US Involvement in the Swiss Banking Scan

US Involvement in the Swiss Banking Scan

Nick Bostic
Period 3
June 2, 1997


US Involvement in the Swiss Banking Scandal during World War II

The Holocaust during World War II was a period of time that will always be a sore spot in the memory of Jewish people worldwide, a time most would try to forget.   Yet, new discoveries and memories reveal a scandal involving money and valuables stolen from Jews by Nazi’s and hidden in neutral Switzerland’s famous banks.   This discovery is bringing out lawsuits of descendants of Holocaust victims on the Swiss Banks, trying to recover the money and valuables stolen by Nazi’s and hidden by Swiss bankers.   A question troubling Jews worldwide is why didn’t the US government act against the actions of the Swiss Banks during World War II.   The US was an international giant with footholds in almost every country, so why didn’t they stop the atrocities.   Some people believe the US didn’t know about the money and others believe the US knew but couldn’t do anything about it.   Furthermore, some just wish their compensation and the ability to forget about the things that happened almost 60 years ago.
World War II officially started in 1939, but the atrocities of the Holocaust had been going on for years.   When the Nazi regime came to power in Germany in January 1933, it immediately began to take systematic measures against the Jews.   One early decree was a definition of the term Jew.   Crucial in that determination was the religion of one's grandparents.   Anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents was automatically a Jew, regardless of whether that individual was a member of the Jewish community.   Half-Jews were considered Jewish only if they themselves belonged to the Jewish religion or were married to a Jewish person.   All other half-Jews, and persons who had one Jewish grandparent, were styled Mischlinge (half-breeds).   Jews and Mischlinge were “non-Aryans.”   In Nazi doctrine, such emphasis on descent was regarded as an affirmation of “race,” but the principal...