 1931 and May 1945. The
deadline for claimants was fixed at 31 December 1947; however, the decree excluded
all looted property transferred to Switzerland as part of a trade agreement. 160
2 Aug 45
Switzerland
Tracing Assets
Mann of Treasury sent White a memorandum outlining three Swiss decrees in
the field ofblocking controls (decrees of 16 February 1945, 27 April 1945, and 3 July
158 Safehaven Report, lisbon, 21 Ju11945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box384, fldr:
Safehaven Project (Not Processed) July 16 - 31, 1945 [C44]; Wood to White, 28 Jul1945, RG
131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 389, fldr: Portuguese Implementation [C45];'
159 FFC monthly report, Aug 1945,RG 131, entry 243, box 256, fldr: 1/45 to 12/45 [C96];
FFC monthly report, Sep 1945, RG 131, entry 243, box 256, fldr: 1/45 to 12/45 [C97].
Untitled summary report on Swiss negotiations, undated, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94
001, box 391, fldr: Swiss Negotiations May 1946 to - [CS1].
160
�History Associates incorporated - Chronology of
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1945). Mann's conclusion was that none of the decrees had been particularly effective,
although he regarded the latter two efforts as less successful than the first decree. 161
4 Aug 45
Tracing Assets
Switzerland
~'Sweden '
HIS
The Finance Division of the US Group Control Council in Germany began (?) a
series of talks with Emil Puhl, a Reichsbank official sent to negotiate with the Swiss in
March 1945, regarding gold shipments to Sweden and Switzerland, including the BIS.
There were many subsequent interrogations in which James Mann, Treasury ,
representative in Bern, took part. 162
11 Aug 45
, Inte'ragency Negotiations
Michael Hoffman, FFC Acting Director, drafted a letter to the State Department
protesting that the Safehaven liaison group had not been meeting weekly as it should
have been. In particular, the Treasury Department felt that these weekly meetings
would increase Treasury presence in the program. 163
14 Aug 45
Interagency Negotiations
UK
State and Treasu,ry representatives met with British officials in London to discuss
future planning issues for the Safehaven program. These issues included proposals for
reporting to the Soviet Union and overcoming neutral country objections to the far
ranging demands of Safehaven for control over all German external assets. The British
expressed concerns ()ver thecontinuatiop of Safehaven controls. 164
161 Mann to White, 2 August 1945, unprovenanced item in materials provided by Treasury
, Department to HAl as background for project [D32].
~ U.S. Group Control Council, Finance Division, Puhllnterrogation, 4 Aug 1945, RG 13],
entry NN3-131-94-001, box 3!!Z, fldr: Gold Transfers (No.2) [C46]; Safehaven report, Puhl
negotiations with SwisS, 27 Nov 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, ~ox 38~fldr: Safehaven
Pr 1ect (Not Processed), November 1945 [C70].
'
Q;
163 Hoffman to Covey, 8 Aug 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 384, fldr:
Safehaven Project (Not Processed) Aug 11 - 30, 1945 [C47].
164 State telegram, london to Secretary of State, 20 Aug 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-l31-94
001, box 384, fldr: Safehaven Project (Not Processed) Aug 16 -25, 1945 [C48]; Memo to the
files re: meeting with the Ministry for EconomiC Warfare, 22 Aug 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131
94-001, box 388, fldr: June 45 - Dec 45, Misc. [C49].
�History Associates Incorporated - Chronology of
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20 Aug 45 .
Tracing Assets
Interagency Negotiations
White, in a memo to Secretary Vinson, noted that Ambassador Pauley of the
. Allied Reparations Commission and others were debating what to do with the formerly
looted Nazi gold,kept by OMGUS at Frankfurt. White observed that Treasury, without
asserting a definite position on final disposition of the gold, felt that nothing should be
done that would prejudice a number of alternatives, in~luding treating the gold as US
war booty, treating the gold as "part of the pool .of German external assets for
reparation purposes," or treating the gold lito the extent that it is identifiable, as
restitutable property for return to former owners.,,'65
22 Aug 45
Switzerland
Safe haven
Treasury official Nathan reported to Cae of Treasury that the Currie mission was
highly successful in getting the Swiss government, as opposed to leading Swiss banks,
to begin to frustrate German plans through effective application of blocking controls.
Puhl, vice president of the Reichsbank, was sent to Bern to negotiate a new payment
agreement with the Swiss Federal Council in the.wake of the Currie mission.'66
29 Aug 45
Tracing Assets
Interagency Negotiations.
Coe of Treasury requested General Hildring to cable the Financial Division of
OMGUS for further information. a~out the Nazi looting of securities in the occupied
nations. Among the specific questions that Coe wanted OMGUS to address was "ls
there reason to believe that the Germans disposed of looted secu rities .through the
neutral countries?,,'67
~
.
30 Aug 45
Turkey
Interagency Negotiations
State and Treasury officials met to discuss problems facing the Safehaven
program in Turkey, and representatives from the embassy in Ankara insisted that the
r
I
G~ld,
165 White to Vinson, 20 August .1945, Papers of Fred Vinson, BOX. 130, fldr: Captured
copy at Harry S Truman Presidential library, Il)dependence, MO [024] .
. ' .
.
\
,
166 Nathan to Coe, 22 August 1945, unprovenanced item in materials provided by Treasury
Department to HAl as background for project [033],
t~, ,'67 Coe to Hildring, 29 August ~~45, .R.~ 56, Accession 69A-4707, ~x 82, fld..sGermany:
MlhtaryGovernment: Treasury PartiCipation [0-14],
.
.
.
,
"
.
"
,
�History Associates Incorporated • Chronology of
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proposed effort could never be implemented by the Turkish government. Although all
ag'reed that Turkey did not warrant any special treatment, Treasury officials
acknowledged that the program might have to be simplified if there were to be any ,
chance of getting Turkish acceptance. l68
7 Sep 45
,
Vesting Decree
Interagency Negotiations
At a meeting of the Safehaven liaison group, Treasury representatives announced
their objections to a State Department cable to all neutrals requesting information
about neutral attitudes towards the proposed vesting decree on German external
assets. Vinson sub~equently sent a note to the Secretary of State outlining the
Treasury Department's principal objections, including the unsettled issues of whether
the decree would go far enough in claiming these assets and whether the United
States would impose sanctions on any neutral that refused to recognize the
decree. 169
12 Sep 45
Tracing Assets
The Treasury Department-contacted the Commanding General of US European
Theater Forces requesting any information on the looting of US government and
corporate securities held in European countries.170
12 Sep 45
Switzerland
Interagency Negotiations
At the meeting of the Safehaven liaison group, Treasury representatives
expressed concerns over neutral attitudes to the proposed vesting decree and
shortcomings in the ongoing Safehaven investigations, particularly in Switzerland. The
168 Memo to the files, Compliance Section, 29 Aug 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001,
box 386, fldr: Argentine Replacement, [C50]; Memo to the files re: Safehaven program in
Turkey, 4 Sep 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 477, fldr: Turkey (General Files),
[C50a].
Memorandum tc) the files on the Safehaven meeting of September 7, 1945, RG 131,
entry NN3-131-94~001, box 384, fldr: 'safehaven Project (Not Processed), Sept 1 ~ 10, 1945
[C51]; White to Vinson, 10 Sep 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 384, fldr: Safehaven
Project (Not Processed), Sept 1 - 10, 1945 [C52]; Vinson to Secretary of State, 13 Sep 1945, RG
131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 384, f1dr: Safehaven Project (Not Processed), Sept 11 - 30,
1945 [C54].
'
169
l
170 WARCOS to Commanding Ge~~ral, US Forces Europ~an'Theater, 12 Sep 1945~ RG 131,
entry NN3-131-94-001, box 387, f1dr: Efforts at Restitution of looted Property to Decerlilier-
1945 [C52al.
�History Associates Incorporated • Chronology of
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Treasury Department proposed sending a special cable to the Swiss, but the State
Department replied that it sided with the British suggestion that further pressures on
individual countries be limited until an overall approach on the issue had been
decided. 111
13 Sep 45
Safehaven
Vesting Decree
Treasury Policy
In a letter to Secretary of State Byrnes, Vinson outlined the Treasury positions on
the scope of the vesting decree and the willingness of the US government to impose
sanctions against nations that failed to adequately recognize and enforce the decree.
Vinson argued that the vesting. decree should operate fully against "all German assets"
and should be applied to "seize and liquidate German assets in the neutrals within a
relatively short time" to avert the probability of fur:ther cloaking .and dissipation of the
assets.
Vinson also offered for Byrnes' review a proposed procedure for ACC
enforcement of the decree, involving potential use against uncooperative neutrals of
such sanctions as suspension or revocation of privileges available under Treasury
freeZing controls, withholding of stocks of surplus property located abroad, withdrawal
of US shipping facilities, denial of admission into the United Nations, and denial of
membership in the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank. If none of
the foregoing sanctions achieved the desire result, Vinson indicated that withdrawal of
all supplies could be used as a final sanction.172
17 Sep 45
Sweden
Safehaven
Interagency Negotiations
James Saxon, the Treasury representative in Stockholm; sent a letter to H. D.
White complaining about his lack of involvement in the ongoing Safehaven discussions
and the slow pace of the whole proceedings, which were being resisted by the Swedes
on the grounds that the powers granted to US investigators violated Swedish
171 Memo to the flies on the Safehaven meeting of September 12, 1945, RG 131, entry
NN3-131-94-001, box 384, fldr: Safehaven Project (Not Processed) Sept 11 - 30, 1945 [C53];
Vinson to'Secretary of State, 13 Sep 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 384, fldr:
Safehaven Project (Not Processed), Sept 11 - 30, 1945 [C54]; Scullen to Schwartz, 14 Sep 1945,
RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 391, fldr: Swiss Implementation II [C55]; Memo of
conversation with Rubin, Locker, 20 Sep 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 391, fldr:
Vesting I [C57].
172 Vinson to Byrnes, 13 Sep 1945, RG 56, Accession 69A-4707, Box 86, fldr: Germany:
Vesting [0-15].
�History Associates Incorporated - Chronology of
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sovereignty. 'The State Department, on the other hand, resisted the idea of putting
pressure on the Swedes in order to force compliance. 173
21 Sep 45
Argentina
Because of funding problems at the FFC, its director Michael Hoffman proposed
, transferring ten personnel from the Division of Monetary Research in order to free
enough money to hire several new investigators,to be sent to Argentina. 174
27 Sep 45
HIS
SWitzerland
Tracing Assets
General Clay of OMGUS cabled State and Treasury with information collected by
Bernstein's teams concerning gold looted by the Nazis. Clay noted that Reichsbank ,
, records and officials revealed that looted gold was resmelted and sent to the BIS. He
reCommended that "an immediate demand be made that the Bank for International
Settlemer:tts permit a team of experts representing United States Group Control Council
and Treasury to inspect all gold owned by or in the possession. of the Bank for
International Settlements and all relevant books, files and records." Additiona"y, Clay
noted that the Reichsbank records revealed that the Reichsbank "maintained an
important depot of gold in the Swiss National Bank throughout the war," that two-thirds
of all German gold shipments abroad during the war were destined for the Swiss
National Bank, and that over half of the. resmelted, looted Belgian gold was sent to the
Swiss National Bank. For these reasons, Clay also requested that the OMGUS-Treasury
team be permitted to examine the books of the Swiss National Bank.175
Oct 45
Switzerland
, Safehaven
The Allies sent a note to the Swiss government requesting it to take additional
steps to ensure the, implementation of the Safehaven measures it had agreed to in
173 Saxon to White, 17 Sep 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 384, fldr: Safehaven
Project (Not Processed) Sept 11 -30, 1945 [C56]; Saxon to White, 2 Oct 1945, RG 131, entry
NN3-131-94:"001, box 390, fldr: War Trade [C59]; Report of the Safehaven Program in Sweden,
26 Oct 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 390, fldr: Swedish War Trade [C65].
Memo to the files, Hoffman, 21 Sep 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 386,
fldr: Argentina - Bembergs [C58].
'
174
.
C
'
Clay to State and Treasury, 27 September 1945, Papers of Abijah U. Fox, Box 8, fldr: Mil.
Govt. for Ger. - Plan for Liquidation (2), at Harry S Truman Presidential Library, Independence,
; MO[D21].
~.'
175
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March 1945, including information from the census of German property, penalties for
failure to abide by Safehaven measures, and improved legislation for the restitution of
stolen property. James Mann, the Treasury representative in Bern, drafted a series of
notes to H. D. White stating that British desire to secure a loan from the Swiss
government was weakening Allied support for the Safehaven program in Switzerland.
Mann later reported that the Swiss delaying. tactics had become so flagrant that it was
obvious they wanted to undermine the entire Safehaven program, and he
recommended all Swiss assets remain frozen until they complied. 176
Oct 45
Portugal
Tracing Assets
The FEA issued a report on German economic interests in Portugal, which
included estimated German official funds in Portugal at 32.5 million escudos and
personal and real property of individual Gennans at 125 million escudos. The report
also examined German assets in Portuguese colonies.177 '
Oct 45
Argentina
.
,
,Safehaven investigators began work in Argentina; however~ they subsequently
reported that the, country's unsettled political situation was severely hampering their
efforts. 176
4 Oct 45
\. (J
~I
Switzerland
Safehaven
Treasury Policy
Mann in a memo to the files noted that his sources in Switzerland described
"vast amountsll of looted gold brought to the Swiss National Bank during the war. As of
176 Untitled summary report on Swiss negotiations, undated, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94
001, box 391, fldr: Swiss Negotiations May 1946 to - [CS1]; Mann to White, 10 Oct 1945, RG
131, entry NN'3-1~1-94-001, box 391, fldr: Swiss Implementation II [C60]; Mann to White, 22
Oct 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94~001; box 391, fldr: Swiss Implementation II [C62].
177 "German Economic Interests in Portugal," October 1945,RG 169, Entry 157, Box 13, fldr:
External Economic Security Staff [D30].
176 Tewksbury to Secretary of State, Second monthly report on Safehaven, Argentina, 28 Nov,
1945, RG 131, entry NN3-13l-94-00l, box 385, fldr: Safehaven Project (Not Processed)
November 1945 [C7l].
�History Associates Incorporated - Chronoiogy of
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October 1945, his sources indicated, the gold was being melted by the Swiss into
coins. '79
5 Oct 45
BIS
Safehaven
Abijah Fox of OMGUS-G5 (and deputy director of ,FFC at Treasury) noted in a
memo to'the files thatBISPresident McKittrick, in a conversation with Fox, had
defended actions of the BIS duriflg the war. McKittrick asserted that the BIS received
gold from' Germany in payment of obligations due from Germany to the BIS (interest
due Oa:l German investments of the BIS) and that some of the gold so received had
been transferred by the BIS to other European nations. McKittrick emphasized that the
BIS "inadvertently" acquired looted gold, which it was willing to r~stitutei he also noted
that while the BIS would cooperate in making relevant records available, it would not
grant unlimited acce~s to Its own records. '80
10 Oct 45
Tracing Assets
Safehaven
'
..
,
In a telephone call to Orvis Schmidt bf the FFC, T. H; Ball (FFC representative in
Paris?) stated that ongoing organization. of the Allied, occupational government in
,Germany,threatened to squeeze Treasury out 'of the ongoing Safehaven
'
investigations. '8' .
11-12 Oct 45'
SWitzerland
Safehaven
("Treasury Policy
.
".
. ..
. ..'
'
Mann in Bern held two conversations with Dr. Jahn of the, Union Bank of
Switzerland concerning external German assets. According to Mann, when Jahn was
asked' about "what he thought would be the Swiss solution to the whole question of
the German assets," Jahn said he did hot know, but his personal opinion was that
looted assets, holdings of war criminals, and "alLmoney which came into Switzerland'
during the war which was not connected with a legitimate commercial transaction" .
179 Mann to Jiles, 40ctober 1945, RG56, Accession 66A-155, Box 21,-fldr:. Switzerland
-,
(Incoming) letters, March 1945 - Jan. 1946 [D45].
~_.r
180 A.U. Foxtothe Files, 5 October 1945, R~,..Aeeessiu~6A--"55/Box 21, fldr:
, Switzerland (Incoming) letters, March 1945 - Jan. 1946 [D43].
.
Transcript of telephone call, Schmidt to Ball, 10 Oct 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94
001, box 38~, fldr: Oct,1945 [C6H '
.
181
�History Msociates Incorporated· Chronology of
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.C- (ShOUld
){
be given to the Allies. As 'Mann noted, Jahn encouraged'him'to make more
contacts with Swiss bankers as the Treasury representative in Switzerland.182
14 Oct 45
Switzerland
Looted Assets
Tracing Assets
Treasury Policy
In a telephone conference between Treasury officials. in Washington and officials
sta~ioned in Berlin, Swiss monetary policy and looted gold was discussed in depth.
Treasury officials noted that captured Nazi records indicated shipments to the Swiss
National Bank between 6 October 1941 and 23 August 1.943 of gold seized by the
Nazis from private interests in the Netherlands as well as the Netherlands Central
Bank. The gold was resmelted but records in Berlin as of 14 October 1945 permitted
identification of every bar. Records also indicated that about $2 million of such gold
was "sold to private Swiss banks by Germans." The telephone conference transcript
indicated that the identified gold did not include "any of the forty thousand kilograms of
Dutch bars resmelted by the Prussian mint in 1942." The telephone conference among
Treasury officials c9ncluded that since earlier talks with the Swiss had been based on a
figure of $88 million derived solely from Belgian looted gold data,. "possibility of new
approach to Swiss on looted gold should be considered." The officials also concluded
that such further talks with the Swiss should await preparation of a full report on the
subject by OMGUS Finance Division personnel examining and assessing the
records. 183
21 Oct 45·
Portugal
Safehaven
,
US Financial Attache James Wood in lisbon reported to White that "recent
developments" on Safehaven there included a stepped-up level of interviewing and
uncovering of cloaks, as well as a plan to secure a directive from the ACC to request
that Portugal recognize the Allied right to vest property in Portugal. In Wood's view,
182 Mann to White, 17 October 1945, Rg 56, Accession 66A-155, Box 21, fldr: Switzerland
(Incoming) Letters, March 1945-Jan. 1946 [051].
