en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_gold#Disposal
2 corrections found
The German armaments industry was nearly entirely dependent on the supplies from Portugal.
This overstates Portugal’s role. Contemporary and archival sources say Portugal supplied roughly 50–60% of Germany’s wolfram requirement, with Spain supplying much of the rest.
Full reasoning
The statement exaggerates Germany’s dependence on Portugal alone.
Authoritative sources indicate that Portuguese wolfram was extremely important, but it was not “nearly entirely” Germany’s supply by itself:
- The U.S. National Archives says Portugal exported over 2,000 metric tons of wolfram annually to Germany between 1941 and mid-1944, “about 60 percent of Germany’s estimate minimum industrial requirement.”
- In the UK Parliament’s official Hansard record from January 18, 1944, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Warfare said Germany got about 50% of its wolfram from Portugal and about 40% from Spain in 1943.
So Germany was heavily dependent on Iberian supplies, but not nearly entirely on Portugal alone.
2 sources
- RG 84: Portugal | National Archives
Germany and Portugal negotiated secret agreements in accordance with which Portugal exported an average of over 2,000 metric tons of wolfram to Germany annually between 1941 and mid-1944, about 60 percent of Germany's estimate minimum industrial requirement.
- Germany (Metal Imports) (Hansard, 18 January 1944)
In 1943 Germany obtained from Portugal about fifty per cent. of her total consumption of wolfram, from Spain about forty per cent. of her wolfram...
It is estimated that nearly 91 tonnes (100 short tons) of Nazi gold were laundered through Swiss banks, with only 3.6 tonnes (4 short tons) being returned at the end of the war.
The amount said to have been returned is far too low. Official U.S. and Swiss sources say the 1946 Washington Agreement required Switzerland to transfer 250 million Swiss francs—about $58 million—in gold to the Allies, which is roughly 52 metric tonnes, not 3.6 tonnes.
Full reasoning
The article understates how much gold Switzerland agreed to transfer after the war.
Official sources say that under the 1946 Washington Agreement, Switzerland transferred 250 million Swiss francs in gold to the Allies, and the U.S. National Archives summarizes this as about $58 million in gold.
At the contemporaneous official gold price of $35 per troy ounce, $58 million corresponds to roughly 1.66 million troy ounces, or about 51.6 metric tonnes of gold. That is vastly greater than the article’s claim that only 3.6 tonnes were returned.
So the sentence’s restitution figure is incorrect for Switzerland; it appears to confuse Swiss restitution with a much smaller figure associated elsewhere in postwar negotiations.
2 sources
- Chronicle of monetary events | Swiss National Bank
25.05.1946 ... Conclusion of the Washington Agreement ... and payment by Switzerland of CHF 250 million in gold to the allies.
- Searching for Records Relating to Nazi Gold: Part I | National Archives
The resulting "Washington Accord" provided that the Swiss return gold only worth about $58 million. This gold was turned over to the Tripartite Gold Commission...