Emil Puhl

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seated: Reich Economics Minister and President of the Deutsche Reichsbank Walther Funk with the newly appointed Vice Presidents of the Reichsbank Emil Puhl (standing left) and Kurt Lange looking at the drafts for the new twenty-mark notes (1940).
The German representatives in the Transfer Commission in 1934, from left: Schacht, Blessing , Puhl , v. Frond.

Emil Johann Rudolf Puhl (born August 28, 1889 in Berlin ; † March 30, 1962 in Hamburg ) was a German banker . From February 1939 until the surrender in May 1945, Puhl was Vice President of the Deutsche Reichsbank . He was regarded as "Hitler's most important state banker and foreign exchange procurer" during the Second World War . On April 11, 1949, Puhl was sentenced to five years imprisonment in the Wilhelmstrasse trial .

Training and career beginnings

Puhl's parents were Otto Theodor Richard Puhl (* November 8, 1855 - June 17, 1938) and Alma Albertine Wilhelmine Puhl, née Weckmann (* March 6, 1861 - December 8, 1943). His younger brother was Richard Carl Fritz Puhl (born October 4, 1891 in Hamburg ; † October 4, 1970). Puhl grew up in Hamburg and, after completing a commercial apprenticeship in a private bank in Hamburg, joined the Reichsbank in Elberfeld in 1913 . From 1916 to 1918 he was used on the Western Front in World War I and was then a French prisoner of war until 1920 .

After the war, Puhl continued his career at various Reichsbank branches in central and northern Germany. From 1924 he worked as a deputy executive officer at the Reichsbank headquarters in Leipzig, and from February 1929 as head of the Reichsbank branch in Worms. A few months later he was called to Berlin, where he worked as an advisor to the Reichsbank directorate dealing with foreign exchange matters .

time of the nationalsocialism

From July 1933, Puhl headed the department for "foreign payment and credit transactions". Puhl, who joined the NSDAP on May 1, 1934 and was also a supporting member of the SS, was promoted to a member of the Reichsbank directorate on July 1, 1934. Puhl and Max Kretschmann (1890–1972) remained after the dismissal of Reichsbank President Hjalmar Schacht in January 1939 as the only members of the Reichsbank directorate "under the pressure of their party" at their posts. "The fact that Puhl was not dismissed even though he had also signed Schacht's memorandum [...] was probably due to Puhl's good contacts to the National Socialists and to the foreign exchange business group at Göring's four-year plan authority [...]." On February 11, 1939, he was appointed to the rank of State Secretary on the proposal of the new President, Reich Minister of Economics Walther Funk , as successor to Rudolf Brinkmann as Vice President of the Deutsche Reichsbank and served as "Executive Vice President" from August 2, 1940 to May 8, 1945 . Puhl later tried to downplay his responsibility in the dock in Nuremberg:

“The management of the Reichsbank directorate was divided among a number of members of the directorate. Each member had full responsibility for their line of business. The vice-president was only the primus inter pares, who essentially had to lead the meetings, see to the external representation of the president and deal with questions of general economic and banking policy. "

- Emil Puhl on a testimony in the Wilhelmstrasse trial.

From 1935 to 1945 Puhl was also a member of the supervisory board of Deutsche Golddiskontbank and, in 1944, its deputy chairman. He was also a member of the supervisory board of Diskont-Kompagnie AG, Berlin, and from September 16, 1937, chairman of the supervisory board there. In addition, Puhl was chairman of the administrative board of the main administration of the Reichskreditkassen in Berlin and a member of the supervisory board of several banks and companies.

As much as Puhl tried, for opportunistic reasons, to appear abroad as a world-class banker with a distance to the National Socialist regime, he staged himself convincingly in Germany as loyal to the system and a follower of Hitler:
“Our leader Adolf Hitler has created an empire for which it is again It is worth using all your strength and, if need be, also giving your life. We all have within us the firm belief in his victorious leadership. (...) Our Führer Adolf Hitler, Sieg Heil! "