183 ConsolidatedTranscript of Teleconference between Washington and Berlin Concerning
Swiss Monetary Policy and Other Matters, 14 Oct 1945, ~ 56, AccessiOIl_66A::.155,_Box 31 fldr:
Treasury Department Telephone Conversations with Representatives Abroad, P-S (Schmidt)
[0-13].
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the British were impeding further discussions with Portugal until their trade and
repayments agreements were settled with the Portuguese government. 184
23 Oct 45
Vesting Decree
Interagency Negotiations
In the light of reports that the British government wished to weaken the
proposed vesting decree on external German assets, Vinson sent a letter to the
Secretary of State strongly 'urging that pressure be placed on the British to get them to
agree to a more comprehensive vesting program. Vinson also included a.draft of a
note t6 be sent by Truman to Prime Minister Clement Attlee. 185
26 Oct 45
Switzerland
BIS
Interagency Negotiations
State Department Office of Economic Security officials desired Treasury's
agreement to an. overture to the British and French to allow Hungary, Austria, and Italy
to share in. the "gold pot/ and to implementation of "gold pot" distributions. State
would "accede to Treasury's suggestion" and make a diplomatic approach through the
Bern Legation to the Swiss government to facilitate a check of BIS gold and Swiss
National Bank gold transactions during the war. State would also agree to make a
similar' approach to .governments of other countries suspected of harboring looted gold
in their domestic banks. 186 .
30 Oct 45
Switzerland
Safehaven'
Interagency Negotiations
Treasury and State officials met to discuss British proposals to reduce the
Proclaimed List. Treasury strongly objected, as it maintained that the Proclaimed List
184 Wood to White, 21 October 1945, RG 56, Accession 66A-155, Box 20, fldr: Portugal:
(Incoming) letters, Jan. 1945-0ec. 1945 [047].
Vinson to Secretary of State, 23 Oct 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 391, fldr:
Vesting I [C63]; Byrnes to Vinson, 30 Nov 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 391, fldr:.
Vesting I [<;:73].
185
186 Thorp to Clayton, 26 October 1945, RG 43, lot File' M-88, Box 198, fldr: External Assets
1945-1949 [034].
C
.
.
.
,
.
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was one of the few tools that could be used to enforce neutral compliance with the
Safehaven program, particularly in Switzerland. 187
'
30 Oct 45
Vesting Decree
,
Military Government Vesting Decree issued.
Nov 45
Vesting Decree
Switzerland
, In response to the Allied note on implementing Safehaven, the Swiss government
agreed to some of the measures. However, they questioned the legal basis for the
Allied invocation of powers as the occupying government in Germany which would
never have been accepted if they had come from the German government itself.188
45
Freezing Assets
Treasury Policy
A Treasury memo noted that on this date an FFC luncheon meeting was held, at
which the "general Treasury attitude" was that all enemy assets in the United States
should accrue to the benefilof the General Fund of the Treasury and that only a "very
limited" class of claimants against the assets should be reimbursed. 189
5 Nov 45
, BIS
Treasury Policy
In response to a 13 September 1945 letter from Hugh Dalton of the British
Treasury, Vinson urged that the United States and Great Britain begin formulating plans
for dissolution of the BIS in accordance with Bretton Woods Resolution V. Vinson
suggested arranging for talks to be held in Washington concerning the matter. 190
187 Memo to the files, Compliance Section, 5 Nov 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131'·94-001,
box 385, fldr: Safehaven Project (Not Processed), November 1945 [C66].
188 Untitled summary report on Swiss negotiations, undated, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94·
001, box 391, fldr: Swiss Negotiations May 1946 to· [CS1].
189 Delaney to Glasser, 2 November 1945, RG 56, Accession 66A·155, Box 70, fldr:
Conferences, General-1945 [D49J.
\
~. ~
190 Vinson to Dalton, 5 Nov 1945, RG 56,Accession 56-75-101, Box 169, fldr: BIS/4/00
[06].
~~'\
li~uidation
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7 Nov 45
Vesting Decree
Interagency Negotiations
, State and Treasury officials met to discuss problel1ls in convincing neutral
countries to accept the recent vesting decree on German external assets. Treasury
insisted that the decree was a bona fide legal and binding document, while the State
Department was more doubtful and felt that moral arguments would be the most
useful means of convincing neutral countries to accept the decree. At subsequent
meetings, Treasury continued to press for a more forceful legal argument approach in
neutral negotiations backed up with the threat of sanctions. '9'
10 Nov 45
Switzerland
Safehaven
Treasury Policy .
James Mann, the Treasury representative in Bern, sent another n'ote to H. D.
White outlining problems in the Swiss Safehaven program. Mann concluded that
economic sanctions would be the only way to enforce Swiss compliance. He
recommended to White that liquidation of. German assets in Switzerland should not be
left to diplomatic missions but should be done through the Allied Control Council. He
suggested that Treasury should push for US representation on, and possibly control of,
any liquidating agency of the ACC in Switzerland, while giving the British the leadership
of any ACC efforts in Spain or Sweden, if necessary, in return. '92
11 Nov 45
Treasury Policy
.
.
The Treasury Department announced a sweeping relaxation of all freezing
controls with the exception of those governing trade with Portugal, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Tangier, Germany, and Japan. '93 '
191 Memorandum of conference at State Department November 7, 1945, RG 131, entry
NN3-131-94-001, bOx 385, fldr: Safehaven Project (Not Processed), November 1945 [C67];
Memorandum of conference at State Department November 21, 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131
, 94-001, box 391, fldr: Vesting I [C69]; Ullmann to Coe" 15 Feb 1945, RG 56, entry 66A-816,
box 18, fldr: Vesting #2 [C90].
192 Mann to White, 10 Nov 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 391, fldr: Swiss
Implementation II [C68].,
193 Treasury press release no. v-155, 21 Nov1945, RG 56, entry 360P, box 13, fldr:
Chronological 77 [C82].
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17 Nov 45
BIS
~
'SWitzerland
..
Safehaven investigators issued a statement made by 'Emil Puhl regarding his role
in discussions between the Reichsbank and the Swiss National. Bank and the BIS in
March 1945. 194
.
.
.
21 Nov 45 .
Vesting Decree.
Treasury Policy
Interagency Negotiations
Treasury and State officials met to discuss interagency differences concerning the
use of economic sanctions to enforce the ACC vesting decree, as outlined in Vinson's
letter to Byrnes of 13 September 1945. Friedman of Treasury indicated that although
Treasury felt that the Allied Control Council rather than US diplomatic missions should
approach neutral governments concerning enforcement of the decree, "jt was not the
purpose of the Treasury to discuss that matter any further." Friedman then reasserted
that the US government should be prepared to apply the sanctions that Vinson had
suggested if neutrals did not recognize the right of the ACC to dispose of external
.assets free of any claims of the neutral governments or their nationals. In response,
State Department officials indicated that any use of sanctions would require approval
by the British and French.
The Treasury and State officials, however, agreed that "the neutrals should be
advised that their pre-war claims would be considered in the light of the completeness
with which they uncovered and turned'over to the Allies German external assets."
State officials also agreed to clear the use of sanctions through the State Department,
draft a· note to tlie British outlining the US position on sanctions, and officially reply to
Vinsonis letter of 13 September 1945. 195
28 Nov 45
Argentina
Interagency Negotiations
In response to a request from the State Department on 22 October 1945, the
FFC Compliance Division searched its files for any evidence supporting the State
Department's claim that Argentina was a fascist country whose government directly
f
194 Safehaven report, Puhl negotiations with Swiss, 27 Nov 1945, ~~1t;:t901, box 385, fldr: Safehaven Project (Not Processed), November 1945 [C70].
.
195'Memorandum of Conference at State Department on Wednesday, November 21, 1945;
23 November 1945, RG 56, Accession 69A-4707, Box 86, fldr: Germany: Vesting [0-16].
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participated in hiding looted German assets. However, the FFC reported that its files
contained no. substantial evidence. 196
3 Dec 45
Vesting Decree
Interagency Negotiations
,
Treasury and State officials met to discuss proposed plans to convince neutrals to
accept the' Allied vesting decree. Despite .pressure to begin disposing of certain
German external assets (particularly in the cas~ of the Union Reinsurance Company in
Switzerland claimed by the British), Treasury strongly believed that there should be no
efforts to dispose of German property in neutral countries before a comprehensive'
approach to all these assets had been decided. 197
4 Dec
45
Switzerland
. Safehaven
Treasury Policy
.
Mann in Bern notified White of statements made by Reichsbankofficial Emil Puhl
in his OMGUS interrogation to the effect that the BIS and the Swiss National Bank
were instrumental in effecting German transfers of looted gold to Switzerland and
thence to other neutrals. Mann urged strong US action to get access to the bank
records. 198
5 Dec 45
BIS
Treasury officials received the OMGUS External Assets Branch preliminary survey
of the wartime activities of the BIS, which detailed the following objectionable wartime
activities of the BIS: acceptance of looted gold; assistance to the Reichsbarik in
salvaging assets threatened by blocking in neutral countries; domination of BIS
management by the Axis; continued payment of BIS dividends to occupied countries in
the face of certain confiscation by the Nazis; and provision of financial intelligence to
.
the Reichsbank. 199
196 Memo to files, Preparation of case against Argentina, Compliance Section, 28 Nov 1945,
RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 386, fldr: Argentine Replacement [C72].
197 Memo to the Files, Safehaven meeting 3 Dec 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box
385, fldr. Safehaven Project (Not Processed) November 1945 [C74].
Mann to White, 4 December 1945, RG 56, Accession 66A-155, Box 21, fldr: Switzerland
(Incoming) Letters March 1945- Jan. 1946 [040].
198
=
-...,
199 ,"TWX conversation between Washington and Berlin, 5 Dec 1945, RG 56, Acces~ioh 56
:.Qj, Box 169, fldr: BIS/2/00 looted Gold [07]. The OMGUS report itself was not attachea-ro
It
this d"Ocument, which is a summary of the report only.
.
!
.
.
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13 Dec 45
Switzerland
Safehaven
Treasury Policy
Ostrow in Bern notified White that, in his view, the Swiss government was soft
pedalling the disputes with the Treasury Department for political reasons, since the
majority of the Swiss population was against the policy of bank secrecy on the issue of
looted gold, according to Ostrow. 2OO
'
19 Dec 45
Treasury Policy
Treasury officials complained that the isolation of Treasury personnel in Germany
severely hampered the financial activities of the US element in the, Control Council.
One result was that the Treasury Department was uninformed of key financial
decisions taken in Germany, and Treasury personnel in Germany were ignorant of US
financial policies for the postwar world. 201
26 Dec 45
Vesting Decree
I.nteragency Negotiations ,
Dean Acheson, responding to Treasury questions about the use of sanctions to
enforce neutral compliance of the vesting decree, wrote Vinson that it was extremely
unlikely that sanctions would, or could, be imposed. 20 2 .
26 Dec 45
Switzerland'
Safehaven
Treasury Policy
Mann in Bern notified White that the Swiss had suggested negotiations over
German external assets only after the United States indicated that talks looking tpward
establishment of a certification procedure for unblocking Swiss assets in the United
States were about to cease if no progress was made on the external assets front. 203
Ostrow to White, 13 December 1945, RG 56, Accession 66A-155, Box 21, fldr:
Switzerland (Incoming) letters, March 1945 - Jan. 1946 [D41].
200
.
/
(
201
[C83].
Kamarck to White, 19 Dec 1945, RG 56, entry 360P, box 13, fldr: Chronological 78
' .
Acheson to Vinson, 26 Dec 1945, RG 131, entry NN3-131-94-001, box 391, fldr: Vesting
II [C75].
202
203 Mann to White, 26 December 1945, RG 56, Accession 66A-155, Box 21, fldr: Switzerland
(Incoming) letters, March 1945 - Jan. 1946 [D42].
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29 Dec 45
Vesting Decree
Treas~ry Policy
Interagency Negotiations
>
The monthly FFC report for December 1945 noted that the matter of the proper
procedure for implementation of the ACC vesting decree had not yet been resolved.
Treasury had objected during the month to the State Department's cable requesting
embassies to obtain British and French agreement before applying sanctions to
"recalcitrant neutrals.'1204
late 45
Tracing Assets
Postwar Germany
Treasury files from this period reflect receipt from OMGUS of a series of
preliminary investigative reports, compiled by'Colonel Bernstein and his team, on the
external assets of leading Nazi officials and German industrial firms. Reports were sent
to Treasury concerning the external assets 'of Goering, Himmler, Ernst Kaltenbrunner,
Walter Schellenberg, the Reich Security Office (RSHA), and loG.> Farben. 205
Jan 46
Switzerland
,
In anticipation of Safehaven negotiations with the Swiss, the Treasury
Department this month assisted the State Department in preparing material for the
United States negotiator?06
7 Jan 46
Interagency Negotiations
Switzerland
'
At a meeting of Treasury Department officials, the participants discussed how the
State Department had proposed that diplomatic representatives of the United States,
Britain, and France handle negotiations with the Swiss and had rejected the Treasury
proposal that the Control Council conduct the negotiations. Treasury officials decided
that "an attempt should be made to get the negotiations into the National Advisory
204 Ullmann to Patterson, 29 December 1945, RG 56, Accession 66A-155, Box 67, fldr:
Division MonetaryRsch Monthly Report .' .. Mar.-Dec. 1945 [D46].
205 Copies of all of the above-referenced OMGUS investigative reports are in RG 56,
Accession 56-75-101, Box 239, in a series offolders labeled by subject of report.
206 Shwartz to Schmidt, 8 Feb 1946, RG 131, entry 243, box 256, fld;-: Enforcement 1946
[A188].
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Council, that the top body of negotiators should be a working committee of the NAC,"
and to present a memo to that effect to Secretary Vinson. 207
1-4 Jan 46
I
.
J
.
.
Paris. Reparations Agreement
..
.
.'
Eighteen Allied nations signed an agreement that established the Inter-Allied
Reparations Agency (lARA) to collect and distribute reparations. The agreement also
fixed the shares of reparations each country would receive, provided for the distribution
of monetary gold to countries from which it had been looted, and designated the
United States, Britain, and France to collect and distribute gold. The Treasury
Department's participation in the reparations program declined considerably after the
establishment of the IARA.2oa
n 46
Safehaven.
Paris Reparations Agreement
I
The British government informed the l,Jnited States that i~ was "strongly opposed
to the policy of imposing or threatening economic or political sanctions of sufficient
weight to force neutral compliance" with Safehaven objectives. The British believed
that such sanctions would hamper British efforts to abolish trade restrictions and would
not work ifimplemented because "the complex machinery" of trade control no longer
existed. The British did not believe that such a stance contravened resolution no. 1 of
the Paris Reparations Conference. 209
1 Feb 46
Vesting Decree
Paris Reparations Agreement
Interagency Negotiations
Secretary of the Treasury Fred Vinson, writing to the Secretary of State, expressed
his pleasure that the State Department supported the use of sanctions against neutral
governments that refused ·to recognize that the Allied Control Council's vesting decree
applied to all German assets within each neutral country and that the Allied Control
207 Kamark to Files, 7 Jan 1946, RG 56, ace. 66A-155, box 70, fldr: Conferences General-
1946 thru Aug 46 [A20n
20a Draft history of Treasury Department participation in recovery of gold, 29 January 1952,
RG56, Ace. 56-66A-816, Box 1, Looted Gold: Inter-Allied Reparations Agency (1950-1954)-
. jG.>DC~'ll' 3 [AA2]; anCf"Fin'inaatAct: ana Annex onlleParisConTerence on ReparatiOi'ls';"
15 January 1947, RG 56, Ace. 70A-6232, Box 22, Gold Com. Basic Docs. [A74] Participating
.
\
. countries included Czechoslovakia but· noCPoland or the USSR.
209 London Embassy to Secretary of State, 21 January 1946, attachment B to Feig to Taylor,
16 February 1946, RG 131, NN3-131-94-001 Safehaven, Box 385, Safehaven Project (February
1946) (Not Processed) [A24].
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Council would receive the assets for use as reparations. 21D The two departments had
already discussed who to appoint to head 'negotiations with Switzerland, although the
Secretary of State had the power to make the appointment. Treasury personnel would
make up part of the negotiator's secretariat. Treasury negotiated with the State
Department concerning the functions and status of the secretariat. 211
7 Feb 46
Safehaven
Interagency Negotiations
In response to the British cable of 21 January detailing British objections to
imposing sanctions against neutral nations on behalf of Safehaveri objectives, the State
Department sent a cable to the American Embassy in London expressing the United
States' "deep concern" and a request for a "more adequate explanation" from the British
government of its views. The Treasury Department's Bernard Feig characterized the
American response as "an absurdly weak aide memoire" that led to feelings of
disillusionment and frustration among the London Embassy's Safehaven Section
employees. The basic British arguments against sanctions were that sanctions could
not be applied effectively, were contrary to British policy of restoring full international
trade, and contradicted other international obligations. 212
8 Feb 46
HIS
Switzerland
According to a State Department 'cable, the British government did not want to
include any SIS issues in the upcoming negotiations wit~ Switzerland because the,
British believed the Allies "can negotiate and settle directly with no difficulty" with'
Bls.2 13
210 Vinson to Secretary of State, 1 February 1946, RG 56, Ace. 66A-816, Box 18, fldr: Vesting
#3 [A51].
211 Schmidt to Files, 17 January 1946, RG 131, NN3-131-94-001 HC, Box 170, German
External Assets (Negotiations with Neutrals> [A22]; and attachment, Surrey to Coe, 7 January
1946, same location [A22].
State Department to American Embassy in London, 7 Feb 1946; and Feig to Taylor, '16
Feb 1946; both attachments to Taylor to White, 18 Feb 1946, RG 56, Ace. 66A-155, Box 24,
fldr: London: (Incoming) Letters Dee. 45--Apr. 46 [A 155].
