Highlighting the postwar use of Axis treasure recovered by the Allies after World War II, this program talks about these Funds and the Games that were played with (and because of) them. Particular emphasis is on the postwar use of the massive amount of Japanese Treasure looted by the Japanese during Operation Golden Lily. In addition to being used to resurrect the very militarists, fascists and oligarchs that had prosecuted Japan’s war of aggression, the monies were combined with treasure recovered from the Nazis to create an enormous slush fund called the Black Eagle trust. This huge repository of clandestine wealth was used to stabilize the postwar financial system, finance covert operations, and purchase influence among America’s Cold War allies. Conceived of, and realized, by some of the most powerful American political and financial power brokers, the Black Eagle trust ultimately became a source of enormous corruption, as it became a “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”, luring many individuals and institutions into temptation and, sometimes, death. After discussing many of the other clandestine funds growing out of Japan’s looting of Asia, the program discusses the chilling death threats and intimidation that the Seagraves (Sterling and Peggy) received because of their authorship of the book upon which the program is based — Gold Warriors.
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The decision to form this vast action fund of Axis treasure looted during World War (called the Black Eagle trust) had its genesis with the Bretton Woods conference of 1944 and involved some of the key power brokers in the American power elite. “It was not Truman’s decision alone. The idea for a global political action fund based on war loot actually originated during the Roosevelt administration, with Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. During the war, Stimson had a braintrust thinking hard about Axis plunder and how it should be handled when peace came. As the tide turned against the Axis, it was only a matter of time before treasure began to be recovered. Much of this war prize was in the form of gold looted by the Nazis from conquered countries and civilian victims. To eliminate any trace of original ownership, the Nazis had melted it down, and recast it as ingots hallmarked with the swastika and black eagle of the Reichsbank. There were other reasons why the gold was difficult to trace. Many of the original owners had died, and pre-war governments had ceased to exist. Eastern Europe was falling under the control of the Soviet Union, so returning gold looted there was out of the question. (more...)
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