And the Money Machine Goes Round

By Steve Rodan

It is mid-1942 and the German killing machine is operating furiously. Hitler had ordered that the Jews of Poland, trapped in ghettos, undergo extermination, with at least half dead by the end of the year. The new death camps of Auschwitz, Chelmno, Majdenak, Treblinka were turning thousands of Jews a day into cadavers.

Despite their worldwide network, the Zionist movement did not intervene. Their agreement with Germany for the transfer of millions of dollars under the guise of Jewish resettlement was hampered by World War II and restrictions by the Allies. And so, the Zionists found another way to keep the money machine pumping: A rescue campaign that would raise huge amounts from Jews, particularly from the United States, while doing nothing.

Soon, the Americans became suspicious. B.F. Wyatt worked for the Foreign Property Control Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the fiscal agent of the United States. Wyatt was tracking the flow of money from Hitler-occupied Europe to the United States and knew there was something not kosher. Two organizations were licensed to transfer money to Jewish refugees in France. The refugees had given huge amounts of money in French francs and were receiving in return a pittance in dollars.

The two organizations under probe were the Jewish National Fund, the most profitable arm of the Zionist movement with a mandate to buy land in Palestine for Jewish settlement. JNF was never engaged in Jewish rescue but maintained a huge network in the Diaspora. For example, George Simon had handed 4.5 million francs to JNF meant for Jewish rescue. Rescue demanded local currency, whether to bribe local officials, persuade gentiles to hide Jews or smugglers to take Hitler's targets over the border to neutral Spain or Switzerland. The arrangement called for Simon to be reimbursed by JNF in U.S. dollars.

But there was virtually no payback. Wyatt reported to the U.S. Treasury Department that Simon had received $30,000 in reimbursement. This marked an exchange rate of two-thirds of a U.S. cent per franc. The actual exchange rate was two U.S. cents per franc, or more than three times what JNF was paying.

The other Jewish organization under examination was the American Joint Distribution Committee, known by its acronym JDC. JDC was known for its relief services from before World War I and maintained extensive holdings in Europe. JDC obtained francs from a range of sources including Universal Pictures Co., the famous Hollywood studio owned by Jews until 1936. The relief organization obtained more than 1.8 million francs from Michel Chaim Berchin from Montpelier for Jewish rescue and relief. Berchin was given in return $14,000, or a rate of 0.77 cent per franc.

"In each case the rate paid for the francs is well below 1 cent per franc, which appears to be extremely low and which leads us to believe that this type of transaction would warrant very careful scrutiny as to the source of the local currency and the disposition thereof," Wyatt wrote to Paul Parker, who worked in Treasury's Foreign Funds Control. [1]

The rescue and relief of Jews was meant to be conducted by Oeuvre De Secours Aux Enfants, or Children's Relief Society. The group was founded by Jewish physicians in Russia in 1912, and a chapter was established in France in 1934. Its honorary president was Albert Einstein. Through a clandestine network, OSE was said to have saved 2,500 Jewish children from deportation during World War II. The group worked with the French resistance to hide Jewish children with gentile families rather than with churches. OSE had maintained ties to JDC from 1925.

Josef Weill was a leading member of OSE. He provided medical assistance to Jews in the internment camps. His colleague Andree Salomon obtained the release of 500 children, 350 of whom were sent to the United States. In the summer of 1944, 74 children left Spain for Palestine under the aegis of Salomon, a longtime Zionist activist.

What was JNF doing in the rescue arrangement reported by U.S. authorities. Today, there is no record or claim by JNF of having engaged in rescue or relief during World War II. [2] Neither is there a mention of JNF in the history of OSE, which does refer to links with JDC. [3]

Weill was highly suspicious of Zionist motives and determined that the movement was not interested in rescue. Along with others, he also warned JDC of the pitfalls of working with the Zionists -- whether in rescue or joint fundraising. [4]

In his memo, Wyatt indicated that the JDC and JNF transactions appeared fraudulent. He cited the speed with which donors were reimbursed given the German occupation of France.

"It will be noted, however, that applications are made for reimbursement long after the underlying transactions have been completed," Wyatt wrote. [5]

There has been no record of a full scale investigation of JNF. The Zionists, solid supporters of the American and British policy of inaction, were protected. Instead, JDC found it increasingly difficult to transfer rescue money to anywhere in Europe, including unoccupied Switzerland. The U.S. justification, probably based in part on Wyatt's conclusions, was that these funds would merely help the Germans.

Notes

1. Wyatt to Paul Parker. Sept. 15, 1942. RG 131, FF Control, Federal Reserve Bank, N.Y., Box 122. NARA

2. JNF history. https://www.jnf.org/our-history

3. OSE history. Chronology - Children's relief work (ose-france.org)

4. Aug. 11, 1944 meeting with Saly Mayer. Saly Mayer Collection. Reel 12D. JDC Archives, Jerusalem.

5. Wyatt memo

Below: Josef Weill