Advertisement

Bank of England facilitated sale of Nazi gold

Montagu Norman, pictured in 1941, was Governor of the Bank of England when the sale took place. Credit: PA Archive

The Bank of England has admitted helping the Nazis sell nearly 2,000 gold bars looted from Czechoslovakia after it was invaded by Germany in 1939. The gold was valued at the time at £5.6m.

According to the BoE's website, the bank sold gold on behalf of the Reichsbank, Germany's central bank, despite the the British government placing a freeze on all Czech assets held in London following the Nazi invasion.

Some 2,000 gold bars looted from Czechoslovakia's central bank were sold on by the BoE. Credit: ROBERT JAEGER/APA/Press Association Images

About £4m of the gold was "disposed of" in Belgium, Holland and London. The information was compiled by BoE officials in 1950 but only published online today.