212
London to Secretary of State, 8 February 1946, RG 56, Ace. 56-75-101, Box 169,
BIS/2/oo Looted Gold [A 118].
213
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14 Feb 46
DIS
Treasury officials Schmidt and Friedman recommended) to Assistant Secretary
Harry White that Secretary Vinson reply to British Chancellor Dalton that the Treasury
Department supports the dissolution of the BIS. Among the reasons the officials gave
for their position was that a report "being prepared by Messrs. Curtis and Dunkel"
found that the BIS had assisted a German bank in evading blocking controls and "in
several instances knowingly accepted looted gold." White questioned the timing of
approaching Vinson. 214
14 Feb 46
Vesting Decree
.
Orvis Schmidt and J. B. Friedman informed Harry White that'We have now been
informed that Secretary of War Patterson was so disturbed by the British position [on
sanctions) that he personally expressed his concern to Secretary. Byrnes.'1215
16 Feb 46
Vesting Decree
Paris Reparations. Agreement
Interagency Negotiations
.
The Secretary of State replied to Vinson's 1 February letter that the availability of
sanctions· depended on several factors, including "the outcome of negotiations and
discussions in which Treasury is, of course, participating." He reassured Vinson that
the State Department was interested in obtaining recognition of the vesting decree and
the Safehaven program in general.21f•
21 Feb 46
Vesting Decree
Switzerland
Interagency Negotiations
Just a few weeks before Safehaven negotiations with Switzerland would begin,
Treasury Secretary Vinson wrote to the Secretary of State that "I feel that obtaining the
214 Schmidt and Friedman to White, 14 February 1946, RG 56, Acc. 56-75-101, Box 169, .
BIS/4/00 liquidation [A 117]. For the memorandum to Secretary vrn50n recommenaing fl1at he
approach Chancellor Dalton seeO'Connel and Coe to Vinson, 27 May 1946, same location
[Al19). The "Curtis and Dunkel" report may have been "Reportonl~fertre~rahds Monetary Gold
Looted by Germany ...," undated, RG 56, Acc. 56-75-101, box 169, fldr: Bis/2/DO Looted Gold
[A120].
215 Schmidt and Friedman to White, 14 Feb 1946, Vinson Papers, Box 129, fldr: Foreign
Central, Truman library [A167].
216 Byrnes to Vinson, 16 February 1946, RG 131, NN3-131-94-001 Safehaven, Box 385, fldr:
Safehaven Project (February 1946) (Not Processed) [A21].
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recognition of the Allied Control Council vesting decree is of such importance that this
Government should be prepared to use economic sanctions regardless of the position
taken by the British." "In your talk with the British Ambassador," he continued, "you
may care to point out to him the difficult position in which his Government's attitude
might place us in the forthcoming debates in Congress concerning the British
loan."217
.
1 Mar 46
. estingDecree
Interagency Negotiations
ti
\.
,.
To protect stock in German corporations owned by American citizens, the State
Department had proposed not to liquidate external assets of German corporations
according to the Allied Control Council's vesting decree. Instead, American
shareholders in a company would receive the percentage of the liquidated German
assets to which the United States government was entitled. In a memorandum to
Harry White, Treasury official J. 6. Friedman argued that the United States
government's share should benefit all American creditors of Germany .(those who held
bonds as well as stockholders). The two departments had discussed the matter for
several weeks but had not approached an agreement. 218
4 Mar 46
Treasury Organization
A memorandum described, the principal duties of Foreign Funds Control as the
orderly removal of wartime ecoriomiccontrols and the continued enforcement of those
controls that remained in place. 219
9 Mar 46
Vesting pecree
Switzerland
A draft of 4 position on neutral assets for use in upcoming negotiations with
, Switzerland was distributed to Foreign Funds Control personneL In the draft the
United States sought to have Switzerland recognize and implement the Allied Control
Council's decree "vesting title to certain German external assets" (apparently the
Council's law Number 5) and thereby agree that the German External Property
217 Vinson to Secretary of State, 21 February 1946, RG 56, Entry 360 P, Box 13,
Chronological 80 [A34]. For earlier staff discussion of this issue see Schmidt and Friedman to
White, 7 February 1946, RG 56, Entry 360 P, Box 13, Chronological 80 [A35].
&
69A~,~X fldr: Germany: External
78,
'..r---.
218 Friedman to White, 1 Mar 1946, RG 56, Ace.
Assets [A 140].
.
'
.
..
, 219 Duties and Organization of Foreign Funds Control, 4 Mar 1946, RG 56, entry 679 C, box
14, fldr: 1946 (vol. 3) [A 192].
�,!
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Commission could control and dispose of all German assets covered by the decree.
The paper went on to describe how Switzerland was'to implement the transfer of
property,220
11 Mar 46
Switzerland
racing Assets
Based on ledger transcriptions from th~ Reichsbank, Foreign Funds Control
estimated that the Reichsbank had shipped over $378 million in gold to the Swiss
National Bank from 1940-1945.221
18 Mar 46
Vesting Decree
Switzerland
The Allies opened negotiations with the Swiss on implementation of Safehaven.
Randolph Paul,former Treasury Department General Counsel and Acting Treasury
Secretary in charge of Foreign Funds Control, headed the negotiations for the Allies.
Two Treasury' Department representatives and two State Department representatives
provided primary assistance to Paul. 'The Allies began by trying to convince the Swiss
to recognize the Allied Control Council's law Number 5. The Swiss argued that such a
measure violated their sovereignty but agreed to liquidate all property in Switzerland
owned by Germans in Germany. The proceeds would be used for Swiss claims against
Germans. 222
25 Mar 46
, Holland
"Holland, next to Switzerland, was most important location for companies
through which German assets were invested in Belgium as elsewhere," according to a
london embassy cable to the Secretary of State.223
220 "Statement of Objectives and Procedures for forthcoming Negotiations with Switzerland,"
undated, attachment to transmittal note, Shwartz to Scullen, Glazer and Gerwirtz, 9 March
1946, RG 131, NN3-131-94-001 FfC, Box 391, Swiss Negotiations [A25].
f
221
L[A28].
McGre~to Scullen, 11 March 1946, RG 131, NN3-131-94-001 .ffC, Box 391, Swiss Gold
.
, 222nBackground of Negotiations," 1 M:ay 1946, RG 131, NN3-131-94-001 ffC, Box 391,
Swiss Negotiations May 1946 to _ [A27]. Also see Mann to O'Connell, 26 June 1946, RG 56,
Entry 352 M, General Counsel's Office, Box 62, Monetary Matters 1946 [A40].
,
,
223 Gallman to Secretary of State, 25 March 1946, RG 131, NN3-131-94-001 Safehaven, Box
385, Safehaven Project (March 1~~6) ;(Not Processed) [A26].
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26 Mar 46 '
Switzerland
Treasury representative james H. Mann took the lead for the Allied delegation in
discussing with the Swiss the amount of gold the Swiss had accepted from Germany
and the Swiss definition of looted gold. 224
I
31 Mar 46
Switzerland
As part of the negotiations· with the Swiss, the Allies presented a memorandum
t.
f/ describing the $160 million in gold they estimated was "the maximum possible amount
'V'
of non-looted gold available to the German Reichsbank at any time after june
1940."225
Apr 46
Switzerland
. By early April, the negotiations concentrated on the extent of looted gold sent to
Switzerland and Swiss knowledge of such gold. The Swiss also wanted to be released
from the "Black List." On 11 April the Swiss Federal Council authorized its delegation
to allow the Allies a share of the proceeds from liquidation and to make available to the
Allies "a certain sum towards the solution of the gold question.,,226
9 Apr 46
Argentina
"In the light of the turn which Argentine developments have taken," the Treasury
Department decided to accept the State Department's position, argued since june
1945, that as Argentina nationalized firms on the Proclaimed List (sometimes referred to
'as the Argentine Replacement Program) the United States would delete those firms
from the list "subsequent to sale to satisfactory purchasers." The Treasury Department
had previously wanted the Allied Control Council to vest those firms before removing
them from the Proclaimed List because "that would permit direct supervision by the
224 "Minutes of Meeting with Swiss on German External Assets Held March 26, 1946," 27
Mar 1946; document provided by Treasury Department [A200].
jI
L
225 Rubin to Schmidt, 31 March 1946, RG 131, NN3-131-94-001, Box 391,'SWiSS
Negotiations [A29].
"
226 "Background of Negotiations," 1 May 1946, RG 131, NN3-131-94-001 FFC, Box 391,
Swiss Negotiations May 1946 to
[A27]; and Mann to O'Connell, 26 June 1946,RG 56, E
352 M, Box 62, Monetary Matters 1946, p. 9 [A40].
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Allies of the disposition of German firms and assure' that such disposition would be
satisfactory to US."227
12 Apr 46
Freezing Assets
Treasury Policy, .
.
'
i.
In a memorandum to the 111es prompted by reports of looted securities in the
Netherlands and Norway,. Foreign Funds Control expressed its opinion that "to prevent
the disposition of looted American securities in. the United States market" and to assist
pers~ns in recovering securities looted from them, "the United States should vest such
looted securities."228
if
12 Apr 46
.
Sweden
After' a brief trip to Stockholm,' Feig reported that according to Don W. Smith,
Commercial Attache at the legation in Stockholm, the value of enemy property was
close to 2 billion crowns rather than the 350. million estimated by the Swedes. The
Swedes resisted Allied claims, he reported, because they feared an investigation would
embarrass prominent persons, including the royal family. The Swedes expected to get
terms at least as good as the Swiss got. 229
j*
ca. May 46.
Postwar Germany
After examining the report of the OMGUS Property. Disposition Board, Kolter of
the Treasury Department found two deficiencies in the board's plans for the.custody of
. property under military, government control and the handling of "Internal Restitution."
Kolter believed thatOMGUS should notturn over operational responsibility lito the
various laender," nor should German courts handle internal restitution matters, which
would "place the administration of this important program in unsympathetic
hands.'t230
227 "Argentine Replacement Program," 11 March 1946, RG 131, NN3-131-94-001, Box 386,
Argentine Replacement [A210]. The Treasury decision to accede to the State Department's
position is recorded in an initialled handwritten note at the end of the document .
{
228 Memorandum for the ~iles, 12 April 1946" R031~131-94-001 FFC, Box
Safehaven Project (April 1946) (Not Processed) [An].
~,"""
Feig to White, 12 Apr 46 attached to Campbell to Coe, 31 May 46, RG 56, ace. 67A-245,
box 33, fldr: Denmark: Safehaven [A2091.
.
.
229
C230 Kolter to Friedman, undate~ ca. May 1946, R? 56, Entry 69A-7584, Box 10 [A39~.
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May 46
Switzerland
In its monthly report, the Division of Monetary Research concluded that the
Washington Agreement "cannot be viewed as successful in the accomplishment of the
original objectives" of the vesting decree, the Allied gold declaration, or the plans of the
Paris Reparations Conference.231
3 May 46
Switzerland
Swiss-Allied negotiations had stalled to the point where the Treasury Department
drafted a memorandum thal' proposed blocking Swiss funds' in the United States should
the talks b~eak down, an expansion of a 24 April memorandum. (On 26 April, Foreign
Funds Control had drafted a memorandum on procedures for defrosting Swiss accounts .
should negotiations succeed.)232
Special Assistant to the President Randolph Paul, who headed the American
delegation during the Allied-Swiss negotiations, wrote to Secretary Vinson that the
. Swiss had offered $58 million to compensate for the looted gold they had acquired,
and that he believed further negotiations with the Swiss would prove fruitless. Paul
wanted Vinson to consider the offer and, with Mr. Clayton [Assistant Secretary of
State], advise him as to whether he should accept it, keeping in mind that the British
wanted to 'eliminate one bargaining tool, the ProClaimed List, by 30 June. Paul had not
_raised the subject of economic sanctions because at the beginning of negotiations
Secretary of State Byrnes decided to postpone a decision on sanctions until negotiations
made the issue necessary.233
8 May 46
Freezing Assets
Treasury Policy
"It may now be fai~ly assumed that the days of export control are gone," wrote
the author of a proposed Treasury Department program scheduled for after the
abolition of the Proclaimed List (30 June 1946). The Treasury Department would,
under the plan, lift restrictions from people on the Proclaimed List and Special Blocked
231 "Financial Developments in Western Europe During May 1946," 30 May 1946, RG 56,
acc. 66A-155, Box 67, Division Monetary Research Monthly Report Jan.-Jun. 46 [A202].
232 "Power Under Freezing Regulations to Exert Economic Pressure on Swiss," 3 May 1946,
RG 131, NN3-131-94-001, Box 391, Swiss Negotiations May 1946 to _ [A30a];
Memorandum, 24 Apr 1946, RG 131, Acc. NN3-131-94-001, Box 457, fldr: Defrosting Swiss
Accounts, Volume 1, 1/43 to 10/46 [A169]; Richards to Arnold et al., 26 Apr 1946, RG 131,
Ace NN3-131-94-001, Box 457, fldr: Defrosting Swiss Accounts, Volume 1, 1/43 to 10/46
[A170).
233 Paul to Vinson, 3 May 1946, Truman Library, Vinson Papers, Box 143, fldr: Switzerland-
Financial Arrangements--1946 [A 168].
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Nationals who had no United States assets. The remaining' persons would have to
receive certification from their home countries that their holdings did not involve
enemy interests before the Treasury Department would lift the blockage over them.
[There is no indication in this document of final Treasury policy.f34
13 May 46
Treasury Policy
oted Assets
a
In memorandum to the files written after negotiating with the State
Department over several cables, H. Kolter of the Treasury Department noted that
"State Department was concerned with the overall problem of looted securities, while
the Treasury at the present is primarily interested in getting certain information to aid
us in control work in this country. A cable drafted by Treasury focused on
(1) securities issued in the United States and (2) securities payable in dollars ..,235
15 May 46
Argentina
Treasury Policy
Safehaven
.Rella Schwarz of Treasury suggested to Orvis Schmidt that the three-person
team of Treasury Safehaven investigators in Buenos Aires be instructed to return by 15
June 1946 after winding up their investigations. 236
25 May 46
Switzerland
Tracing Assets
Swiss-Allied negotiations concluded as the Swiss signed the Washington Accord
(or Agreement) which provided that the Swiss would liquidate property in Switzerland
owned or controlled by Germans in Germany. Half the proceeds would go to the
Swiss government and the other half tothe Allies to be used for the rehabilitation of
devastated areas and famine relief. In addition, while not accepting responsibility for
looted gold, Switzerland agreed to place at the disposal of the Allies 250 million Swiss
francs payable on demand in gold in New York. The Allies, in return, waived all claims
against Switzerland and the Swiss National Bank in connection with gold acquired from
Germany by Switzerland duringthe war. The United States also agreed to unblock
234 "Proposed Treasury Program After Withdrawal of Proclaimed List," 8 May 1946, RG 131, .
NN3-131-94-001, Box 388, Jan '46--Misc. [A32].
f
235 Kolter to Files, 13 May.1946, RG 56, Ace. 69A-4707, Box 84, fldr: Germany Restitution
..
.~
UA141 ].'
236 Shwartz to Schmidt, 15 May 1946, RG 131, Entry NN3-131-94-001, Box 388, fldr:
Miscellaneous (4) January 1946- [D38].
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Swiss assets and to discontinue the portions of "black lists" that affected Switzerland.
According to a historical summary prepared by the Office of International Finance, the
Allies adopted in these negotiations a principle that was applied in all subsequent
negotiations, "that they would hold liable for the restitution of gold in each case the
first purchaser of such gold from Germany." The Treasury Department had supported
a clause in the agreement that would have obligated theSwiss to return ,any additional
looted gold for which the Allies might discover evidence. The Swiss absolutely refused,
and the State Department, hoping to conclude the negotiations, prevailed in supporting
the clause that barred future claims. 237
27 May 46
Switzerland
Freezing Assets
Randolph Paul, Special Assistant to the President, informed Walter Stucki of the
. Swiss Delegation that because of the recent Allied-Swiss agreement, Foreign Funds
Control had issued licenses to unblock the property of the Swiss government and the
Swiss National Bank. General defrosting of Switzerland would take until
November. 238
.'
'
29 May 46
Looted Assets
Interagency Negotiations
Vesting Decree
Personal daims
P~stwar Germany
/
/
During the previous week the Treasury and State Departments had discussed
several cablegrams drafted by the State Department. On the matter of foreign
exchange assets seized under Military Government Law 53, the draft State Department'
cable directed that looted items be restored as "external restitution", and the remainder
237 "Background of Program," 29.January 1952, RG 56, Acc. 66A-816, Box '1, pp. 7-8. (rhis
document was provided by the Treasury Department as background and is the source for the
date of the accord and its terms.) Schwartz to Richards, 28 April 1947, RG 56, Ace. 56-66A
816, Box 1, Looted Gold: General [A46]. For the text of the agreement 'see "Liquidation of
German Property in Switzerland," 25 May 1946, RG 56, Entry 70A-6232, Box 76, Swiss/1/43
War Settiements.[A60]. For an extensive summary of negotiations see State Department,
Foreign Relations of the United States 1946, Volume V (Government Printing Office,
Washington: 1969), pp. 202-220 [A97]. Draft history of Safehaven and looted gold, p. 9, 29 Jan
52, RG 56, Ace. 70A 6232, box 22, fldr: Gold Looted. [B54]
238 Pa.ul to Stucki, 27 May 1946, attachment to Willis to File Room, 28 June 1946, RG 56,
Ace. 67A-1804, Box 26, fldr: Switzerland Foreign Funds Control [A102]; Paul to Vinson, 27 May
1946, Truman Library, Vinson Papers, Box 143, fldr: Switzerland--Financial Arrangements--1946
[A 171]; and Narrative Report for November 1946, undated, Truman Library, John Snyder Papers,
Box 73, fldr: Monthly Rpt, Sec of Treas. Nov.-Dec. 1946 [A 173].
