61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

of which 1.7 million francs came from private banks. 50 accounts had become
worthless by the time they were reported. In 200 cases the banks were able to
trace heirs. In short, a whole raft of measures was adopted with the aim of deliberately
minimising the results of the investigations. Some accounts had been
excluded from reporting by the banks because there was uncertainty about the
owner’s place of residence or because the bank did not know whether the
customer was Jewish or not. In one case, a Jewish customer who was known to
have been a victim of Nazi persecution did not fit into the legal categories
because he was a Swiss citizen. Customers who died in hospital were excluded
because they died a natural and not a violent death. People who died after 9 May
1945 were excluded even if they had been victims of violence and died as a
consequence of Nazi mistreatment. One customer who died on 13 May 1945 –
i.e., just four days after the cut-off date – in the Dachau concentration camp was
likewise excluded. 84 Other assets were not considered because they had been
held in the name of a trustee. In general, the banks were unable to identify the
beneficial owner of the assets held in the trustee’s name. 85 Where trustees did
not report of their own accord assets entrusted to them by people who subsequently
became victims of National Socialism, these assets probably continued
to be managed by the banks in the name and on the instructions of the trustee.
Some banks employed experts to ascertain whether or not names were Jewish.
However, customers’ names were an inadequate indication of possible Nazi
persecution.
Theoretically, one method of reducing the number of unclaimed assets consisted
of transferring assets to institutions outside Switzerland and consequently not
subject to the provisions of the Decree. There is no firm evidence of any such
operations having taken place, but sources show that arrangements for the
transfer of assets to other countries were indeed considered. In 1950, the
managing director of Union Bank of Switzerland, Adolf Jann, suggested transferring
unclaimed assets to any institution that was not a bank, as any duty to
report assets was originally expected to apply only to banks. The bank had a
suitable company in Panama-based Ronac Inc. Ronac was founded in 1939 by
the Federal Bank with the aim of providing itself with a transatlantic support
structure to enable it to continue its banking business in the event that
Switzerland was occupied. The object of the company was «so broadly defined
[...], that it could transact practically any kind of business». After the war it had
fulfilled its function and was set new goals. From 1952 onwards, Union Bank
of Switzerland transferred unclaimed deposits to Ronac as ownerless property.
Customers’ deposit numbers were preserved so that assets could be identified at
all times by the depositor. 86 Union Bank of Switzerland had been gathering
dormant accounts into a collective account under the name «Crédit industriel»
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