Switzerland and Gold Transactions in the Second World War

Interim Report on Gold
22
Introduction
Furthermore, we only discuss the role of the Bank for International Settlements in passing. A
systematic examination of the bank’s abundant historical resources would shed light on the
relationships between the Reichsbank, the BIS, and Swiss banks. However, no one has yet
carried out a study of this kind. The same applies to the archives of the Swiss Bankers
Association [Schweizerische Bankiervereinigung] and other Swiss interest groups whose
historical files have not been examined in any depth.
Even if we could fully reconstruct movements of gold, we would not be able to paint a
complete picture of economic and financial transactions during the war and thus determine
Switzerland’s role in the outcome. A balanced picture would take into account a wide range of
interrelated issues and would view them in terms of the whole rather than in isolation. Thus our
report suggests that the export of capital, creditors’ interests, and gold purchases were closely
linked issues, which means monocausal explanations are inadequate. Did Switzerland’s role as
a market hub for gold dissuade the Axis powers from turning their military aggression on
Switzerland? Or did Switzerland’s gold operations prolong the war and Nazi genocide? To
answer these questions, one would need to conduct much broader research than our current
study, which merely looks at gold transactions and additional channels through which Germany
carried out some of its international financial transactions. Such research would necessitate indepth
analysis of Germany’s economic and financial links with other countries and perhaps a
complete account of all cross-border transfers of capital. This will doubtless be the main theme
of a more comprehensive future study of economic ties between Switzerland, Nazi Germany,
and other countries.