Emil Puhl and the “gold panning” in Switzerland

In addition to his work as executive vice-president and thus "secret ruler of the Reichsbank with excellent relationships with Himmler , Heydrich and the SS", one of the main focuses of Puhl's work before and during the Second World War was his position as a member of the board of directors of the Bank for International Settlements together with Kurt Freiherr von Schröder in neutral Switzerland. After 1939 Switzerland was to become the “gold hub of Europe”, which rendered valuable services to the National Socialist regime of Germany and its helpers in the utilization and “washing” of the dirty gold that had been stolen in the occupied countries. Switzerland and its National Bank handled nearly four-fifths of the gold sales of the Deutsche Reichsbank. Puhl's role in this was comparable to that of a “dealer” who brought the German looted gold to the national bankers in Bern and exchanged it for hard Swiss francs . These currencies were of decisive importance for the German war and armaments industry, since otherwise essential raw materials could not be bought on the world market with either German gold or Reichsmarks . “A prerequisite for the continuation of the war was therefore the systematic robbery of gold in the attacked countries, which was exchanged for foreign currency”.

Reichsbank Vice-President Puhl knew how to deceive his Swiss colleagues - albeit euphoric about the good business - about the origin of the German looted gold. He appeared to them "always as a dignified and trustworthy gentleman who was not considered capable of a lie". Robert MW Kempner , US main prosecutor in the Wilhelmstrasse trial, remembered Puhl as a “polite, friendly, approachable gentleman, a typical official” who had used all his intelligence “to get out of the matter”. Today it is undisputed that Puhl was a "key figure in the looted gold trade" during the Second World War. The Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland - Second World War (ICE) went to the end of the 1990s, including the question of how the Board of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) before 1945 make "such a close and friendly relationship with a shady character like Reichsbank Vice President Emil Puhl" could. The historians recognized that Puhl was “not a National Socialist activist”, but that he was “committed to the objectives of the Nazi gold policy”. “At the same time, Puhl understood masterfully how to let skepticism about the Nazi regime shimmer through during his regular stays in Switzerland and also to pose as an anti-Nazi . Leading personalities from finance and business knew how to appreciate him as a competent expert and pleasant conversation partner ”.

After the end of the war

On May 1, 1945, Puhl was arrested by the Allies and on May 3, 1946, he made an affidavit in an internment camp near Baden-Baden , which was read out during the testimony of Walter Funk on May 7, 1946 in the Nuremberg trial of the main war criminals . In the proceedings against the former President of the Reichsbank, the witness Puhl heavily incriminated his former superior. Puhl was also interrogated on May 15, 1946 in Nuremberg about the “Melmer Gold” . According to his colleague Albert Thoms, Puhl knew from the beginning about the depots in the vaults of the Reichsbank in Frankfurt am Main, in which the SS deposited gold, jewels and other valuables from prisoners from the Nazi extermination camps in the east ("Melmer Gold") . Based on the investigations and testimonies in the main war crimes trial, the Allied prosecutors also brought charges against Puhl.

Puhl was indicted on November 4, 1947 in the Wilhelmstrasse Trial , the 11th trial that took place as part of the Nuremberg Trials . The prosecutor described Puhl's role as follows:
“Emil Puhl's part was to receive this loot, including the gold teeth, from Oswald Pohl, to safeguard and conserve it, and to dispose of part of it and account for the proceeds.”
Puhl was defended by Hans Gawlik , a former NSDAP member and public prosecutor at the Nazi special court in Wroclaw. Gawlik, who later worked as head of the Central Legal Protection Office to integrate Nazi perpetrators into Federal Republican society, denied that Puhl had played an active role. Not even Puhl's NSDAP membership has been proven. Gawlik's plea culminated in the characterization of his client as an innocent, righteous German:

"In contradiction to these contentions made by the prosecution, I shall give, in my case-in-chief, a true picture of the personality of the defendant Puhl; I shall show him as a man who, in international banking circles, enjoyed the reputation not only for a prominent expert, but also that of a man whose actions were only guided by the principles of right and justice, of a man whom, for instance , François Poncet, the former French Ambassador in Berlin, for many years, described as a German who did not approve of any violations of law, or any of the outrages committed by the Hitler Reich. "

The court was not deceived by this apology, but was mild in terms of the sentence. On April 11, 1949, Puhl was sentenced to five years in prison for his outstanding role in the exploitation of stolen SS gold . Puhl was released early from the Landsberg War Crimes Prison before Christmas 1949 . From December 22, 1949 he was registered in Hamburg.