�History Associates Incorporated • Chronology of
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ould be allocated as reparations. After the Treasury Department official, Harry Kotlar,
suggested using the assets for settling 'claims by, Nazi victims, the State Department
representative "stated that if the Treasury felt strongly that some other disposition
might be made of these assets, such as the use for victims of Nazi persecution, one of
our [Treasury] 'top men' should confer with Mr. DeWilde and others in a general
meeting," but thought that "little good" would come of such a meeting. Kotlar also
suggested that the combined assets taken under various legislation be used for Nazi
victims, but the State official "indicated that such claims would ·be charged against the
German State anyway so that the turning over of the various properties to the laender
ould really make no difference." As for looted securities, the State Department
ought they should not be subject to the vesting decree?39
8jul4
T acing Assets
Organization
~ Treasury
A draft memorandum to the Secretary of War stated that the "joint military and
Treasury civilian staffs" assigned to the Finance Divis,ion, USGCC, and the Division of
Investigation of Cartels and External Assets, OMGUS, had investigated German gold
holdings and traced the source of resmelted looted gold prior to negotiations with the
, Swiss.240
'\. (/
->s.
,16 jul 46
Switzerland
The Treasury Department representative in Bern, Switzerland, informed the
Treasury Department's General Counsel that he felt "discouraged by the measures
which are being taken by the Swiss ·to implement the Washington accord." In
particular, the Swiss had allowed free trade of stocks of a company the United States
wished to remain blocked, and the Swiss would not schedule the first meeting of the
joint Commission, called for in the Washington Accord, until September or
October.241'
,
239 Kotlar to Friedman, 29 May 1946, RG56, Ace. ~07, Bo~4, fldr: Germany
Restitution [A142]; and Kotlar to Fdedman, 27, May1946, sarne-toCation [A143].
C
L
,
Treasury Secretary to Secretary of War, undated, RG 56, Ace. 69A-4707, Box 82, fldr:
Germany: looted Property [A144] (not sent). .
'
-.
/'
240
241 Mann to O'Cormell, 16 July 1946, RG 131, NN3-131-94~OOl FFC, Box 385, Safehaven
Project (April 1946) (Not Processed) [A30]. See also McGrew, "Weekly Meeting of 11 July 1946
Concerning Problems on Implementation of Washington Accord," 11 July 1946, RG 131, NN3
131-94-001 FFC, Box 385, Safehaven Project (April 1946) (Not Processed) [A31]i and Mann to
, O'Connell, 26 June 1946, RG 56, Entry 352 M, Box 62, Monetary Matters 1946 [A40].
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18Jul46
Sweden
Sweden and the Allies" reached an agreement that represented "a considerable
retreat on the part of the Allies from the position that they are entitled to vest German
external assets." Sweden agreed to a voluntary payment to the Allies of $77 million,
most of which was to be used to provide food and supplies to the Germans, and $21
million was for Allied countries in proportions to be decided on by Sweden in
consultation with the Allies. Sweden also agreed to restitute all gold received from the
Germans which could be proven to be looted. Specific agreement was reached in
regard to 7,155 kg. of Belgian gold (approx. $7 million). The Allies agreed to release
$200 million of blocked Swedish funds.24~"
12 Aug 46
Portugal
Spain
Freezing Assets
Secretary Snyder authorized the American delegation to Spain and Portugal to
use, at their dis~retion, concessions on defrosting accounts of those countries as part of
their negotiations on liquidating assets" and looted gold. 243
26 Aug 46
Looted Assets
Personal Claims
"In a letter of this date, Oscar Cass of the Jewish Agency for Palestine forwarded
to Bill Taylor, Assistant Director of the Division of Monetary Research, a memorandum
on "Basic Principles in Restitution, Compensation, Indemnification and Transfer of
Jewish Claims in Germany," which he claims has been accepted "in general" by" some
of the State Department "boys." The memo sets forth the various categories of Jewish
claims and recommends appropriate action on each. No Treasury response is
indicated. 244
"
242 Division of Monetary Research Activity Report, ca. July 1946, attachment to Division of
Monetary Research Activity Report, ca. 11 October1946, RG 56, NN-370-177, Box 19 [A41];
Schwartz to Richards, 28 April 1947, RG 56, Acc. 56-66A-816, Box 1, Looted Gold: General ,
[A46]; and Allied Delegation to Sandstrom, 18 Jul 1946, Truman Library, John Snyder Papers,
Box 30, fldr: Sweden, General 1946-1949 [A 172]; draft history of Safehaven and looted gold,
29 January 52, "RG 56, Acc. 70A-6232, box 22, fldr: Gold Looted [B54].
243 Foley to The Secretary, 9 Aug 1946, Truman Library, John Snyder Papers, Box 18, fldr: "
FFC--General 1946-1948 [A 174].
244 Cass to Taylor, 26 August 1946, RG 56, ace. pgA-4740Lbox lH,jldr: Germany,
Restitution [B67]. This folder also contains an undated draft letter from the American Jewish
Conference to Prof. Rappard of the Swill [sic] delegation noting Switzerland's announced policy
of returning looted property. It notes that great amounts of property all over the world now
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3 Sep 46
Safehaven
Portugal.
The Portuguese and the Allies began negotiations on Safehaven issues. The
Portuguese resisted Allied proposals for restitution of looted gold. The Treasury
Department sent representatives to the negotiations in lisbon on ·Iooted gold and
prepared background information in Washington. 245
6 Se 46
Tracing Assets
.
A revised calculation of German gold transactions from March 1938 to May 1945
estimated that the Germans received about $775 million (including $100 million it had
in March 1938) and sent out or hid $773.9 million. (The document was apparently ~
written by O. F. Fletcher of the State Department.)246
18 Sep 46
BIS
Looted Assets
. The Treasury representative in lisbon notified the Treasury and State
Departments that members of the American delegation had just teamed that Bank of
France officials had reviewed BIS records. and de.termined that the BIS had obtained
1,607 kilograms of looted Belgian gold. The BIS had offered to repay the $1.6 million
involved. 247
23 Sep 46
Switzerland
Treasury Policy
In a report on Switzerland, the Treasury representative in .Bem, Walter Ostrow,
wrote that "Swiss authorities and the bankers regard the U.S. Treasury as the enemy of
held in the accounts of non-Jews are assets that belonged to Jews ... and were taken from
them by force and duress." The writer calls upon Switzerland to "ascertain the existence of such
looted property and to bring about the return thereof to the proper Jewish owners, if living"
[B68].
'
j
245 Draft history of Treasury Department participation in recovery of gold, 29 January 1952,
RG 56, Ace. 56-66A-816, Box 1, looted Gold: Inter-Allied Reparations Agency (1950-1954)-
.
General, pp. 18, 21 [A42].
246 "Revised Estimate German Gold Movements," 6 September 1946, RG 56, Ace. 66A-l039,
Box 62, lARA: looted Gold--Restitution and Claims Vol. 1 [A95].
'---~
~
247 Rubin and Schmidt to Department and Treasury, 18 Sep 1946, RG 56, Ace. 56-75-101,
Box 169, fldr: BIS/2/00 looted Gold [A121]; Curtis to Bittermann, 23 Sep 1946, same locaticrn
[~2]:--For the Bank of France report see "Minutes," 14 Jun 1946, same location [A 123].
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Switzerland, as the driving force behind all Allied measures to force the Swiss to
disgorge German assets. They were deeply disappointed that Mr. Morgenthau's
. resignation was not followed by a more conciliatory attitude on the part of the
Treasury.,,248
24 Sep 46
Gold Definition
The U.S. Mission in Berlin informed the State Department that "in the case of
Danish gold, law 53 is interpreted as ••• those gold products whose value contains at
least 25% processing and labor costs will not become a part of non-monetary gold-
they are commercial gold." Such gold would be returned to the depositors of the gold
and would not be seized under law 53.249
ep 46
.
Tripartite Gold Commission.
The Tripartite Gold Commission was created by the United States, United
Kingdom, and France and, in turn, established the "gold pool". which was to get all the
monetary gold found in Germany, including gold taken from the German popUlation
under the foreign exchange law of the Allied Military Government?50
10 Oct 46 .
Poland
Treasury Policy
During discussions with State Department representatives on the issue of Polish
defrosting, "Mrs. Shwartz emphasized that Treasury Policy has always been opposed to
introduction of political consideration into U.S. economic and financial policies."251
248 Walter Ostrow, "The Situation in Switzerland," 23 September 1~46, RG 56, Acc. 67A
1804, Box 26, Switzerland: Economic and Financial, p. 2 [A103). Treasury becomes more
conciliatory towards Swiss assets under Snyder, see Ostrow to Files, 7 January 1947, attachment
to Mann to Schmidt, 8 January 1947, RG 56, Acc. 67A-1804, Box 26, Switzerland: Economic and
Fnancial.
.
'.
~
,,1
,
249 US Mission, Berli~ t~ Secretary ?f State, 24 Sep 1946, RG 56 acc. 66A-1039, box 62, fldr:
, lARA: Looted Gold--Restltutlon and Claims Vol. " [A198].
.. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
V"-
250 Draft history of Safehaven and looted gold, 29 Jan 52, RG 56, Ace. 70A 6232, box 22,
fldr: Gold Looted [ B 5 4 ] . .
,,-----.
251 Robichek to Files, 10 Oct 46, RG 56, acc. 66A-155, box 70, Conferences General--Sept
46-April 47 [A203].
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11 Ocf46
SwitzeD'land
·sweden
(
At the Treasury Departments direction, the Federal Reserve informed the Swiss
National Bank that based on the settlement reached with Switzerland, the United
States government no longer considered the $88 million of Belgian gold in Switzerland
to be looted gold. The Federal Reserve asked the Swiss to mark the gold so that the
United States would not confuse it with looted Belgian gold from other sources. A
similar cablegram was sent to the Swedish Sveriges Riks Bank specifying the 7,155
ilograms of Belgian gold held in. Sweden,252
11 Oct 46
HIS
Looted Assets
In a cable cleared by the Treasury Department, the State Department advised
. the Chairman of the Tripartite Gold Commission to inform the French delegate that the
United States believed that the French should neither accept nor reject the BIS offer to
repay the $1.6 million in looted gold. "Acceptance," State pointed out, "would be
inconsistent with global theory on which to claim all looted gold and would also
prejudice claim for additional looted gold." The claim should also be part of the
tripartite program: An earlier Treasury memorandum [possibly not sent] expressed
Concern that a quick settlement would appear to exonerate the BIS, especially when
compared to the protracted negotiations with the Swiss Bank, at a time when the
United States favored liquidating the bank,253
.
18 Nov 46
Freezing Assets
reasury Policy
I
. After several months of internal debate, Foreign Funds Control wrote a draft
regulation affecting American securities allegedly looted froin Axis-controlled countries.
The regulation would !11ake illegal and nullify payment on or transfer of any security in
an accompanying list of allegedly looted securities by any person whether within or
outside the United States. 254
.
252 Achesori to Steere, 11 October 1946, RG 56, Acc. 70A-6232, Box 22, Gold Looted,
Portugal [A75a]. .
253 Acheson to Brussels, 11 Oct 1946, RG 56, Ac06-75-l0.lrllex-1.69,_fl4.r: BIS/2/00
Looted Gold [A124]; and Curtis to Glasser, 30 Sep 1946, RG 56, Entry 56-75-101, Box 169, fldr:
B~iquidati~].
.
~.
254 Friedman to Spingarn, 19 November 1946, RG 56, Ace. 66A-816,_Box-62-[A37]. For an
earlier draft see Hodel and Pollack to Alk, Arnold, and Richards, 15 July 1946, same location
[A38].
/fJlJa
VJ
11
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22 Nov 46
Switzerland
Freezing Assets
After several months of negotiations, the Treasury Department and the Swiss
government exchanged letters that removed the blocking controls under Executive
Order 8389 and the Trading With the Enemy Act from Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
All assets certified by the Swiss would be unblocked. 255
27 Noy 46
Switzerland
Freezing Assets
.
As a result of the 22 Novemb~r 1946 agreement between Switzerland and the
Treasury Department, the Treasury Department instructed the Federal Reserve Bank of
New York to transfer to a "special blocked account" in the name of the Swiss National
Bank any of the SNB's accounts in which the governments, companies,! or individuals of
pre-armistice Germany or Japan held an interest. Inter-departmental debates over the
nature and liability of such an account occupied several months. 256
12 Dec 46
Sweden
Switzerland
Portugal
Spain
Gold Declaration
Because of its value as lIa useful bargaining and diplomatic weapon while
Safehaven negotiations are being conducted,1I a Treasury official recommended retaining
the Treasury Department's 22 February 1944 Gold Declaration. The Declaration's
prohibition against the United States acquiring potentially looted gold from countries
that had not agreed to sign the declaration or paid the full amount of gold agreed to in
255 Snyder to Petitpierre, 22 November 1946, RG 59, Entry 3067, Box 16, Background,
Chronology and Documents Interhandel [A98]. For Treasury Department concern that evidence
supplied for certifications was falsified see Treasury to Mann, 2 May 1947, RG ,59, Entry 3067,
Box 1, Swiss Accord April-June 1947 [A99].
Richards to Davis, 27 November 1946, atta'chment to "Swiss Reparations Agreement
Conference December 5, 1946, 6 December 1946, ~ ~2, Central Subject File, 1913-1954/~ox
655, Switzerland Banque Nationale Suisse Foreign Ban (193'i-"FeD19~7)' [A100)." For debate
bver'the nature of the account see, for instance, Richards to Files, 4 February 1947, attachment
to logan to Vest, 5 February 1947, RG 82t-CmtcaL5.uhject File 1913-195.4l Box 6.~, Switzerland
Banque Nationale Suisse Foreign Banks (1937-Feb 1947) [A101].
256
�Hi$tory Associates Incorporated· Chronology of
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86
\( I Safehaven negotiations would apply to, those countries with which negotiations were
~L.being conducted. 257
30 Dec 46
Freezing AssetS
easury Policy'
A special subcommittee on looted bonds reviewed the draft Treasury
Department regulation proposed to be issued with a list of allegedly looted American
securities. The subcommittee concluded that the list of securities alone might prevent
questionable securities from entering the American market but that the Treasury
regulation "would have an extremely adverse effect upon the functioning of the
securities market and the operations of banks in this country. [The subcommittee) is
further of the opinion that, however desirable it may be to restore to the innocent
victims in the occupied countries the securities taken by the enemy, such action
should not be taken at the. expense of innocent American purchasers."258
~
.
Tracing Assets
The American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic.
Monuments in War Areas' (Office of the Secretary, National Gallery of Art) addressed a
letter to museums, art and antique dealers, and auction houses directing them to
report !lrt objects of suspicious. origin to the commission, which would inform Customs
and Foreign Funds Control officials for investigation. 259
3 Feb 47
Gold Shipments
In a letter requesting additional clarification of its restitution responsibilities,
OMGUS reported to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the only financial assets it had
released from the Foreign Exchange depository "have been 813 bags rubles to USSR,
33 tons monetary gold to Hungary, [and] 40 tons silver as loan t6 German
economy."260
,.
257 "Review of Status of the Gold Declaration," 12 December 1946, RG 56, Entry 66A~ 1039,
Box 62, lARA: looted Gold--location and Recovery [A96]. VI, I
-258
.
----,
Haskell.to loree, 30 December 1946, RG 56, Acc. 66A-81fl;==Bg~~?6].V. I
.
,
259 "Summary of Policy Decisions of the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee on
Occupied Area Matters for the Period January 1 to January 28, 1947," 28 January 1947, RG 56,
ACC' ~~x 35, Swiss Policy Decisions General [A75].
.
260 OMGUS to War-Department f9r JCS, 3 February 1947, RG 56, Entry 66A-1039, Box 62,
lARA: looted' Gold--location and Recovery [A76].
__
,
,
(
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21 Feb 47
Portugal
The Allies and Portugal signed an accord on German assets in Portugal that
would not go into effect until the two sides reached an' agreement on looted gold.
Under the terms of the agreement, Portugal would liquidate German assets and the
proceeds would be distributed as follows: 100 million escudos to assist non-repatriable
victims of German aggression, 50 million escudos to Portugal on account of credits of
Portuguese nationals in Germany, and the remainder to be divided equally between
Portugal and the Allies to a limit of 130 million escudos for ·PortugaL These agreements
were not implemented until early 1949, by which time the value of the assets had
decreased significantly.261
.
Mar 47
Sweden
After an exchange of letters between. the Treasury S~retary and the Swedish
Minister of Finance, an agreement was reached on defrosting Swedish assets similar to
the agreement with Switzerland,262
ar 47
Portugal
.
A Portuguese-Allied subcommittee determined that the Ban~ of Portugal had
obtained looted gold bars from the Reichsbank, of which 3,998 kilograms still bore the
mark of the country of origin,263 This subcommittee included Orvis Schmidt from
Treasu ry.264
261 Volkman to Gerwitz, 15 May 1947, RG 131, NN3-131-94-001 FFC, Box 385, Safehaven
Project (April 1946) (Not Processed) [A43] (this document also indicates that the Treasury
Department maintained at least a presence at the continuing negotiations with neutral
countries); and Schwartz to Richards, 28 April 1947, RG 56,.Acc. 56-66A-816, Box 1, looted
Gold: General [A46]. Draft history of Safehaven and looted gold, 29 Jan 52, RG 56, acc. 70A
6232, box 22, fldr: Gold looted [B54].
. ,
262 "Narrative Report for the Secretary on Treasury Activities for the Month of March, 1947,
March 1947, RG 56, Entry 199 C, Box 25, Monthly Report, Jan-June 1947 [A59].
263 "Final Report by the Governments of France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, and the United States of America to the Inter-Allied Reparation Agency on
, German Enemy Assets in Neutral Countries and Other Territories," undated, attachment to
Sanderhoff to Carre, 6 Jul 1959, RG 59, entry NN3-59-96-59, box 7, fldr: lARA Reports and Final
liquidation [A 195].
