The predecessors of ABN AMRO and the expropriation of Jewish Assets in the Netherlands

This article describes the role played by Dutch banks in the confiscation of Jewish property during World War II. ABN AMRO's predecessors, then seven commercial banks, surrendered the lion's share of Jewish financial assets to the Nazis. How can this be explained? One possible answer is that the banks allowed their own, commercial, interests to prevail over those of their Jewish clients. Other factors were: strategies of deception by the German authorities, low level of resistance among Dutch Jews, German pressure on banks to release Jewish assets and, finally, the lengthy duration of the war.... Mehr ...