Shortly thereafter, Puhl managed to get back into banking , not least thanks to his excellent international experience at the Bank for International Settlements . From March 14, 1950, the former Reichsbank Vice President initially worked as a freelance consultant in the international business of Hamburger Kreditbank (for a monthly fee of 2,500 marks), one of the successor institutions to Dresdner Bank . In August 1950, Puhl was appointed a member of the management and from September 25, 1952, he was a member of the bank's board of directors until he retired on May 23, 1957. In addition, Puhl was a member of the supervisory board of Kühltransit-Aktiengesellschaft from 1951 and was deputy chairman of the supervisory board from 1954. In November 1959, the President of the Italian Republic awarded “Emil Puhl, a member of the Central Advisory Board of Dresdner Bank AG and the Advisory Board of the Italian Business Association, the Commander's Cross of the Italian Order of Merit ” on March 30th in recognition of his services to deepening German-Italian economic relations Emil Puhl died in 1962, who last lived at Taxusweg 16 in Hamburg-Othmarschen , after a serious illness at the age of 72.

family

Gravestone of Emil Puhl in Hamburg-Ohlsdorf

Puhl married Margaretha Puhl, née Stehn, on March 6, 1920 (* December 4, 1889, † May 6, 1946, suicide by hanging). From this marriage two sons were born: Friedrich (born June 30, 1922) and Johannes Puhl (born July 4, 1932 in Berlin). On June 3, 1950, Puhl married Charlotte Hedwig Puhl, née Weckmann (born September 13, 1904, † July 8, 1983) in Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel.

literature

  • Ernst Klee : The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich: Who was what before and after 1945. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8 .
  • Peter Hampe, Albrecht Ritschl: New results on the NS upswing. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-05-003860-8 .
  • Ralf Ahrens: The exemplary candidate. Dresdner Bank and the Nuremberg Trial against Karl Rasche . In: Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte , 4/2004 ( online as PDF; 1.56 MB).
  • The verdict in the Wilhelmstrasse trial. (Official wording of the decision in case no.11 of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal; edited with the assistance of CH Tuerck; official translation from English) Bürger, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1950.
  • Switzerland - Hitler's zealous fences . In: Der Spiegel . No. 12 , 1997, p. 162 ( online ).
  • Independent Expert Commission Switzerland - Second World War (Ed.): Second World War. Switzerland and the gold transactions in World War II. (Revised and supplemented version of the interim report from 1998) Zurich 2002, ISBN 3-908661-00-5 . ( online as PDF; 1.3 MB)
  • Klaus Urner: Emil Puhl and the Swiss National Bank - on the controversy over German looted gold in World War II . In: Swiss monthly books. Journal for politics, economy, culture, volume (year): 65 (1985) issue 7-8, doi : 10.5169 / seals-164251