:;:;:---------
1\' r 264Basic Documents [A197].State, 27 Sep 1946, RG 5~ entry ~N3-59-96-59, bo~l-B
lisbon to Secretary of
....
~TGC
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10 Mar 47
Portugal
,
ripartite Gold Commission
The report of the TGC Subcommittee on Gold established the identity of the gold
bars acquired by the Bank of Portugal based on a variety of sources including the
records of the German Reichsbank. 265
11 Mar 47
t
Switzerland
Portugal
The Treasury Department informed the Netherlands embassy that the United
States was interested in payments the Portuguese may have made with looted Dutch
gold through Switzerland to Poland for coal. 266
18 Mar 47
Romania
The United States, French, and British governments agreed with Romania that
Romania would deposit into Allied custody 18,000 kilograms ofiootedgold it received
from Germany (this w~s not the entire amount of looted gold the Allies believed
Romania had received). In exchange, the Allies made no objections to the Romanians
using gold they certified as not coming from Germa'ny as security for loans, to pay for
desperately needed grain. The Allies could reopen negotiations within 90 days if they
found the settlement inadequate. The Treasury Department participated with the State
Department in developing the position. The Washington Accord set a precedent for
the amount of gold the Romanians returned. 267
18 Mar 47
Switzerland
In a memorandum, Joseph Friedman argued that he and other Treasury
Department officials had, prior to negotiations with the Swiss, urged the State
Department to preserve the "global approach" on looted gold and to include a clause
Draft history of Safehaven and looted gold, 29 Jan 52, RG 56, ace::. 70A 6232, box 22,
fldr: Gold looted [B54].
265
/"
/'
266
Schwartz to Richards, 28 April 1947, RG 56, ~cc. 56-66A~816! Box l.,...looted Gold:
ceneral [A46]; ttRoumania,tt 28 Apr 1947, RG 56, ~~,Z6-245/...B.ox...1 8, Rumania: War and
War-Related Activities [A131]; Memorandum of Conversation, 12 feb 1947, same location
[A134]; and Schwartz to Schmidt, 6 feb 1947, same location [A133].
267
/, /
Schwartz to Schmidt, 11 March 1947, RG 56, Acc. 56-66A-816, Box 2, looted Gold,
" ,
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,
~andS-\loUJJA54].
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that would permit additional claims against the Swiss after the signing of the
agreement. 268
20 Mar 47
Portugal
. Gold Declaration
In response to an inquiry from the New York Federal Reserve Bank concerning
Portugal's request to sell $10 million of its gold holdings, Orvis Schmidt of the Division
of Monetary Research directed the Federal Reserve to release other gold to Portugal
besides the gold that Portugal had 'sent to the United States in June 1940. He also
asked the Federal Reserve to inquire of the Portuguese Central Bank as to the origin of
any gold sent to the United States after the outbreak of the war. Schmidt was trying to
fulfill the obligation under the Gold Declaration of 22 February 1944.269
27
ar 47
Looted Assets
)1
In a memorandum on abolishing Foreign Fund Control's currency import
controls, one of the reasons given for the abolition was that "it has b~n found to be
impossible to control currency which may have been looted by the enemy because of
difficulties in identifying the specific bills which were 100ted:1270
3 Apr 47,
Sweden
Gold Declaration
The Treasury and State Departments suggested to the American Legation in
Stockholm that they approach the Swedish government about issuing a formal
de<;l~ration of adhe,rence to the principles of the Gold Declaration. The Treasury
Department on 31 March 1947 had purchased £10 million of gold from Sweden on the
assu"!,,ption that Sweden had adhered to the declaration. In anticipation of an
268 Memo re: looted Dutch Gold acquired by Switzerland, 3 Sep 1948, RG 56, entry 66A
816, box 2, fldr: Looted Gold, Netherlands Vol. I [C86]; Department of State to American
Legation in Bern, 24 Mar 1947, RG 56, Acc. 67A-245, Box 38, Rumania: War and War-Related
Activities [A 132].
/
~ 269 Schmidt to Files, 20 Mar 1947, RG 56, Ent!Y..!>r-155, B~,#fldr: Treasury Dept
Telephone Conversations with Represent~tiv:es Abroa ,P-S (Schmidt) [A156].
270 Overby to Snyder, 27 Mar 1947, Truman Library, John Snyder Papers, Box 18, fldr: FFC
General Licenses [A177].
~
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additional $30 million of Swedish gold for sale, the departments thought the Swedish
government should be approached about the declaration.271
4 Apr 47
Switzerland
Interagency Negotiations
After reviewing a note drafted ~y the Treasury Department for the Netherlands
concerning Dutch looted gold acquired by the Swiss, the State Department's Political
Division wanted to delete all references to willingness to request the Dutch gold from
the Swiss and to actions the United S~tes might take if the Swiss did not return the
gold. The State Department made the deletions because, should the Swiss see the
note, they "could develop a press campaign claiming persecution of little countries by
big countries." Despite objections within the department that the resulting note would
serve little purpose, the Treasury Department made the deletions.272
8
ay47
.,.
\.. Sweden
.
/ ) Int!;!ragency Negotiations
.
With a minor deletion, the Treasury Department approved a not~ the State
Department proposed to send to. Sweden describing about 1,000 kilograms (84 bars) of
gold the Germans had .looted from the Netherlands and subsequently transferred to a
Swedish bank. The Allies wanted that amount added to Sweden's restitution. 273 The
Treasury Department had drafted a similar note in late March that may have been the
'
original version of the final note.274
271 Acheson to Stockholm Legation, 3 Apr 1947,RG 56, Acc. 67A-1804, Box 49, fldr: Gold
Commission--1947 Vol. II [A104]. For the situation on 31 Mar 1947 (trucks with Swedish gold
idling at the Federal Reserve while the Treasury Department tried to decide what to do about
the Gold Declaration) see Schmidt to Files, 31 Mar 1947, RG 56, Ace. 69A-4707, Box 47, fldr:
Looted' Gold--Misc. [A146] .
McNeill to Files, 27 April 1947, RG 56, Acc. 56-66A-816, Box 2, Looted Gold: ,
Netherlands Vol. I [A44]; and Schmidt to Files, 4 April 1947, RG 56, Acc. 56-66A-816, Box 2,
Looted Gold: Netherlands Vol. I [A45].
.,
272
273 Schwartz to Schmidt, 8 May 1947, RG 56, Acc. 70A-6232, Box 22, Negotiations for the
Recovery of Looted Gold, Sweden [A65].
274 Schwartz to Surrey, 26 Mar 1947, RG 56, Acc. 69A-4707, Box 47, fldr: Looted Gold-"""'"-
Misc. [A145].
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9 May 47
Argentina
Switzerland
Gold Declaration
Because they had a strong suspicion that Argentina had receiv~d gold from the
Axis after the ,Gold Declaration of 22 February ,1944, the Treasury Department
recommended to the State Department that Argentina remain subject to the
,Declaration. As for Switierland, in light of their actions under the Washington Accord,
the Treasury Department doubted that without further assurances from Switzerland
the Swiss would adhere ~o the Declaration. 275
jun 47
Sweden
The Treasury Department prepared ~ note which the S~ate Department
, presented to Sweden claiming for the Allies an additiona~ 638 bars [approximately
$10 million] of looted gold. These claims were based on an intensive study of the
'
records of the Reichsbank and the Prussian Mint. 276
6 jun 47
Switzerland
Tripartite Gold Commission
,
The Treasury Department directed ,the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, in
accordance with a letter from the Swiss National Bank, to release over 1.6 million
ounces of gold from one of SNB's accounts to an account in the n3:me of the Tripartite
Commission. 277 '
, ,'.
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BIS
A report by M. A. Kriz of ~he Foreign Research Division of the Federal Res~rve
Bank of New York reviewed the wartime activities of the BIS and concluded that while
275
[A61].
Schmidt to Surrey, 9,May 1947, RG 56, Ace. 70A-6232, Box 22, 3 Waiver; Res. Problems
"
,
,
"Narrative Report for the Secretary on Treasury Activities for the Month of June, 1947,
June 1~47, RG 56, ~nt~, ~2-5, Monthly ~ep?rts: Jan-June. 1947 [A58]. Also see
"Narrative Report for the Secretaty/0n Treasury ActiVities for the Month of March, 1947, March
1947, RG 5~, E&rt-19.9_C,_Q,ox 2~, Monthly Report, Jan-June 1947 [A59]; and Memorandu~ for
the Files, 23i"June 1~7, '~G 56, Ace. 70A-6232, box 22, Negotiations for Recoveryof looted
Gold, Sweden [A62]. See, also Draft filstory1WSafehaven and looted gold, 29 Jan 52, ,R.G56,
,acc. ?-OA..62.3.~, box 22!_Jldr: Gold looted [B54]. As of the drafting of this, history, Sweden ,had
norpaid the additional claims and final resolution ~as uncertain. ,
'
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276
Secretary of the Treasury to Federal Reserve Bank, 6 Juri:e 1'947, RG 56, Ac. 67A-1804,
Box 49, Gold Commission~-1947 Vol. II [A105].
'
277
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maintaining its neutrality the BIS: 1) facilitated the movement of gold to the United
States where it would not be accessible to the Axis; 2) obtained assurances that the
gold it was receiving was not looted and kept careful records for future action; 3) took
various safeguarding actions in favor of the occupied countries; 4) restricted transfers of
BIS shares in occupied countries; and 5) held no board of directors' meetings during
the war while the positions of Chairman of the Board and President were filled by
American, British, and Swiss bankers. While not examining ·individual charges, the
author concluded that "the .charges against the B.I.S. have never been substantiated, to
my knowledge, by any documentary evidence of the bank's connivance with Germany."
The report also notes that the "British Government has repeatedly declared itself to be
satisfied with the B.I.S.'s neutrality.'1278
20 Jun 47
Argentina
tei-agency Negotiations
Gold Declaration
The State Department determined that, despite the Treasury Department's
concerns, the shipment of $170 million in gold from Argentina could be purchased by
the United States because all of the gold had been in the. United States before
22 February 1944. The Treasury Department, however, wanted the. American Embassy
in Argentina to obtain from the Argentine government information on gold purchases
from Germany in order to resolve Argentina's status under the Gold Declaration. 279
26 Jun 47 .
Freezing Assets
Interagency Negotiations
Faced with no appropriations for fiscal year 1948, representatives of Foreign
Funds COr'!trol met with State Department and Office of Alien Property (OAP) officials to
discuss the fate of Treasury Department freezing controls. Members of Foreign Funds
Control had drafted a memorandum recommending issuing a general license ending
freezing controls at the end of FFC's existence. The State Department supported the
continuation of freezing controls based on political considerations concerning several
countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Rumania, the Baltics, Spain, Portugal, and Yugoslavia),
merits of the certification program, and "Safehaven considerations." The OAP agreed
278 M. A. Kriz, "The Bank for International Settlements - Wartime Activities and Present
Position (Rev)," 11 June 1947, Federal Reserve Bank of NY doc. #797.3A provided to William
McFadden, OASIA, Treasury, by the bank for this project [B66].
279 Silver to Schmidt, 29 Jun 1947, RG 56, Acc. 66A-155, Box 33, fldr: ARG/3/37 Gold
[A157]; and Schmidt to Files, 15 May 1947,samelocatTOrilATS-S]:-
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with the State Department position and all present agreed that the OAP would assume
the freezing controls. 280
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jul47
Personal Claims
Postwar Germany
The joint Chiefs of Staff issued a directive to General Clay of OMGUS clarifying
certain matters regarding restitution. OMGUS was to turn over to the TGC all
monetary gold uncovered in Germany for distribution in accordance with the Paris
Reparations Agreement. ''Valuable personal property looted from Nazi victims which is
not restitutable" was to be, made available for rehabilitation and resettlement of "non
repatriable victims of German action." With respect to "heirless and unclaimed
property subject to internal restitution," Clay was instructed to designate "appropriate
successor organizations.,,281
3jul47
Switzerland
Holland
The Treasury Department presented the State Department with its summary of
gold bars and coins looted from the Netherlands, what the Germans did with it, and
how much was transferred to the Reichsbank Depot account with the Swiss National
Bank. The Treasury Department also concluded that it could not trace about $8 million
in miscellaneous coins lost by the Dutch. 282
V
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Sjul47
Turkey
Gold Declaration
V
/
The Turkish Government had earlier agreed to settle on looted gold by restituting
about ,3,000 kilograms of gold, allowing six months for presentation of any further
claims, and agreeing to adhere'to the Gold Declaration and Bretton Woods Resolution
VI. The Treasury Department agreed to the terms if Turkey would also provide
detailed information about its gold acquisitions from Axis countries since january
1939.283
280 Schwartz to Files, 30 June 1947, RG 56, Ace. 66A-816, Box 18, Vesting #3 [A50].
281 Objectives of Military Government, July 1947, RG 260, Entry "Prop Div.", Box 27, fldr:
Restitution - Policy & Action [036]. '
/;
282 Schwartz to Fletcher, 3 July 1947, RG 56, Ace. 56-66A-816, Box 2, Looted Gold:
~
.
Netherlands Vol. II [A47].
'
283 Memorandum to the Files, 15 July 1947, RG 56, Ace. 70A-6232, Box 22, 4 BIS, Albania,
____ '
Romania, Turkey, Spain [A63].
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25Ju147:
Freezing Assets
reasury Policy
The Treasury Department issued an amendment to General RulingNo. 5 that
established a schedule of allegedly looted securities and prohibited their importation to
the United States or their holding by any person in the United States who knew them
to be looted. People possessing such scheduled securities had to send them to the
Federal Reserve Bank in New York which would hold them "until the Treasury
Department is satisfied as to their status under the Order [presumably Executive Order
8389].,,284 This amendment provided substantially less control over allegedly looted
securities than the Treasury Department originally. desired, prior to consulting with
representatives of the financial community [see entries for late 1946].285
~
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4 Aug 47
BIS
Holland
A report by Rogers, Royot, and Guisan of the BIS provided specific details of five
deliveries of gold from the Swiss National Bank for the account of the Reichsbank
which the Netherlandsche Bank believed involved gold seized from Holland. The
report. found several transfers of gold that fit the Netherlandsche Bank's descriptions
but made no conclusions about whether they involved looted gold.286
ug 47
Looted Assets
Treasury representative Mann reported that he had attempted to assist the
International Refugee Organization in its efforts to refine and sell the non-monetary gold
that was turned over to it. He advised the IRO to refine its gold and put it into bar
form and was concerned about how to sell it.287
I.
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284 Richards to Mann, 18 July 1947, RG 56, Acc. 66A-816, Box 62 [A48]; and Overby to
Snyder, 11 June 1947, RG 56, Acc. 66A-816, Box 62 [A49].
. .... '
.
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For 1947 negotiations between the Tre~sury Department and the United States financial
community see Pollack to Files, 14 February 1947, RG 56, Acc. 66h:.81:6,-Box 62 [A52]; and
Davis to Richards, 14 March 1947, RG 56, Acc. 66A-816, Box 62 [A53] ..~
285
"Statement of the Facts Concerning the Gold of the Bank for International Settlements
Mentioned in the 'Summary' Dated 7th March 1947," 4 August 1947, RG 56, Acc. 56-66A-816,
Box 1, Looted Gold: Bank for International Settlements, General [A57] ..
286
~'--
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287 Mann to Southard, 20 Aug 1947, R.G_56, Acc. 66A-155, Box 22, fldr: Switzerland
(Incoming) Letters July 47 - Dec 47 [A204].......
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28 Aug 47
Spain
Portugal
.
Because of Spanish unwillingness to discuss actual amounts of looted gold
acquisitions, the Treasury Department suggested to the State Department that Allied
and Spanish representatives should examine, bar by bar, the identity of looted gold
brought to Spain, as was done during the Portuguese negotiations. As for the
'. discussions with Portugal, the Treasury Department recommended· reinvigorating the
negotiations by offering to settle for 90 percent of the amount of looted gold in
question?68
2 Sep,47
Gold Shipments
Tripartite Gold Commission
, In a memorandum to the Treasury Secretary, the Treasury Department staff
recommended a "preliminary distribution in the immediate future" of some of the Gold
Commission's holdings to "help to relieve the dollar shortage of France and other
European countries." The Gold Commission had agreed on this measure in July but
was encountering technical difficulties in making the distribution. To overcome the
difficulties, the Treasury staff recommended that the Commission determine the
prorated shares of its current holdings that should be awarded to each country and to
distribute 85 percent of those shares to the "clearly valid claims" [as opposed to
possibly valid and invalid claims). The State Department agreed that the international
finandal situation necessitated immediate distribution.289
t
47
Tripartite Gold Commission
The State Department notified the American representative to the lARA that the
Treasury and State Departments opposed moving the Gold Commission's gold
currently in Frankfurt (under United States Army guard) prior to the preliminary
distribution of looted gold. Instead, they favored .distributing it directly from Frankfurt.
In March, the French had raised concerns about the accuracy of the weight and assay
of the gold at Frankfurt and had wanted the gold reweighed and recast in England,
288 Schmidt to Files, 13 August 1947, RG 56, Acc. 56-66A-816, Box 1, Looted Gold: General
[A55]; and Schmidt to Surrey, 28 August 1947,'RG 56, Ace. 56~66A-816, Box 2, Looted Gold:
Netherlands, Vol. II [A56]. For Portuguese negotiations, also see Schmidt to Files, 24
September 1947, RG 56, Acc. 70A-6232, Box 22, 7, Gold Looted, Portugal [A64].
'-.
289 Memorandum for the Secretary, 2 Sep-tember 1947, RG 56, I\cc.-66A-:J.03.9.,.§ox 61,JARA:
Looted Gold--Restitution and Claims Vol. 1 [A79]. Also see Glasser to Ness, 4 SelHember 1947,
RG 56, Ac~. 66A-1039, Box 62,JARA: Looted Gold--Restitution and Claims VoL 1 [A80]; and
Brussels to Secretary of State, 3 July' 1947, RG 56, Ace. 66A-1039, Box 62, lARA: Looted Gold-
Restitution and Claims Vol. 11A88ar-~-
~
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F:ance, or the United states. The United States Mint found that much extra effort and·
time would be required to do SO.29O .
