Vincent, Isabel

Hitler's silent partners : Swiss banks, Nazi gold, and the pursuit of justice / Isabel Vincent - 1st ed. - New York : W. Morrow, c1997. - xii, 351 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.

Award-winning journalist Isabel Vincent unravels the labyrinthine story behind the headlines: how desperate men and women tried to secure their families' futures by opening bank accounts in Switzerland; how the Nazis laundered, through Swiss banks, gold seized from the treasuries of occupied countries, much of it looted from the Jews; how the demands of international business, Swiss bank secrecy, and greed have conspired to prevent the truth from being disclosed for over half a century and still prevent restitution. Balanced, rigorous, and often heartbreaking, this major work also gives a human face to the statistics: a crusading Toronto lawyer; Edgar Bronfman, the passionate head of the World Jewish Congress; a Swiss parliamentarian determined to discover her country's past; and Renee, a survivor waiting in the shadows for some small justice, already a little too late.

0688154255 (alk. paper)

97023518


World War--Destruction and pillage--Europe--1939-1945
World War--Confiscations and contributions--Europe--1939-1945
Banks and banking--Corrupt practices--Switzerland
Jewish property--Switzerland
Jews--Claims--Europe
World War--Economic aspects--Germany--1939-1945
World War--Reparations--1939-1945

D810.D6 / V56 1997

940.531 Vin 15