Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler (16 page)

Nazi financier Hendrik Jozef Kouwenhoven, Roland Harriman's fellow-director at Union Banking Corporation in New York, was managing director of the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart N.V. (BHS) of Rotterdam. In 1940 the BHS held approximately $2.2 million

assets in the Union Banking Corporation, which in turn did most of its business with BHS.20

In the 1930s Kouwenhoven was also a director of the Vereinigte Stahlwerke A.G., the steel cartel founded with Wall Street funds in the mid-1920s. Like Baron Schroder, he was a prominent Hitler supporter.

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CHAPTER SEVEN: Who Financed Adolf Hitler?

Another director of the New York Union Banking Corporation was Johann Groeninger, a German subject with numerous industrial and financial affiliations involving Vereinigte Stahlwerke, the August Thyssen group, and a directorship of August Thyssen Hutte A.G.
21

This affiliation and mutual business interest between Harriman and the Thyssen interests does not suggest that the Harrimans directly financed Hitler. On the other hand, it does show that the Harrimans were intimately connected with prominent Nazis Kouwenhoven and Groeninger and a Nazi front bank, the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart. There is every reason to believe that the Harrimans knew of Thyssen's support for the Nazis. In the case of the Harrimans, it is important to bear in mind their long-lasting and intimate relationship with the Soviet Union and the Harriman's position at the center of Roosevelt's New Deal and the Democratic Party. The evidence suggests that some members of the Wall Street elite are connected with, and certainly have influence with,
all
significant political groupings in the contemporary world socialist spectrum — Soviet socialism, Hitler's national socialism, and Roosevelt's New Deal socialism.

Financing Hitler in the March 1933 General Election

Putting the Georg Bell-Deterding and the Thyssen-Harriman cases to one side, we now examine the core of Hitler's backing. In May 1932 the so-called "Kaiserhof Meeting" took place between Schmitz of I.G. Farben, Max Ilgner of American I.G. Farben, Kiep of Hamburg-America Line, and Diem of the German Potash Trust. More than 500,000 marks was raised at this meeting and deposited to the credit of Rudolf Hess in the Deutsche Bank.

It is noteworthy, in light of the "Warburg myth" described in Chapter Ten that Max Ilgner of the American I.G. Farben contributed 100,000 RM, or one-fifth of the total. The "Sidney Warburg" book claims Warburg involvement in the funding of Hitler, and Paul Warburg

was a director of American I.G. Farben22 while Max Warburg was a director of I.G. Farben.

There exists irrefutable documentary evidence of a further role of. international bankers and industrialists in the financing of the Nazi Party and the
Volkspartie
for the March 1933

German election. A total of three million Reichmarks was subscribed by prominent firms and businessmen, suitably "washed" through an account at the Delbruck Schickler Bank, and then passed into the hands of Rudolf Hess for use by Hitler and the NSDAP. This transfer of funds was followed by the Reichstag fire, abrogation of constitutional rights, and consolidation of Nazi power. Access to the Reichstag by the arsonists was obtained through a tunnel from a house where Putzi Hanfstaengel was staying; the Reichstag fire itself was used by Hitler as a pretext to abolish constitutional rights. In brief, within a few weeks of the major funding of Hitler there was a linked sequence of major events: the financial contribution from prominent bankers and industrialists to the 1933 election, burning of the Reichstag, abrogation of constitutional rights, and subsequent seizure of power by the Nazi Party.

The fund-raising meeting was held February 20, 1933 in the home of Goering, who was then president of the Reichstag, with Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht acting as host. Among those present, according to I.G. Farben's von Schnitzler, were:
Krupp von Bohlen, who, in the beginning of 1933, was president of the
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CHAPTER SEVEN: Who Financed Adolf Hitler?