23 Sep 47
Gold Definition
OMGUS stated that it had tried to "follow closely" the definition of monetary gold
as given in the "Final Report on the Paris Conference on Reparations" by James W.
Angell. OMGUS claimed the report "indicates term 'monetary gold' refers to 'gold
bullion and gold coins' and includes that 'in such form as to be a medium of exchange'
as distinguished from that 'in such. form as. to indicate its use for dental, artistic and
adornment purposes." Therefore, the working definition OMGUS used was "gold coins
(excluding numismatic coins) plus gold in such form as to permit it by normal practice
to be held as a part of the gold reserves of a central bank, specifically including any
gold that can be identified as having been so held."291
23 Sep 47
Switzerland
Holland
Interagency Negotiations
At a meeting between State Department and Treasury Department
representatives, the two groups made plans for presenting the Dutch claims for looted
gold to· the Swiss. They agreed that the Allied governments should transmit to the
Swiss a dossier documenting the looted gold. The Dutch would then invite
Switzerland and the Allies to the Netherlands to discuss the matter. The two
departm~nts planned to' take up the issue with the Netherlands, Britain, and
France.292
'
25 Sep 47
Tripartite Gold Commission
The Treasury Department drafted a waiver for countries participating in the
preliminary distribution of monetary gold to protect the United States, Britain, and
France from any future claims concerning their administration of the gold pool "or out
1947;~56'
290 State Department to American Embassy in Brussels for Dorr, 1Q Sei1!!'mber
Acc. 66A-1039, ~x 62.L I~RAJ-ooted Gold--Restitution and Claims VQL1 [A84]; Scliwartz to .
Schmidt, 1 August 1947 [A85t,Howard to Schwartz, 15 August 1941"fA86]; Schmidt to Howard,
\
18 July- 19~~87]; allat same location.
291 OMGUS to AGWAR, 23 Sep 47, RG 56, acc. 66A-1039, box 62, fldr: lARA: Looted Gold-
Restitution and Claims Vol. 1 [A 199].
--------
~i---
292 Memorandum fqr the Files, 23 September 1947, attachment to Schwartz to Schmidt, 26
September 1947, RG 56, Acc. 70A-6232, Box 22, Negotiations for Recovery of Looted Gold,
Switzerland [A66].
.
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of the settlements made with third countries concerning the restitution of looted
gold."293
.
30 Sep 47 .
Gold Definition
Tripartite Gold Commission
Gold Shipments'
Treasury Department official Schwartz believed that the United States and
Tripartite Gold Commission's definitions of monetary gold conformed to each other but
he was.not certain of the basis (legal, moral, or technical) for the Commission's
definition. Prior to this memo, the Treasury Department had apparently not considered
"the importance of non-monetary gold losses and the question why restitution of non
monetary gold to the countries of original loss should not be treated in the same
fashion as monetarygold~"294
, OMGUS stated that it believed that it should send non-monetary gold from
, predominantly Jewish concentration camps to the International Refugee Organization
(IRO) rather than to the country in which the camps were located. IRO and beneficiary
organizations did not identify owners of looted material.295
If
3 Oct 47
Argentina
Interagency Negotiations
,
'
,
During a meeting between the Treasury and State Departments, the two
agencies agreed to send a cable to the American Embassy in Argentina requesting that
it obtain information about Argentina's gold acquisitions from Axis countries. The
Treasury Department wanted to gather such information because, it believed that
Argentina woulQ soon try to sell gold to the United States that th~ US could not
purchase under the Gold Declaration unless it determined the gold was not
looted.296
I
'7,
)
)
293 Smith to Files, 25 September 1947, RG 56, Acc. 66A-1039, Box 62, lARA: Looted Gold-
Restitutions and Claims Vol. 1 [A81].
294 Schwartz to Glasser, '30 September 1947, RG 56, 66A-1039, Box 62, lARA: Looted Gold-
'Restitution and Claims Vol. 1 [A83].
"l:"
----,
,
295 OMGUS to AGWAR for OSCAD ECON, 30 September 1947, RG 56, Acc. 66A-1039, Box
62, lARA: looted Gold--Restitution and Claims Vol. 1 [A82].
;..
296 Memorandum to the Files, 7 Oct 1947, RG 56, Acc. 66A-155, Box 70, fldr:
Correspondence, Gen. May 47--Dec. 47 [A161]; Schmidt to Southard, 1 Oct 47, same location
[A 159]; and Secretary of the Treasury to Secretary of State, undated, same location [A160].
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3,6 Oct 47
Interagency Negotiations
Tripartite Gold Commission
,
In haste to distribute gold by 15 October, the Treasury and State Departments
held meetings to discuss problems encountered in restituting looted monetary gold.
The State Department made a few changes to the waiver statement and sent it to the
chairman of the Tripartite Gold Commission. The two departments discussed the draft
prepared by the Treasury Department of the procedures for preliminary 'distribution of
the gold pot (from Frankfurt and the Federal Reserve) and the responsibilities of the
Army, Gold Commission, and participating countries. 297
8 Oct 47
Argentina
The Treasury and State Departments sent a cable to the American Embassy in
, Argentina that stated that certification from, Argentina that it had not obtained gold from
Axis or Axis-occupied countries, Spain, Portugal,or Turkey would allow the United
States to purchase Argentine gold. 298 ,
17 Oct 47
Switzerland
Portugal
Robert Schwartz, Treasury Department, drafted a cable for the State Department
directing the US Embassy in Bern to advise the Swiss government that the United
States viewed unfavorably any purchase of Portuguese gold by the Swiss before a
Safehaven accord'was reached with the Portuguese.299
ct 47
Tripartite Gold Commission ;
The Treasury and State Departments informed the chairman of the Tripartite
Gold Commission that they continued to favor distributing the Frankfurt gold directly
from Frankfurt to avoid delays. They agreed that the preliminary distribution should
297 Memorandum to the Files, 7 October 1947, RG 56, ~tQ39,Box-62, lARA: looted
Gold--Restitution and Claims Vol. 1 [A88]; for the State Department's press release on the
distribution see Department of State to American Embassy Brussels, 26 September 1947, RG 56,
Acc. 66A-l039, Box 62, lARA: looted Gold--Restitution and Claims Vol. 1 [A89].
298 Schwartz to Schmidt, 9 Oct 47, RG 56, Acc. 66A-155, Box 33, fldr: ARG/3/37 Gold
[A162].
Schwartz to McGuire, 17 October 1947, RG56, Acc. 67A-1804, Box 27, Switzerland:
Gold and Silver [A106].
299
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~first use the gold at the Federal Reserve and the "gold coin and clearly valid bars at
rankfurU300
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21 Oct 47'
Tripartite Gold Commission
--'
,
. '
The Secretary of the Treasury authorized and instructed the Federal Reserve Bank '
()/' ?~_New york to open an account for the Tripartite Commissio!1 for the Restitution of
'
Monetary Gold in accordance with the Commission's 24 June 1947 letter to the State .'
Department [not in collected dOCuments]. The Secretary also authorized the bank to '
"deal with gold for the account of theCommission."301
.
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23 Oct 47
Gold Declaration
Argentina
Verbal assurance fro!l1 the Argentine Central Bank, to be confirmed in Writing,
fulfilled the Treasury Department's requirements under the Gold Declaration
sufficiently to permit the sale of Argentine gold through the Federal Reserve.302
28 Oct 47
/I
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Tripartite Gold Commission
r ' Gold Definition'
.
the"TreasurY Department drafted a cable for the United 'States Gold
( Commissioner based on Treasury's discussion with the State Department The two
departments informed the Commissioner that they were "now studying problems
arising under Commission monetary gold definition," and instructed him t() delay
invalidating part of the Dutch looted gold claim on the grounds the gold was not
monetary because to do so would "jeopardize position of Allied, negotiators at lisbon
and other negotiations such as Switzerland and Sweden."303
300 Gla~ser to Ness, 19 October 1947, RG 56, Ace. 66A-l039, Box 62, lARA: looted Gold-
~.
-,
Restitution and Claims Vol. 1 [A90].
301 Acting Secretary of the Treasury to Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 21 October 1947,
. RG 56, Ace. 70A-6232, Box 22, 7. Gold Commission [A71]. 4(jr1IIVI~f'Il4rr/
'--
"
,
"
302 Lovett to Buenos Aires, 23 Oct 1947, RG 56, Ace. 66A-155, Box 33, fldr: ARG/3/37 Gold
[A163].
"
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303 Smith to McGuire, 28 October'1947, RG 56, Ace.,70A-6232, Box 22, Gold Com. Basic
, Docs. [A67].
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N v 47
Cold Definition
A report entitled "Restitution in the Four Zones" stated that War Department
Directives defined non-monetary gold as "all 'valuable personal property' which was
looted from victims ,of the Nazi government, whose national origin, owner or legal
successor is unknown." A question still existed as to whether melted-down identifiable
personal property qualified as non-monetary gold or whether it shOUld be restituted as
if it were in its' original form. 304
10 Nov 47
Tripartite Cold Commission
Cold Shipments
The Treasury and State Departments agreed that after the preliminary distribution
the Gold Commission should ship the remaining Frankfurt gold to a central bank in
Europe or to the Federal Reserve bLit that the Gold Commission had to make the final
decision.305
.
14 Nov 47
Portugal
Looted Assets
.
At a series of meetings in Lisbon the U~ delegation presented the factual
evidence on the gold acquired by Portugal. Portugal continued to argue that they had
not acquired any looted gold and if it could be proven that they did, they nevertheless
had ·bought it in "good faith."306
ov 47
Cold Definition
In response to a question by OMGUS about the definition of monetary gold, the
Civil Affairs Division of the European Command directed OMGUS to follow the "Angells
report" and the Tripartite Gold Commission's questionnaire. The questionnaire referred
to monetary gold as "all gold which, at the time of its looting or wrongful r~moval, was
carried as part of the claimant country's monetary reserve, either in the accounts of the
\
,
l; ~04 ",Restitution in the Four Zones," Nov 1947, RG 56, Ac~~9A-4707~84, fldr: Germany:
Restitution, p. 3 [A 14 7].
.
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305 Marshall to Daspit, 19 November 1947, RG 56, Acc. 67A-1804, Box 49, Gold
Commission--1947 Vol. II [A107].
,I
306 Draft history of Safehaven and looted gold, 29 jan 52, RG 56, acc. 70A 6232, box 22,
fldr: Gold looted [B54].
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claimant govt [sic] itself or in the accounts of the claimant country's central bank or
.
other monetary authority at home or abroad."307
29 Nov 47
I
!
.
Cold Shipments
~
.
A telegram from Brussels to the State Department briefly de.scribed gold found in
Austria·and turned over by the United States Armed Forces to the Austrian
government. The gold was to be taken into account in the tinal disposition of the gold
"'f'
_
~~
.
,
5 D,ec 47
(
V
In a reply to questions from the Gold Commission, the State and Treasury
Departments indicated their approval of the procedures for shipment of gold. As to the
question of whose name, the Gold Commission or the three. countries involved, the
Federal Reserve account should be in, the two departments and the Federal Reserve
believed that no matter which name was chosen, "US would raise defense of
governmental immunity from suit and attachment and would also content [sic] that
question of propriety of Commission's determinations is political question involving
conduct foreign affairs and that court does not have jurisdiction."309
I
t
!
.
/'
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Cold Shipments
Y
10 Dec 47
Cold Shipments
.
The Tripartite Gold Commission approved the prompt transfer of gold from
Sweden to the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. 310
19 Dec 47
Portugal
Looled Assets
The American team negotiating looted gold issues in Portugal (consisting of a
Treasury Department official and a State Department official), after eighteen months of
negotiations, received an offer from the Portuguese to settle for $17 million of the
307 HQ EUCOM to OMGUS, 18 Nov 1947, RG 56, Acc. 69A-4707, Box 47, fldr: looted
t----
Gold--Misc. [A148].
K~ Brussels to Secretary of State, 29 November 1947, RG 56, Acc. 70A-6232, BO~L~, Gold
Co. Basic Docs. [A68]; and CG' USFA to War Department for WDSA ES, 18 March 1947, RG 56,
( ( Entry 66A-1039, Box 62, lARA: looted Gold--locatif?n and Recovery [A77].
..
')
c:
_______
.
309 lovett to Daspit, 5 December 1947, RG 56, Acc. 70A-6232~22, Gold Commission
1947-49 [A72].
. ~
t"
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310 Brussels to Secretary of State, 10 Dec 1947, RG 56, Acc. 69A-4707 l Box 47, fldr: looted
.GoldnMisc. [A149].
r
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$46 million in .Iooted gold the Allies believed the Portuguese held. The Treasury and
State Departments considered the proposal insufficient because it represented
substantially less than the amounts for which Switzerland and Sweden had settled and
it would be "extremely difficult to defend or justify this settlement before IARA."311
23 Dec 47
Freezing Assets
Switzerland
The Swiss Federal Council passed a decree, effective 1 January 1948, abrogating
the decree of 20 August 1945 that provided for the precautionary blocking of assets in
Switzerland allegedly looted in belligerent or occupied areas.312
31 Dec 47
Gold Shipments
The State Department sent a cable originally drafted by the Treasury Department
to the. US Commissioner on the Gold Commission instructing the Commission to sort
monetary gold from non-monetary gold prior to $hipping the gold stored at Frankfurt to
the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. The cable notes that gold stored at Frankfurt
included such non-monetary gold as "irregular and alloy bars, scrap gold, sweepings,
etc.,,313
8 Jan 48
Portugal
At a meeting between the Treasury and State Departments, the two agencies
decided that, because the Portuguese were unwilling to restitute more than 3.9 tons of
gold, American negotiators· should offer the Portuguese 100 percent of the German
assets they liquidate in exchange for 30 metric tons of gold, or 25 as the absolute
ininimu 314
m.
311 Smith to Files, 18 December 1947, RG 56, Ace. 70A-6232, Box 22, Gold Looted, Portugal
(and attachments) [A69]; and Lovett to American Ambassador at lisbon, 19 December 1947,
RG 56, Acc. 70A-6232, Box 22, Negotiations for Recovery of Looted Gold, Portugal [A70]; also
see lisbon to Secretary of State, 13 December 1947, RG 56, Acc. 70A-6232, Box 22, Gold
Commission 1947-49 [A73].
Curtis to Files, 28 jan 1948, RG 56, acc. 66A-155, box 22, fldr: Switzerland (Incoming)
Letters Jan 48-Jun 48 [A205].
.'!:
312
G
313 Gunter to Hess, 11 Dec 1947, RG 56, Acc. 69A-4707, Box 47, fldr: Looted Gold--Misc.
. [A150]; State Department to American EmbassY'in BfUssels, 31-0ec 1947, same location
[A151]. . .
. . . .
314 Schwartz to Files, 19 jan 1948, RG 56, Acc. 66A-155, box 70, fldr: Correspondence,
General jan. 1948 [A165].
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16 j~ 48
tI
~ripartite Gold Commission
. Gold Shipments
.
The TGC ordered the New York Federal Reserve Bank to deliver 152,000 Troy
ounces of gold from the pool to Austri~~315
.-..)
20 jan!48
/(
Tripartite Gold Commission
Gold Shipments
Treasury officials participated in discussions at the Pentagon to determine if the ~.
Army could handle the transportation of 126 tons of gold from the TGC gold pool in
Frankfurt. This included 22 tons destined for Austria and the 104 tons remaining in th',;
pool. Because of insurance problems with Army vessels, it was decided to ship the. I
'.
316
gold via commercial airliner.
*l
Fe 48,
Tripartite Gold Commission
Gold Shipments
.
The US, UK, and French governments decided to facilitate ,their gold distribution
program by moving the gold held by military authorities in Germany to deposits at the
Bank of England and the Federal Reserve Bank in N~w York.317
2 Feb 48
Switzerland
In a letter from Snyder to Senator Arthur Vanderberg, the Secretary of Treasury
outlined a plan to vest all remaining Swiss assets in the United States not certified as of
1 june 1948, responsibility for these assets being handed over from FFC in the Treasury
Department to the Office of Alien Property in justice. 318
\
.
\ 315 TGC to Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 16 Jan 1948, RG 56, entry 70A-6232, box 22,
fldr: Gold Commission, Distribution of Gold [C98].
r
316 Memo re: Shipment of Frankfurt Gold, 20 Jan 1948, RG 56, entry 66A-1039, box 62, fldr:
lARA, looted Gold, Restitution and Claims Vol. II [Cl08]; Memo to the files, 14 Apr 1948, RG
56, entry 661\-1039, box 62, fldr: lARA, looted Gold, Restitutionand Claims Vol. II [Cl09].
---
.,
317 OMGUS Berlin to HQ EUCOM Frankfurt, 10 Mar 1948,RG 56, ent~ 66A-816, box 1,
f1dr: looted Gold, General [C85].
\ - ,
318 Memo for the files, 11 Feb 1948, RG 59, ~6L Box 15, fldr: Switzerland, .
.
Defrosting 1947-1956 [C125]; Proposed press release, 18 Feb 1948, RG 59, ~ntrY.·3067, Box 1,
dr: Swiss Accord, Feb-Mar 1948 [C126]; Ness to Thorp, 27 Feb 1948, ~ry 3067,-Boi
yldr: Swiss Accord, Feb-Mar 1948 [C127].
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10 Feb 48
Switzerland
Tracing Assets
The Office of Alien Property concluded that the May 1946 Washington Accord
did not grant the Swiss authorities exclusive right to investigate German assets held in
Switzerland, especially when tne investigation ultimately helped determine the
ownership of property in the United States. 319 .
