Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
economic lens of WWII
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: economic lens of WWII
Nazi Gold
The twentieth century has been credited with introducing the world to total war. World War II was one of the most devastating wars that affected almost all the major nations in the world. A vital part of financing the war machines of each country was the ability to pay for it all. Under the circumstances, gold and silver were quite useful to the nation that obtained large amounts of either, and the means to convert it all into monetary credits. Between 1938 and 1945, Nazi Germany met the aforementioned requirements easily, as Hitler looted the central and commercial banks of occupied Europe. Nazi gold is still being heavily debated among the world powers, for to this date, not all of it has been recovered or restored. Most of the mystery surrounding the topic is slowly being cleared away. Today, Holocaust victims and heirs are still clamoring for justice and total compensation for all that they lost. Thus, the gold story really has two parts that fit together: the gold that the Nazis looted and used during their wartime occupation of Europe, and the long, complicated restitution of this same gold by the Western Allies after the war had ended. Thanks to the continuous efforts of the Allied countries, restoring all of Germany's stolen assets to their rightful owners has become more than a possibility; it has become a reality.
Much of Europe was ravaged by Hitler's troops during the early parts of World War II. Many smaller countries that were annexed by Germany's war machine, including Austria, Czechoslovakia, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Italy, had no choice but to relinquish the gold stored within their vaults to Nazi Germany's Central Bank (Smith 163). Once the Reichsbank, as it was called, ...
... middle of paper ...
...able http://www.flamemag.dircon.co.uk/media%20folder/text/news_the_vatican.htm. (Trinity High School Library Computer)
Smith, Arthur L. Hitler's Gold : The Story of the Nazi War Loot. New York, New York: Berg Publishers Ltd., 1989. Call #: 332.4222 Sm51h (State Library)
Whittle, George E., ed., Current Development in Holocaust Assets Restitution. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1999. Call #: Y 4.B 22/3: S HRG.105-1001 (State Library)
Whittle, George E., ed., Swiss Banks and Attempts to Recover Assets Belonging to the Victims of the Holocaust. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997. Call #: Y 4.B 22/3: S.HRG.105-176 (State Library)
"Text Summary of Report on Looted Gold and German Assets." 22 pars. Online. Internet. 1 Feb. 2000. Available http://www.usis-israel.org.il/publish/report/index.html. (Trinity High School Library Computer)
“Understand Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Mission.” The Holocaust Research Project Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2014
"The United States and the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June 2013. Web. 04 Feb. 2014.
ade Manifest: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Virginia University, 10 Mar. 1997. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
At the end of World War One, Germany was required to pay a large sum of money to the Allies consequently resulting in the German Depression. The sum Germany had to pay was set after the Treaty of Versailles was enacted at approximately six billion, six hundred million – twenty-two billion pounds, (World War Two – Causes, Alan Hall, 2010). The large amount of reparations that Germany had to pay resulted in a depression and angered the Germans because they thought it was an excessive amount of money to pay, (World War Two – Causes) The Germans hatred of the Treaty of Versailles was of significant importance in propelling the Nazis to power. Germany could not pay their reparations and was forced into a depression, (World War II – Causes). The Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of its economic production and its available employments, (World War II – Causes). The German Depr...
According to the Webster dictionary, the holocaust is said to be the systematic mass slaughter of European Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War II (“Webster Dictionary"). Economics on the other end is the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind. (“Webster Dictionary "). Intertwining this two words together holocaust economics can be referred to as the economic growth that took place during the holocaust period, and the fact that the exploitation Jewish labor led to the rise of the German economy.
In addition, having lost the war, the humiliated Germans were forced by the Allies to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 that officially ended World War I. According to the harsh terms of the treaty, Germany had to hand over many of its richest industrial territories to the victors, and was made to pay reparations to the Allied countries it devastated during the war. Germany lost its pride, prestige, wealth, power, and the status of being one of Europe's greatest nations. (Resnick p. 15)
Gottfried, Ted. Deniers of the Holocaust: who they are, what they do, and why they do it. Brookfield , Connecticut : Twenty-First Century Books, 2001. Print.
soldiers during the Jewish Holocaust, knew that the Nazi’s actions were inhumane and cruel; hence, he commanded his soldiers to not confiscate property from the Jews. Although the Nazi soldiers did not take valuables away from the Jews, they still dehumanized and exterminated the Jews, rega...
Levi, Neil, and Michael Rothberg. The Holocaust: Theoretical Readings. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2003. Print.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June 2013. Web. The Web. The Web.
Fritzsche, Peter. Life and Death in the Third Reich. 1st Ed. ed. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP,
"The Southern Institute for Education and Research." The Southern Institute for Education and Research. http://www.southerninstitute.info/holocaust_education/ds1.html (accessed December 11, 2013).
Kaplan, Marian A., Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in Nazi Germany, Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1999
Gold, nothing can compare to this precious metal. A symbol of wealth and prosperity, it has been a value for explorers and adventurers and a lure for conquerors. Today it is vital to commerce and finance; popular in ornamentation, and increasing importance in technology.
Because of the strong ethical component of this designation, its principles should be adopted by financial professions everywhere in the world, especially in post-2007 financial crisis days, partly started by a lack of moral principles and diligence. While for chocolate-lovers Switzerland is synonymous with a yummy heaven, for me the country, being the banking center of the continental Europe, equals to well-established traditions in the financial industry. If you want to learn something excellent, gain the knowledge from the best. Switzerland is one such place that will give me the opportunity to combine the values of both the highly-regarded education in finance and hands-on analysis of theories, applied in Swiss banking and financial systems.