Reichsverband der Deutschen Industrie Reich Association of German Industry;
Dr. Albert Voegler, the leading man of the Vereinigte Stahlwerke; Von
Loewenfeld; Dr, Stein, head of the Gewerkschaft Auguste-Victoria, a mine
which belongs to the IG.
23

Hitler expounded his political views to the assembled businessmen in a lengthy two-and-one-half hour speech, using the threat of Communism and a Communist take-over to great effect:

It is not enough to say we do not want Communism in our economy. If we
continue on our old political course, then we shall perish .... It is the noblest
task of the leader to find ideals that are stronger than the factors that pull the
people together. I recognized even while in the hospital that one had to search
for new ideals conducive to reconstruction. I found them in nationalism, in the
value of personality, and in the denial of reconciliation between nations ....

Now we stand before the last election. Regardless of the outcome, there will be
no retreat, even if the coming election does not bring about decision, one way
or another. If the election does not decide, the decision must be brought about
by other means. I have intervened in order to give the people once more the
chance to decide their fate by themselves ....

There are only two possibilities, either to crowd back the opponent on
constitutional grounds, and for this purpose once more this election; or a
struggle will be conducted with other weapons, which may demand greater
sacrifices. I hope the German people thus recognize the greatness of the
hour.
24

After Hitler had spoken, Krupp von Bohlen expressed the support of the assembled industrialists and bankers in the concrete form of a three-million-mark political fund. It turned out to be more than enough to acquire power, because 600,000 marks remained unexpended after the election.

Hjalmar Schacht organized this historic meeting. We have previously described Schacht's links with the United States: his father was cashier for the Berlin Branch of Equitable Assurance, and Hjalmar was intimately involved almost on a monthly basis with Wall Street.

The largest contributor to the fund was I.G. Farben, which como mitted itself for 80 percent (or 500,000 marks) of the total. Director A. Steinke, of BUBIAG (Braunkohlen-u.

Brikett-Industrie A.G.), an I.G. Farben subsidiary, personally contributed another 200,000

marks. In brief, 45 percent of the funds for the 1933 election came from I.G. Farben. If we look at the directors of American I.G. Farben — the U.S. subsidiary of I.G. Farben — we get close to the roots of Wall Street involvement with Hitler. The board of American I.G.

Farben at this time contained some of the most prestigious names among American industrialists: Edsel B. Ford of the Ford Motor Company, C.E. Mitchell of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Walter Teagle, director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's http://reformed-theology.org/html/books/wall_street/chapter_07.htm (7 of 13) [8/4/2001 9:44:16 PM]

CHAPTER SEVEN: Who Financed Adolf Hitler?

Georgia Warm Springs Foundation.

Paul M. Warburg, first director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and chairman of the Bank of Manhattan, was a Farben director and in Germany his brother Max Warburg was also a director of I.G, Farben. H. A. Metz of I.G. Farben was also a director of the Warburg's Bank of Manhattan. Finally, Carl Bosch of American I.G. Farben was also a director of Ford Motor Company A-G in Germany.

Three board members of American I.G. Farben were found guilty at the Nuremburg War Crimes Trials: Max Ilgner, F. Ter Meer, and Hermann Schmitz. As we have noted, the American board members — Edsel Ford, C. E. Mitchell, Walter Teagle, and Paul Warburg

— were not placed on trial at Nuremburg, and so far as the records are concerned, it appears that they were not even questioned about their knowledge of the 1933 Hitler fund.

The 1933 Political Contributions

Who were the industrialists and bankers who placed election funds at the disposal of the Nazi Party in 1933? The list of contributors and the amount of their contribution is as follows:

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO HITLER:

Feb. 23-Mar. 13, 1933:

(The Hjalmar Schacht account at Delbruck, Schickler Bank)
Political Contributions

by Firms (with selected

Amount

Percent of

affiliated directors)

Pledged

Firm Total

Verein fuer die

$600,000

45.8

Bergbaulichen

Interessen (Kitdorf)

I.G. Farbenindustrie

400,000

30.5

(Edsel Ford, C.E.

Mitchell, Walter Teagle,

Paul Warburg)

Automobile Exhibition,

100,000

7.6

Berlin (Reichsverbund

der Automobilindustrie

S.V.)