18 Feb 48
DIS
Looted Assets
Roger Auboin, BIS Director General, provided the Treasury Department with a
report that showed that the BIS had received a total of 3,708 kilograms of possibly
looted gold.320
(,
~
18 Feb 48
Tripartite Gold cOmmission
Gold Definition
Personal daims
A State Department internal memo from Brussels examined the definition of
monetary gold and the issue of personal claims and suggested that the TGC accept a .
narrow definition of monetary gold in order to avoid the administrative problem of
dealing with an avalanche.of personal claims. The issue may '(?) have resulted from
the actions of a French lawyer who claimed that much of the gold designated as looted
from national banks was individually owned gold forcibly 'sold to the national banks.321
Mar 48
Holland
Switzerland
LoQted Assets
In an effort to resolve the question of Dutch looted gold transferred to
Switzerland, the details of which were not known when Switzerland signed the 1946
Memorandum concerning to effect of the Washington Accord on the right of the United
States to make investigations in Switzerland in connection with German property, 10 Feb 1948,
RG 59, entry 3067, Box 15, f1dr: Switzerland, Defrosting 1947-1956 [C124].
319
(
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320 "Statement of Total Gold Received From the Reichsbank ...," 18 Feb 1948, attachment
to Ostrow to Southard, 26 Feb 1948, RG 56, acc. 66A-155, box 22, f1dr: Switzerland (Incoming)
----
. Letters Jan 48-June 48 [A206].
321 State telegram Brussels to Secretary of State, 18 Feb 1948. NOTE: We only have the first
page of the document, which is also not provenanced. Most likely from RG 56, Ace: 70A-6232,~
B0x.2~ [C99]; State telegram, Brussels to Secretary of State, 13 Apr 1948, RG 56, entry 70A
6232, box 22, fldr: Gold Comm. Basic Documents [Cl02].
......----,
-----
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Washington Accord, the Allied governments decided that Holland should contact the
Swiss directly using moral arguments since they felt such an approach would be more
fruitful. Switzerland later rejected the Dutch request to attend a conference to settle
the issue. 322
1 Mar 48
Switzerland
Freezing Assets '
Treasury Secretary Snyder announced the termination of blocking controls over
Switzerland. 323
'
'
5 Apr 48
HIS
,'tboted Assets
A draft note by the Treasury Department set out a proposed basis for agreement
with the SIS for restitution of looted gold. According to the note, the SIS would return
3,708 kilograms of gold, make available the records of its gold acquisitions from January
1939 through September 1945, allow the. Allies to make additional claims for looted
gold within one year, and relinquish claims to gold seized by the Allies that had been
deposited to the SIS account by the Deutsche Reichsbank in the final days of the war.
In return, the Allies would consider the SIS to have met the requirements oflhe Gold
Declaration and would no longer consider SIS gold as looted. 324 .
7 Apr 48
Portugal
Treasury Policy
Interagency Negotiations
Southard,director of Treasury's Office of International Finance, contacted Nessi
director of State's Office of Finance and Development Policy, to complain about State's
recent decision to present a final offer to Portugal for settlement on negotiations
covering both German assets and looted gold. Treasury protested that State's actions
threatened to separate the two issues, which Treasury felt undermined the looted gold
322 Schwartz to 7, 22 Mar 1948, and attached memos, RG 56, entry 70A-6232, box 22, f1dr:
Negotiations for Recovery looted Gold Switzerland [C100]; Schwartz to Willis, 14 Sep 1949, RG
56, entry 66A-816, box 2, fldr: looted Gold, Netherlands Vol. II [C8S]; Memo re: looted Dutch
Gold acquired by Switzerland, 3 Sep 1948, RG 56, entry 66A-816, box 2, fldr: looted Gold,
.
Netherlands Vol. I [C86].
323 Ostrow to Treasury, 3 March 1951, RG 56, Acc. 67A-1804, Box 26, Switzerland:
Economic and Financial [A 108].
(+1
324
"Proposed Note from the Governments .../' 5 Apr 1948, RG 56, Acc. 69A-4707, Box 82,
,
,,"""
~Idr: Germany: looted Property [A 152].
�History Associates Incorporated - Chronology of
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. negotiations (the Treasury Department favored using blocked Portuguese assets as a
. bargaining tool). The Treasury Department also favored obtaining more gold than the
Portuguese had previously offered, possibly by giving them 75 percent of German
assets rather than the currently proposed 50 percent. 325
7 Apr 48
old Definition
Tripartite Gold Commission
OMGUS officials complained that the Tripartite Gold Commission's definition of
monetary gold represented a much narrower definition that would not cover large
quantities of the gold they presently held. In particular, they had monetary-quality gold
that had not been part of any country's gold reserves that was,. therefore, probably
looted from individuals. The OMGUS officials asked the Army Chief of Staff for
permission to hand over this "non-monetary" gold for use by the German
conomy.326
6 Apr 48
Gold. Definition
I'
An OMGUS cable referred to monetary gold according to the Gold Commission's
definition, non-monetary gold according to War Department cable WX-85682, and a
third category of gold acquired through Law 53 that met neither definition. A later
cable referred to the third category as middle gold. OMGUS was authorized to deliver
middle gold to the Precious Metals Control Office but only if it was non-monetary by
Angell Report definition, not TGC definition.327
29 Apr 48
HIS
Treasury officials explained to BIS representatives that conversations concerning
. unblocking would be held at the Treasury Department and the State Department
would conduct looted gold negotiations·. Treasury representatives participated in the
i
325 Southard to Ness, Apr 1948, RG 56, entry 70A-6232, box 22, fldr: Negotiations for
Recovery Looted Gold, Portugal [C101]; Memorandum to the files, 21 Apr 1948, RG 56, entry
70A-6232, box 22, fldr: Negotiations for Recovery Looted Gold, Portugal [C104]; and Southard
to Ness, 5 April 1948, RG 56, Ace. 67A-1804, Box 23, Portugal: Looted Gold Vol. II [A109].
I
. 326 Memo OMGUS. Berlin to Chief of Staff USA for CSCAD, 1~1948, RG 56, entry 70A
6232, box 22, fldr: Gold Comm. Basic Documents [C103].
.
------
----------..
.
327 Freeman to Stern, 4 Jun 1948, RG 260, Records Related to the Restitution of Precious
MetaI1947-1950~2'l,)'~dr: untitledlA 175]-:-~
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State Department negotiations where they desired restitution of both the looted BIS
gold and the "sO-called constance gold:"328
May 48
Spain
Spain agreed to liquidate remaining German assets, handing over the procee~s to
the lARA once Spanish creditors had been paid.329
11 May 48
HIS
Looted Assets
The Treasury Department concurred with the State Department's position on the
restitution of looted gold from the BIS. The State Department believed the BIS should
release 3,738 kilograms of gold, the total amount of looted gold in its possession frbm
Belgium, Holland, and Italy. The Allies would not, however, demand the return ofl
Austrian and Czech gold acquired prior to World War 11.330
,
Apparently.during the Allied negotiations with the BIS, the Treasury Departnient's'
H. Hesse and the BIS's H. Guisan prepared a report on looted gold acquired by the
BIS.331
,
,
1
328 Office of International Finance, Monthly Report for April 1948, ca. Apr 1948, RG 56,1 acc.
66A-155, box 68, Office of International Finance Monthly Report Jan 48-Jul 48 [A207]. The
reference is to gold in the Reichsbank branch in Constance which was transferred to the BI,S
account near the end of the war. See Arthur L. Smith, Jr., Hitler's Gold (Oxford: Berg Publishers
Ltd., 1989), pp. 74-78.
329 Working Paper on Reparations Problems, 6 Apr 1951, RG 56, entry 66A-1039, box
fldr: lARA looted Gold, Restitution and Claims Vol. II' [C116].
~2,
330 Arnold to Southard, 11 May 1946, RG 56, Ace. 56~75-101, Box 169, BIS/2/00 looted'
{Gold [A 127].
.
,-i
331 "Statement of Facts Concerning ,the Gold Acquired ...," undated, RG 56, acc. 56-66A
816, box 1, fldr: looted Gold: General [A190].
,.......
./
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13 May 48
DIS
Looted Assets
Gold Shipments
J)
~
G
,
I
'
The BIS agreed to deliver to london 3,740 kilograms of gold transferred by ,
Germany to the BIS. A State Department press release on the agreement describ~d
t e BIS as having "inadvertently acquired" looted gold. 332
:
i
14 May 48
DIS
olland
~
Although the Allies and the BIS had reached a settlement, the Treasury
Department requested that its representative in lisbon, Robert Schwartz, travel to:
(of
Frankfurt to ~rrange for niilitaD'_eersonnel th_ere to_o~~~!!.!)~~idence on the first
tlff"ee) smeltings of looted DutcbJPs. Tlie jijlie'S-apparently planned to usefne
evidence to docum'~nrmelr claim' against the, BIS and for discussions with the
Swiss. 333
' :
twci
Y 48
Gold Definition
.A War Department cable stated that the Gold Commission's ,definition of
I
monetary gold was not to be used. Instead, "only such gold' as falls outside Angel'
report definition may be delivered Precious Metals Control Office for use German:
economy."334,
Jun 48
Treasury Policy
Tracing Assets
,
,
Treasury representatives're-examined Reichsbank records in Berlin that related to
shipments of looted Dutch gold; however, they could not get access to certain bahk
records which were 'held in the Russian sector of the city. Since OMGUS was in the
332 BIS to Allied Representatives, 13 May 1948, RG 56, Entry 56-75-1 01, 80~...169,Jldr: ;
BIS/2/oo looted Gold [A126]; Press Release 378, 14 May 1948, same location [1\128]; and
"Restitution of Property," 13 May 1949, RG 56, Acc. 69A-4701,..[ox 80, goldulooted Holdi~gs &
Transfers [A152].
'
~
/':
._.
333 Treasury to Rubin and
~
Sch~artz, 5 May 1948, RG 56, Acc. 67A-1804,
/'1
6~04, B~49, 0
B,Qx 49, Gold:
Commission--1948 [A110]; Trei~brf"'f:o Schwartz, 14 May 1948, RG 56, Acc.
Gold Commission:::l948 [A111]; Marshall to DQrr, 17 June 1948, RG 56, Acc. 67A-1804, Box ,./I
,
I
49, Gold Commission--.l948 [A112]; and Schwartz to Southard, 4 Jun1948, RG 56, Acc. 56-75- ..;
'to1,' Box 169, fldr: BIS/2/oo looted Gold [A129].
"
~
I
334 Freeman to Stern, 4 Jun 1948, RG 260, Records Related to the ~stitution of PrecioOs
~Q50, Box 21, fldr: untitled[Ar75].
i-
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rocess of dissolving its Foreign Exchange Depository, which held the records, it ~a~
decided to transfer these Reichsbank records to the Bank Deutscher Laender as :
permanent custodian. The Treasury Department made a microfilm collection of alii:
ese records, which was stored in the main Treasury buil~ing in 1948.335
I
~
3Jul48
Gold Shipments
. .Tripartite Gold Commission
;
L'
OMGUS announced that more than 100 tons of gold held at the Foreign :
vtxchange Depot in Frankfurt would be shipped to London at the request of the ;
! Tripartite Gold Commission, which had already allocated this gold among various I
national claimants. 336
'
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Jul48
Portugal
Because the British, French, and AmeriCans believed that Portugal had not made
a reasonable offer to restitute its looted gold, the countries began preparing a joint
report on the situation for the lARA. The Treasury Department, which supported ~he
position on Portugal, wrote the first draft of the report. 337
~
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6Jul48
DIS
Gold Shipments
I
Following Gold Commission orders, the BIS delivered 3,74'0 kilograms of gold in
the form of Prussian Mint bars to the Bank of England. 336
Memo to the files, Hesse, 16 jan J953, RG 56, entry 66A-816, box 1, fldr: Looted <Gold
lARA (195()"54) [C89].
------
i
336 OMGUS Berlin to Dept. of Army for CSCAD, 2 Jul1948, RG 56, entry 66A-l039, box 62,
, fldr: lARA Looted Gold, Restitution and Claims Vol. " [Clll].
'
335
I
Monthly Report for the Secretary on Treasury Activities, jul1948, RG 56, entry 199ic,
box 26, fldr: Jul·-Sec, 1948 [A 185].
.
i
337
Brussels to Secretary of State, 6 july 1948, RG 56, Acc. 67A-1804, Box 49, Gold
Commission--1948 [A 113],
338
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,110
Sep 48
.
Portugal
Looted Assets
. After a series of meetings, representatives of the Treasury and State Departments
and of the British and French governments decided to address another note to the;
,
,
Portuguese concerning looted gold. 339
,
3 Sep 48
Switzerland
.Tracing Assets
Holland
An internal Treasury memorandum concluded that the Allied negotiators involved
I
in the 1946 negotiations with Switzerland should have known about the large
quantities of Dutch looted gold transferred to Swiss accounts. In particular, the US.
.
I
negotiating team included Treasury representatives who had examined the Reichs~ank
. records and reported on the extensive shipments of Dutch gold into Switzerland. jfhe
memorandum concluded that the United States should not interfere in Dutch attempts
to bring suit against the Swiss for looted Dutch gold, provided that such a suit did inot
'
contest the authority of the Allies in negotiating the Washington Accord. 340
27 Sep 48
Tracing Assets
Tripartite Gold Commission
An internal State Department telegram discussed the threat of a British court
action involving the French firm Dollfus Mieg Cie. and its claims to ownership of s~me
of the gold held by the Commission. The State Department suggestion was to inform
Mieg's solicitors that governments involved and the institutions established by the i Paris·
agreement were not liable to British court decisions. 341
'
339 Monthly Report for the S~cretary on Treasury Activities, Sep 1948, RG 56; entry 199 C,
box 26, fldr: June-Dec. 1948 [A 186].
;
i
340 Memo re: looted Dutch Gold acquired by Switzerland, 3 Sep 1948, RG 56, entry 66A
816, box 2, fldr: looted Gold, Netherlands Vol. I [C86]. '
I
State telegram london to Secretary of State, 27 Sep 1948, RG 56, entry 66A-816, box 1,
fldr: looted Gold, General [C87]. NOTE: The case dragged on for several years, and there iare
several other memos on this court case in RG 56, Acc. 70A-6232, from the period 1951-52.
341
I
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28 Sep 48
we
.
DIS
Looted Assets
The Treasury Department provided the BIS with evidence that the second.·
smelting of Dutch guilders included looted gold. 342 .
.
.
30 Sep 48
Freezing A s s e t s ·
TreaSury O r g a n i z a t i o n . "
~
. !
. ;
. Executive Order 9989 transferred jurisdiction over blocked assets from the !
( Treasury Department's Foreign Funds Control to the Department of Justice's Offic~ of
Alien Property.343·
.
,
. :
Feb 49
Portugal
I
Portugal agreed to begin liquidation of German assets and place the procee~s in
a blockedaccount until the issue Of their ownership could be settled; however, the
disagreements over looted gold in Portugal hampered tinal transfer of these assets: to
the IARA.344
I
24 Jun 49
Looted Assets
Treasury Policy
An internal Treasury memo outlined the most pressing looted gold problems,
which included the continuing failure of Portuguese negotiations over $48 million in
looted gold, the lack of any settlemerit with Turkey over $3.5 million in looted Belgian
gold, unsettled claims pending before the Tripartite Gold Commission from Albania and
Czechoslovakia, and the continuing Dutch attempts to negotiate a settlement wit~
Switzerland. 345
:
342 Gunter to Auboin, 28 Sep 1948, RG 56, Ace. 66A-155, Box 2, fldr: US Treasury
Correspondence with State Department 1948 [A~I
I
343 Snyder to Sproul, 13 Sep 1948, Truman Libra~, John Snyder Papers, Box 17, fldr: FFC
Liquidation [A 176]..
~
i
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344 Working Paper on Reparations Problems, 6 Apr 1951, RG 56, entry 66A-1039, box 62,
fldr: lARA Looted Gold, Restitution and Claims Vol. II [C116].
i
345 Schwartz to Willis, 24 Jun 1949, RG 56, entry 66A-1039, box 62, fldr: lARA Looted Qold,
Restitution and Claims Vol. II [C112].
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·30 Jun 49
Postwar Germany
The OMGUS Property Control and External Assets Branch, along with its parent
Property Division, was officially dissolved. Persons having. business before the branch
were encouraged to contact an OMGU5-trained German agency, the Hauptbuere fuer
I
Vermoegenskontrolleund Wiedergutmachung, in the US Zone in Germany.3,46
5 Aug 49
Postwar Germany
Treasury Policy
I
In an internal memorandum, Treasury Department official C. J. Hynning no~ed
the department was having little success in its efforts to "finesse the Treasury intp the
German picture." In particular, he noted that State and Defense seemed indifferent to
Treasury concerns, largely because Treasury seemed consumed with a vindictive!
attitude towards Germany and failed to perceive the role Germany had to play in the
reconstruction of Europe.347
.
,
!
Sep 49
Tripartite Gold Commission
Holland
Switzerland,
:
State and Treasury officials debated whether the final disposition of gold o~ed by
V
the Tripartite Commission to Holland should be withheld until the Dutch agreed! not to
. , pursue any further claims against Switzerland without clearing these daims with ithe
Allied governments. 348
20 Sep 49
Tripartite Gold Commission
Gold Definition
/t
,
~
,
,
. '"
i
.,'.
The US representative on, the TGC (Millard ?) was instructed by the State :
Department to accept a broader definition of monetary gold being considered by: the
TGC .c.ommissioners ~nl~ if this would not result in any ad.diti~nal claims. The broader
definition dropped cntenon that gold must have been earned In accounts as part of a
,
.~/
f/\.
~ ~346 OMGUS Press Release, 5 July 1949, RG 260, E~try "Prop Div.", Box 24, fldr: Resti~ution
[D3 7].
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347 Hynning to Arnold, 5 Aug 1945, RG 56, ent~ 69A-7584, box 2, fldr: Country Files:
Germany [C92a].
.
/,
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.~ ,.. Schwartz to Willis, 14 Sep 1949, RG 56, entry 66A-816, box 2, fldr. Looted Gold, ,
Netherlands Vol. II [C88].