Web links

Commons : Emil Puhl  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wirtschaftswoche , Volume 50/1996, p. 121.
  2. ^ Emil Puhl 70 years. In: Hamburger Abendblatt , edition 198 of August 27, 1959, p. 17.
  3. ^ Draft for a press release on the occasion of the 50th birthday of the member of the Reichsbank Directorate Puhl, August 17, 1939, BArch R2501 / 6362
  4. ^ Independent Expert Commission Switzerland: Second World War. Switzerland and the gold transactions in World War II . Revised and supplemented version of the 1998 interim report, Appendix 1, p. 6.
  5. ^ Draft for a press release on the occasion of the 50th birthday of the member of the Reichsbank Directorate Puhl, August 17, 1939, BArch R2501 / 6362
  6. ^ A b c d Peter Hampe, Albrecht Ritschl: New results on the NS upswing. Berlin 2003, p. 68.
  7. ↑ “The defendant claims that his party membership card has been outdated”, Wilhelmstrasse Trial, p. 151.
  8. ^ Eckhard Wandel: The German banking system in the Third Reich (1933-1945). In: German banking history. Volume 3, Frankfurt am Main 1983, p. 171.
  9. ↑ Quoted from Ralf Banken: Precious metal shortage and large-scale robbery. The development of the German precious metal sector in the “Third Reich” 1933–1945 . (= Yearbook for Economic History , Supplement 13.) Akademie-Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-05-004380-7 , p. 673.
  10. ^ Ernst Klee: The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich. Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 474.
  11. ↑ Nuremberg Trials, Vol. XIII ("Wilhelmstrasse Trial"), p. 617.
  12. ↑ Wilhelmstrasse Trial , p. 151.
  13. ^ Address by Emil Puhl on March 9, 1940 in the atrium of the Deutsche Reichsbank (Bundesarchiv Berlin, R2501 / 6363)
  14. ↑ Jean Ziegler: Switzerland, the gold and the dead. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1997, p. 54.
  15. ^ Joachim Distel: The establishment of the West German central bank system with the Bank of German States. Mohr Siebeck, 2003, ISBN 3-16-148081-3 , p. 27.
  16. ↑ Werner Rings: Raubgold from Germany. Switzerland's “gold hub” in World War II. 2nd edition, Munich 1997, pp. 47-85; see. Ralf Banken: precious metal shortage and large-scale robbery. The development of the German precious metal sector in the “Third Reich” 1933–1945 . (= Yearbook for Economic History , Supplement 13.) Akademie-Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-05-004380-7 , p. 673; as well as Switzerland and the gold transactions in World War II. (= Publications of the UEK , Volume 16.) ISBN 978-3-0340-0616-3 .
  17. ↑ Quoted from Rolf Surmann, Dieter Schröder: NS-Raubgold. The role of Switzerland. In: Rolf Surmann, Dieter Schröder (ed.): The long shadow of the Nazi dictatorship. Texts on the debate about looted gold and compensation. Münster 1999, p. 160.
  18. ↑ Werner Rings: Raubgold from Germany. Switzerland's “gold hub” in World War II. 2nd edition, Munich 1997, p. 49.
  19. ↑ Werner Rings: Raubgold from Germany. Switzerland's “gold hub” in World War II. 2nd edition, Munich 1997, p. 115.
  20. ↑ Johannes Bär: The gold trade of the Dresdner Bank in the Second World War. Kiepenheuer, 1999, p. 126.
  21. ^ Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland - Second World War: Switzerland and the gold transactions in World War II. (= Publications of the Independent Expert Commission Switzerland - Second World War ICE , Volume 16.) Bern 1998 (Interim Report), p. 23; Final report Zurich 2002.
  22. ^ Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland - Second World War: Switzerland and the gold transactions in World War II. (= Publications of the Independent Expert Commission Switzerland - Second World War , Volume 16.) Bern 1998 (Interim Report), p. 29.
  23. ^ Joachim Distel: The establishment of the West German central bank system with the Bank of German States. Mohr Siebeck, 2003, ISBN 3-16-148081-3 .
  24. ↑ The witness Funk on the witness stand - May 7, 1946 on zeno.org
  25. ↑ Reading of Thom's declaration on May 15, 1946 during Puhl's testimony in the Nuremberg trial against the main war criminals ; see. also the affidavit that Puhl put on record on May 3, 1946 in Baden-Baden in captivity in the US
  26. ↑ quoted from: Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals Under Control Council Law No. 10, Volume XII ( The Ministries Case ), p. 193.
  27. ^ Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals Under Control Council Law No. 10, Volume XII ( The Ministries Case ), p. 380.
  28. ^ Rainer A. Blasius: The Wilhelmstrasse Trial against the Foreign Office and other ministries. In: Gerd R. Ueberschär : The allied trials against war criminals and soldiers 1943–1952. Frankfurt am Main 1999, p. 187 ff.
  29. ↑ Ralf Ahrens: The example candidate. Dresdner Bank and the Nuremberg Trial against Karl Rasche. In: Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte , 4/2004, p. 668.
  30. ^ Memorandum of the Hamburger Kreditbank, Personnel Department, from April 13, 1950; HA from Commerzbank
  31. ↑ a b obituaries in the Hamburger Abendblatt from April 3, 1962, p. 5.
  32. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt , No. 272 ​​of November 23, 1959.
  33. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt , No. 158 of July 11, 1983, p. 12; HA of Commerzbank, existing group: Dresdner Bank 1315–2002
  34. ↑ Hamburg State Archives - death entry, Best. 332-5, Sign. 7381, No. 1133/1962.
personal data
SURNAME Puhl, Emil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Puhl, Emil Johann Rudolf (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German banker and Vice President of the Deutsche Reichsbank
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH March 30, 1962
Place of death Hamburg