A.E.G., German General

60,000

4.6

Electric (Gerard Swope,

Owen Young, C.H.

Minor, Arthur Baldwin)

Demag

50,000

3.8

Osram G.m.b.H. (Owen

40,000

3.0

Young)

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CHAPTER SEVEN: Who Financed Adolf Hitler?

Telefunken Gesellsehaft

85,000

2.7

ruer

drahtlose Telegraphic

Accumulatoren-Fabrik

25,000

1.9

A.G.

(Quandt of A.E.G.)

_____________

_____________

Total from industry

1,310,000

99.9

Plus Political Contributions by Individual Businessmen:

Karl Hermann

300,000

Director A. Steinke (BUBIAG-

200,000

Braunkohlen—u. Brikett —

Industrie A.G.)

Dir. Karl Lange

50,000

(Geschaftsfuhrendes

Vostandsmitglied des Vereins

Deutsches

Maschinenbau—Anstalten)

Dr. F. Springorum (Chairman:

36,000

Eisen-und Stahlwerke Hoesch

A.G.)

Source:
See Appendix for translation of original document.

How can we prove that these political payments actually took place?

The payments to Hitler in this final step on the road to dictatorial Naziism were made through the private bank of Delbruck Sehickler. The Delbruck Schickler Bank was a subsidiary of Metallgesellschaft A.G. ("Metall"), an industrial giant, the largest non-ferrous metal company in Germany, and the dominant influence in the world's nonferrous metal

'trading. The principal shareholders of
"Metall"
were I.G. Farben and the British Metal Corporation. We might note incidentally that the British directors on the" Metall"

Aufsichsrat
were Walter Gardner (Amalgamated Metal Corporation) and Captain Oliver Lyttelton (also on the board of Amalgamated Metal and paradoxically later in World War II to become the British Minister of Production).

There exists among the Nuremburg Trial papers the original transfer slips from the banking division of I.G. Farben and other firms listed on page 110 to the Delbruck Schickler Bank in Berlin, informing the bank of the transfer of funds from Dresdner Bank, and other banks, to their
Nationale Treuhand
(National Trusteeship) account. This account was disbursed by Rudolf Hess for Nazi Party expenses during the election. Translation of the I.G. Farben

transfer slip, selected as a sample, is as follows:25

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CHAPTER SEVEN: Who Financed Adolf Hitler?

Translation of I.G, Farben letter of February 27, 1933, advising of transfer of 400,000

Reichsmarks to National Trusteeship account:

I.G. FARBENINDUSTRIE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT

Bank Department

Firm: Delbruck Schickler & Co.,

BERLIN W.8

Mauerstrasse 63/65, Frankfurt (Main) 20

Our Ref: (Mention in Reply) 27 February 1933

B./Goe.

We are informing you herewith that we have authorized the Dresdner Bank in Frankfurt/M., to pay you tomorrow forenoon: RM 400,000 which you will use in favor of the account

"NATIONALE TREUHAND" (National Trusteeship).

Respectfully,

I.G. Farbenindustrie

Aktiengesellschaft

by Order:

(Signed) SELCK (Signed)

BANGERT

By special delivery.26

At this juncture we should take note of the efforts that have been made to direct our attention away from American financiers (and German financiers connected with American-affiliated companies) who were, involved with the funding of Hitler. Usually the blame for financing Hitler has been exclusively placed upon Fritz Thyssen or Emil Kirdorf.

In the case of Thyssen this blame was widely circulated in a book allegedly authored by

Thyssen in the middle of World War II but later repudiated by him.27
Why Thyssen would want to admit such actions before the defeat of Naziism is unexplained.

Emil Kirdorf, who died in 1937, was always proud of his association with the rise of Naziism. The attempt to limit Hitler financing to Thyssen and Kirdorf extended into the Nuremburg trials in 1946, and was challenged only by the Soviet delegate. Even the Soviet delegate was unwilling to produce evidence of American associations; this is not surprising because the Soviet Union depends on the goodwill of these same financiers to transfer much needed advanced Western technology to the U.S.S.R.