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0netary reserve. After reviewing the situation, Millard concluded that the impact
would be. minimal.349
,
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Jan 50
I
V
Tripartite Gold Commission
Gold QefinitiOJ;1
Representatives from France, the United Kingdom, and the United States i
(including Fred Smith of the Treasury General Counsel's Office) met in Brussels t6
,
discuss a number of key issues facing the Tripartite Gold Commission, including t,he
definition of monetary gold. The representatives agreed that monetary gold should
include all gold defined as monetary by German laws as well as looted gold definbd as
monetary by the claimant country. By setting this definition, gold that was to be/ or
had been already, shipped directly from occupied Germany to countries from which it
was looted (in particular, Yugoslavia and France) was to be made available to the iGold
Commission's gold pool.350 It appears that the State Department took the lead in
these matters while the Treasury, Department may have only observed. 351
';
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0.ar50
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Spain
.
"'!
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,
; ;Treasury Policy
.
As the Federal Reserve considered whether to accept gold from Spain that was
~ rJ
looted by the Germans but acquired by Spain through other neutral countries, it found
~that the Treasury Department "regards the gold as tainted only in the hands of the first
purchaser.,,352
23 May 50
Tripartite Gold Commission
Gold Shipments
Robert Schwartz of the Tre~sury Department made a preliminary account of the
Gold Commission's receipts and payments from its creation to 1950. 353
!
Ii· '"
I,
State telegram ·Brussels to Secretary of State, 20Sep 1948, RC;;,56, entty 70A,6232! box
~:::::i:o::;e::~:~n:~~~:~n
Matte~, ~-bn-t-ry-/""'~
22,
Looted Gold, Monetary Gold
66A-l039, box 62, fldr: lARA looted Gold, Restitution and Claims Vol. II [Cl13].
IiG!
.
I
351 Wi'llis to McDiarmid,l? February, ,1950, RG 56, Ace. 67A-1804, Box 49, Gold
Commission--1949 Vol IV [Al14] [not sent].
.
"
j
352 Knoke to Erickson, 30 Mar 1950, attachment to Dumbitz to Vest, 14 Apr 1950, RG 56,
entry 1, box 654, f1dr: 301,231--Spain Instituto Espanol De Moneda [A1 8 9 ] . , - - r
~
\
'
I
353 Schwartz to Curtis, 23 May 1950, RG 56, Ace. 67A-1804, Box 49, Gold Commissiqn-
1949 Vol IV [A115].
�History Assodates Incorporated • Chronology of .
Treasury Safehaven Activities, 28 January 1997
114
Jun S0
Gold Definition
Tripartite Gold Commission
~
,
f
The State Department issued a series of gui~elines for the delivery of gold to the
Tripartite Commission. All gold bullion and bars were to be delivered, as were all gold
coins; however, dental gold and jewelry was to be released to the German econdmy
I
except for gold collected under Law 53.354
Jun 50
Switzerland
I
The negotiations on.implementing the May 1946 Allied-Swiss Accord, begun in
Washington in June 1949, reconvened in Bern. One of the primary problems was the
issue of Swiss participation in the custody of the liquidated assets and in determining
compensation amounts, especially as regards property in the United States ostensibly
owned by Swiss nationals but claimed to be hidden German assets.355
:
28 Jun 50
Gold Definition
Gold Shipments
•
I
In preparation for delivering "Law 53" gold from Frankfurt to the Gold
I
Commission, the State Department described its definition of monetary gold as all gold
in bullion ?r bars and all non-numismatic coins. Gold belonging to non-Germans; was
not to be Included.356
.
25 Oct 50
Sweden
After Sweden formally responded to the Allied claim·from Spring 1947 requ:esting
restitution of gold looted from Holland by claiming that it was not responsible for: gold
:
acquired before 5 January 1943 according to a verbal agreement made during
negotiations for the Sweden Accord, Fred Smith of Treasury argued that the United
States should not accept Sweden's response. He cited the text of the Sweden Accord
[~icl
V' L,
/!
354 State telegram, Frankfort
to Secretary of State, 27 Jun 1950, RG 56, entry 69At7584,
box 4, f1dr: Gold Commission 1950 [C93a].
..
. :
J
i
355 Report, "Determination of United States Position on the Swiss-Allied Accord," undated,
RG 56, entry 70A-6232, box 22, f1dr: Gold looted, Swiss [C105a].
:
e
Frankfort [sic] to Secretary of State, 28june 1950, RG 56, Acc. 67A-1804, Box 49, Cold
Commission--1949 Vol II [A116].
. . , .
!
356
.
.
.
I
.
!
,
�. ·History Associates Incorporated· Chronology of
Treasury Safehaven Activities, 28 January 1997
115
which stated th~t Sweden would be required to restitute all looted gold that it h~d
acquired. 357
. .
:.~
:
;
i
19 J n 51
Looted Assets
Holland
,
I
.
I
I
The United States and Holland signed a memorandum of understanding on the
such securities presently being traded in the US.3~
.
.
..
/'
!
Feb 51
Tripartite Gold Commission
Gold Shipments
L
.
.:.
'
I
.
The Treasury Department c'ontacted the New York Federal Reserve and as~edV't .
to prepare to receive 150,000 grams of gold from German assets in Japan.359 .
;
..
Oct 51
Portugal
Interagency Negotiations
In light of the political issues brought up by the State Department, Treasury
agreed to support an offer made by Portugal to settle the looted gold question by
handing over 3.9 tons of gold. The Allies had originally asked for 15 tons, and had
estimated that Portugal had acquired almost 44 tons of looted gold. The State
Department approached Britain and 'France about resuming negotiations.360
!
.
I
357 Smith to Arnold, 25. Oct 1950, RG 56, Acc. 69A-4707, Box 47, fldr: Looted Gold--MiSc.
I
[A154].
i
358 Memorandum of Understanding, 19 jan 1951, RG 56, entry 66A-l039, box 62,
Looted Gold, Restitution and Claims Vol. II [Cl15].
fld~: lARA·
:
I ( 359 Davis to Smith, 13 Feb 1951, RG 56, entry 69A-7584, box 4, fldr: Gold Commissio'n
V ~950 [C94a].
:
360 Memo to the files, 12 Oct 1951, RG 56, entry 70A-6232, box 22, fldr:
Recovery Looted Gold, Portugal [Cl06].
Negotiation~ for
.
�. ....
History Associates Incorporated. Chronology of
Treasury Safehaven Activities, 28 January 1997
116,
21 Feb 52
Gold Shipments
1
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York received for the Tripartite Commission
seventeen boxes containing gold coins and bars collected under Law 53 in the :
American zone of Germany.361
y
/'
I
24 Apr 52
Ii Gold Shipments
:
;
\
\
The first of four shipments of gold by diplomatic pouch left Madrid for the ; _
New York Federal Reserve Bank's Gold Commission account. The gold consisted of
322 gold coins seized from the German embassy in Madrid at the end of the war and
20 kilograms of gold deposited at the American embassy on 14 March 1946 by the
German firm Carbones de Teneriffe S. A. The gold was shipped in a "discreet manner"
to avoid detection by the Spanish, who were unaware of its existence. 362
I
V
May 52
-t,
Jripartite Gold Commission
Gold Shipments
,
J
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York received for the accou nt of the Gol(J
Commission 5,000 gold sovereigns seized from the German embassy in Lisbon at the
end of the war. The State Department had held custody of the sovereigns which were
"deposited at Treasury" prior to being turned over to the Commission.363
28 Oct 52
Gold Shipments
,
,/
,
, The Secretary of State received an assurance from Donnelly in Bonn that r~leases
of monetary gold to non-German national and persecutees involved only items :
deposited under Law 53 and nothingfrom'the former Reichsbank. 364
"
•
,
'
..
"
361 Fox et al. to Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 25 Jan 1952,
F//
!
1
E.G 56l...~try 69A-75~,
Box 4, fldr: Gold Commission--1950 [A178]; andBonn to Secretary of State, 25 Feb 1952, same
fiOCation [A 179].
I
362 Madrid to Secretary of State, 25 Apr 1952, RG 56, entry 69A-7584, Box 4, fldr: Gold
Commission--1950 [A180]; and Acheson to Madrid, 11 Apr 1952, same location [A181]'i
363 State telegram, Brussels, 16 May 1952, RG 56, entry 69A-7584, box 4, fldr: Gold!
Commission 1950 [C95aj,
364 Bonn to Secretary of State, 28 Oct 52, RG 56, Entry 69A-7584, Box 4, fldr: Gold
I
Commission--1950 [A182].
�History Associates Incorporated· Chronology of '
Treasury Safehaven Activities, 28 January 1997
117 '
6":21 Jan' 53
Tracing Assets
Tripartite Gold Commission
,
Atripartite meeting, involving delegates from the United States, the United! '
Kingdom, and France, was held in Washington concerning German external assets and
outstanding looted gold questions and settlements with neutrals. The American :
delegation included as an adviser Fred B. Smith of Treasury. The conference adopted
"conclusions" concerning further diplomatic approaches to be made to Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, Italy, Turkey, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, and Thailand, as ~ell as
"conclusions"on settlement of various cases before the TGC. Portugal was to be'
encouraged to, stand by a 1952 Allied proposal for liquidation of all German asset~
there and transfer of 3.9 tons of gold to the TGC. Spain was to be reassured tha, the
Allied-Spanish Accord of May 1948 did not signify that Spain was to be exposed t9
German pressure and negative press.
Sweden would be encouraged to negotiate directly with the Federal Republic of
Germany concerning 'adequate compensation to German owners of assets in Sweden.
Turkey would be urged to implement an Allied-Turkish agreement of 21 May 1952
whereby Turkey would hand over to the TGC $1 million of gold in full settlement for
some $4 million of looted gold believed to be in Turkey. The,conference referred to
the Allied High Commission the issue of allowing other direct bilateral negotiatiorls
between the Federal Republic of Germany and neutrals concerning external assets.365
May-Jun 54
/
Holland, '
Sweden
Swedish and Allied representatives met to negotiate settlement on 718 bars of
gold reported to have been looted from Holland, resmelted, and subsequently so!d to
Sweden. Although the Swedes generally accepted that this gold originally came from
Holland, they questioned whether it had actually been looted and whether gold '
received before the Allied warning of January 1943 should be considered as lootep.366
I
17 Dec 54
Gold Shipments
The State Department instructed the American Embassy in Vienna to inforril the
Austrian National Bank that the 100 kilograms of gold coins found near Hintersee;,
365 Tripartite Meeting on German External Assets and Looted Gold, 6-21 January 1953; RG
43, Lot File M-88, Box 197, fldr: German External Assets MGA - Memos & Documents [0.35].
I
,
,
I
366 Meeting Minutes for the Swedish-Allied Conference on Looted Gold, 19 May 1954~ RG
56, entry 70A-6232, box 22, fldr: Gold - Swedish Gold Con. [C107]
,
�History Associates Incorporated - Chronology of
Treasury Safehaven Activities, 28 January 1997
118
Austria, should be transferred to a Tripartite Gold Commission account in the Ne~ York
.
Federal Reserve Bank.367
26 Apr - 7 May 56
Switzerland
Portugal
Spain
Treasury official Robert Schwartz attended the Conference On Economic Security
at Paris where representatives o,f the French, United States, and British governments
discussed Switzerland's failure to comply with the Washington Accord, looted gol~ in
Portugal, negotiations with Spain, and German assets in 'countries that were not lARA
members. 368
I
I
3 Nov 56
Portugal
.
I
A conference between the representatives of the United States, Britain, France, .
1/
Portugal, and the Federal Republic of Gerrrlany, begun on 15 October, ended witH a - - '
tentative agreement. If Germany and Portugal could agree on the mechanics of :
liquidation of German assets, the representatives would recommend that their
;
countries approve, if the lARA concurred,a cash settlement of 132.5 million escudos
for looted gold and German assets. This represented only a fraction of the Allies' I
original claims. (There is no.indication .ofthe Treasury Department's presence or ;
absence from the conference.)369
5 Mar 57'
'\
Tripartite Gold Commission
The United States deferred to the British and French position· on "tainted go!d,"
. clearing the way for the United 'States to sign all awards except for Czechoslovakia.
[The nature of the dispute and the British. and French position is not explained.) 370i
•
.
.
.
I
367 Hoover to Adair, 17 Dec 1954, RC 56, entry 69A-7584, box 4, fldr: Gold Commissi6n-
1950 [A1831.
1
G
.
368 Schwartt to Gunter, 2 Jun 1948, RG 56, ace. 66A-155, box 68, OffiCe of International
Finance Monthly Report Jan 48-Jul 48 [A208].
I
/e
369
Confe~ence on German Assets in Portugal, ca. Nov 1956, RG 59, Records Relating
tb the
Tripartite Commission for the Restitution of Monetary Gold 1942-1962, box 24,.fldr: Confe:rence
on German Assets in Portugal 1956 [A1931.
370 Dulles to American Embassy in Brussels, 5 Mar 1957, RG 56, entry 69A-7584, box
fldr: Gold Commission-1950 [A184].
•
,
'
. '
'
:
.
.
4,
I
.
~
�History Associates Incorporated • Chronolc,gy of
Treasury Safehaven Activities, 28 January 1997
119
27 Oct 58
~~~
I
The governments of the United States, Britain, France, and Portugal signed an
agreement on looted gold and German assets in Portugal. Portugal agreed to pay,
144.5 million escudos, of which not more than 3,998 kilograms would be gold. 371,;
5 Oct-59
Treasury Policy
Gold Shipments
The Treasury Department informed the State Department that it opposed a
recent proposal to adjust the proportion of gold coins received by countries from :the
Gold Commission because the United States did not recognize any premium on gold
coins in 'international transactions and Treasury did not want to further complicate the,
Commission's activities. 372
'
20 Nov 59
Portugal
Gold Shipments
,
The Slate Department requested the views of the Treasury pepartment
concerning arrangements for the imminent tran~fer of Portuguese gold under the :27
October 1958 agreement to the Gold Commission. [The document does not indicate
I
Treasury's response.]373
i
37fllAgreement on German Assets in Portugal and on Certain Claims Regarding Mone~ary
Gold," 27 Oct 1958, attachment to American Embassy in lisbon to State Department, 6 Nov
1958, RG 59, entry NN3-59-96~59, box 7, fldr: Portuguese Agreement on German Assets and
Gold 1958-1959 [A 194].
'
i
I
372 Willis to Young, 5 Oct 1959, RG 56, Entry 66A-1039, Box'62, fldr: lARA: Tripartite
Commission for the Restitution of Monetary Gold [A 130].
i
373 Carro to Meurer et aI., RG 59, entry NN3-59-96-59, box 7, fldr: Portuguese Agreenient on
German Assets and Gold 1958-1958 [A196].
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States, formed in 1998, was charged with investigating what happened to the assets of victims of the Holocaust that ended up in the possession of the United States Federal government. The final report of the Commission, <a href="http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/pcha/PlunderRestitution.html/html/Home_Contents.html"> “Plunder and Restitution: Findings and Recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States and Staff Report"</a> was submitted to President Clinton in December 2000.</p>
<p>Chairman - Edgar Bronfman<br /> Executive Director - Kenneth Klothen</p>
<p>The collection consists of 19 series. The first fifteen series of the collection are composed mostly of photocopied federal records. These records were reproduced at the National Archives and Records Administration by commission members for their research. The records relate to Holocaust assets created between the mid 1930’s and early 1950’s by a variety of U. S. Government agencies and foreign sources.</p>
<p>Subseries:<br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Art+and+Cultural+Property+">Art and Cultural Property</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Gold+">Gold</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Gold+Team+Review+Form+Binders+">Gold Team Review Form Binders</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Art+and+Cultural+Property+and+%E2%80%9COthers%E2%80%9D+Review+Form+Binders">Art and Cultural Property and “Others” Review Form Binders</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Non-Gold+Financial+Assets+Review+Form+Binders">Non-Gold Financial Assets Review Form Binders</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=History+Associates+Binder+">History Associates Binder</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Non-Gold+Financial+Assets+Review+Form+Binders+%282%29">Non-Gold Financial Assets Review Form Binders (2)</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Financial+Assets+Documents">Financial Assets Documents</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=RG+84%2C+Foreign+Service+Posts+of+the+State+Department%E2%80%94Turkey">RG 84, Foreign Service Posts of the State Department—Turkey</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Financial+Assets+Documents">Financial Assets Documents</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%5BJewish+Restitution+Successor+Organization+%28JRSO%29%2C+Oral+Histories%5D&range=&collection=20&type=&user=&tags=&public=&featured=&exhibit=&submit_search=Search+for+items">[Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO), Oral Histories]</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=PCHA+Secondary+Sources">PCHA Secondary Sources</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Researcher+Notes">Researcher Notes</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Unnumbered+Documents+from+Archives+II+and+Various+Notes">Unnumbered Documents from Archives II and Various Notes</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=RG+260%2C+Finance+Inventory+Forms">RG 260, Finance Inventory Forms</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Reparations">Reparations</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Chase+National+Bank">Chase National Bank</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Administrative+Files">Administrative Files</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Art+%26+Cultural+Property+Theft">Art & Cultural Property Theft</a></p>
<p>Topics covered by these records include the recovery of confiscated art and cultural property; the reparation of gold and other financial assets; and the investigation of events surrounding capture of the Hungarian Gold Train at the close of World War II. These files contain memoranda, correspondence, inventories, reports, and secondary source material related to the final disposition of art and cultural property, gold, and other financial assets confiscated during the Holocaust.</p>
<p>For more information concerning this collection consult the<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/35992"> finding aid</a>.</p>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
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<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/35992" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1040718" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
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2954 folders
Text
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Paper
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Title
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[History Associates Incorporated - Chronology of Treasury Safehaven Activities - Jan. 28, 1997] [1]
Creator
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Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States
Art & Cultural Property Theft
Is Part Of
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Box 208
<a href="http://clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/Systematic/Holocaust-Assets.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/description/6997222" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
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Adobe Acrobat Document
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
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Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
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6/24/2013
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6997222-history-associates-incorporated-chronology-of-treasury-safehaven-activities-jan-28-1997-1
6997222