1). These other nations, either neutral or independent, were in constant fear of a Nazi invasion, so they reluctantly complied with Germany on the storage of the looted gold (Smith 1).At first, Austria had not been considered a “looted” nation, as most European governments were under the opinion that the two nations were on the verge of merging (Smith 2). This was clearly shown when, in a 1940 American court case involving Austrian assets, it was mentioned that, “‘This change [the annexation] has occurred in a manner acceptable to our notions of international law; the Anschlu has in no way been disavowed….’” (Smith 2) As no nation interfered with Germany’s takeover of Austria, the Nazi party was able to annex the Anschlu, or Austria’s Central Bank, by March 17, 1938 (Smith 2). By 1939, Hitler had already taken over much of Czechoslovakia, as a result of the Munich Agreements, signed in September of 1938 (Smith 4). Slowly, Czechoslovakia’s assets were “pulled in” by the Reichsbank, much of which was located in the Bohemian Discount bank and the Bohemian Union Bank. Soon, after Bohemia became a German protectorate, the Nazi party was able to delve into the large gold reserves of the Czechoslovakian National Bank, which was located in Prague (Smith 5). Both Luxembourg and Belgium’s assets were indirectly liquidated by the Nazis when France surrendered to Germany in June of 1940 (Smith 11). When Luxembourg, Belgium, and a few smaller nations, such as Yugoslavia and Poland, were faced with the threat of a German invasion, they did the most sensible thing at the time; send their gold to France’s heavily guarded vaults (Smith 11). When Germany’s troops arrived in France, they hit the jackpot, so to speak. One of the first things they encountered was Luxembourg’s gold and assets, sitting pretty in the Marseilles branch of the Bank of France...
