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The Conversion of Looted Jewish Assets to Run the German War Machine
- Holocaust and Genocide Studies
- Oxford University Press
- Volume 18, Number 1, Spring 2004
- pp. 27-45
- Article
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Prior to World War II, the German government established mechanisms toseize the assets of German Jewry, a practice that its agencies later adapted to the occupied territories of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The importance of industrial diamonds to wartime production led the Germans to focus on bartering or selling confiscated valuables to procure these stones. This article pays particular attention to the mechanisms used to convert stolen property into forms useful for the Reich, with emphasis on the handling of intact pieces of jewelry. Also discussed are purchases made by German agents in Switzerland involving industrial diamonds.