Swiss confirmed as main Nazi bankers
Nazi gold
A
report by the Historical Commission studying Switzerland's conduct
during World War II paints a blacker picture of Switzerland's links
with the Nazi's than previously thought.
The interim report by the
Bergier commission says 76% of Nazi gold transactions went through
Switzerland and the volume of trade between Swiss private banks and
war-time Germany was at least three times higher than earlier estimates
indicated.
![[ image: Swiss commercial banks bought $61.2m worth of gold during the Nazi era]](http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/images/_36037_bank.jpg) |
| Swiss commercial banks bought $61.2m worth of gold during the Nazi era |
The report says Swiss commercial banks bought $61.2m worth of gold
during the Nazi era, the current value would be more than $700m. The
commission says the Swiss National Bank, SNB, acquired $389.2m, worth
more than $4bn at today's prices. The SNB had previously admitted to
buying 1.2bn Swiss francs worth of gold.
The Bergier commission also
accuses the Nazis of stealing $146m in gold from holocaust victims,
including at least $2.5m seized by the SS from inmates of Auschwitz and
other death camps in eastern Europe. The full report is due to be
published in 1998.
The report comes after more
allegations about Swiss misconduct over Nazi gold emerged in a
newspaper. The Sunday Telegraph claimed that Nazi Germany secretly
shipped a ton of gold coins to its diplomatic mission in Switzerland in
the final days of World War II. It is not known what happened to the
money, which would be worth $10m (L6m) at today's prices.
Conference on Nazi Gold
These revelations and the
publication of the report come ahead of a major conference that opens
in London on Tuesday, focusing on the origins and disposal of Nazi
gold.
![[ image: Conference will focus on origins and disposal of gold]](http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/images/_36037_bars.jpg) |
| Conference will focus on origins and disposal of gold |
The head of the Swiss delegation to the conference, Thomas Borer, has
denied different allegations that Switzerland misappropriated funds
meant for Allied prisoners-of-war held by Japan.
Many believe that much of the
wealth the Nazis looted from their victims in World War II is being
held in Swiss bank accounts. Earlier this year a concerted
international campaign to shame Switzerland over the issue led to the
country's famously secretive banking system opening some of its records
to scrutiny.
Swiss officials say they have
proved that they are willing to face up to their past. The Swiss
government set up the historical commission, the country's banks
provided information on dormant bank accounts and both proposed to set
up a multi-billion-dollar humanitarian fund.
Despite these actions,
international criticism of Switzerland is still very fierce and some
states in the US, such as California, are boycotting Swiss banks until
there is more progress on the issue of dormant accounts held by
Holocaust victims.
i tako dalje....
Izgleda su mu zamjerili sto nije kao i drugi fasisti, kod njih otvorio bankovni racun