The Swiss, the Gold, and the Dead: How Swiss Bankers Helped Finance the Nazi War Machine

Responsible for an international firestorm of controversy, this European bestseller examines revelations of how Switzerland bankrolled Nazi Germany’s war effort, and then refused to address Holocaust survivors’ claims for reparations. Based on records of the German Armaments Ministry and other official documents, The Swiss, the Gold, and the Dead shows how Switzerland laundered gold looted from the banks of occupied Europe and from the bodies of concentration camp victims, and supplied Germany’s war economy with sizable loans, weapons, ammunition, and precision instruments. In return, Switzerland was spared the depredations that befell the rest of Europe, and actually profited from its relationship with the Nazis. Jean Ziegler’s uncompromising account of Swiss complicity–and his scathing indictment of his own country–make this the definitive book on this highly controversial and emotional subject.