Nazi Gold

In the third and fourth decades of the twentieth century, the European continent fell, nation by nation, to Nazi Germany's invincible war machine. But Switzerland remained neutral during World War II, taking no side and bowing to no master. For a long time after, that was the accepted history-but it was a lie. Respected British investigative journalist Tom Bower reveals the shocking truth about how the government of Switzerland and the Swiss banking industry knowingly collaborated with the Reich during the darkest era in modern history. With the knowledge and acquiescence of the Swiss government, hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from Jewish Holocaust victims-including gold teeth extracted from the mouths of those murdered-were systematically hidden away in Swiss bank accounts. But these crimes did not end with the defeat of Hitler. For the next half century, Swiss authorities engaged in a covert campaign of lies, subterfuge, and corruption to hide the wealth from its rightful owners-concentration camp survivors and the families of the slain-while freely dispensing the illegally obtained funds to fugitive Nazis.