The Guinness Book of Records has recorded the looting of the Reichsbank in Berlin following Germany’s collapse in April and May of 1945, as the greatest robbery in history. However, this is not the whole truth. It is a half-truth - at best - that has been perpetuated for over 50 years.
The 1980 edition of the Guinness Book of Records states:
"The greatest robbery on record was that of the Reichsbank reserves by a civilian-U.S. military consortium in April-May of 1945. The Westphalia bearer bonds repayable in gold were for $400 million. Gold coin and bullion then valued at $3,434,626 and jewels, foreign exchange and securities valued at 23 million gold marks were stolen from the Berlin Reichsbank."
The 1984 edition of the Guinness Book of Records covers much the same information, with a couple of significant additions. It states: "Gold bullion, foreign exchange and jewels worth $20,000,000 (worth some $200 million in 1984 dollars) were stolen by members of the German and American armies. None of the loot was recovered and none of the perpetrators were ever brought to trial. (The Pentagon described this as an unverified allegation).
"The largest haul consisted of negotiable securities valued at $400,000,000 (1945 dollars). In April 1979, three men were convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment at Brantford, Ontario on a number of conspiracy charges in connection with some of the bonds." I, Ron Stockdale, am one of the three men referred to in the 1984 edition of the Guinness Book of Records, and I would like to weigh in on this issue. There is some misinformation here that needs to be corrected for history’s sake. First of all, the so-called greatest robbery in history, was really the greatest swindle in history: There was a master plan in place to avoid paying the rightful owners of the bonds. The majority of these bonds were issued in New York, payable in United States dollars and backed by gold. Since being issued in 1924 and 1930, most of these bonds never left the United States, so they could not possibly have been stolen from the Reichsbank, as the German government has been claiming for over 50 years.
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Originally Posted by Shtirliz
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