Austrian Banks in the Period of National Socialism

This book gives a detailed account of how two major Austrian banks profited from their service to the Nazi regime.

Gerald D. Feldman (Author), Peter Hayes (Introduction by)

9781108799263, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 March 2020

591 pages
15.5 x 23.5 x 3 cm, 0.93 kg

This book is the English translation of Gerald D. Feldman's contributions to the multi-author, two-volume study Österreichische Banken und Sparkassen im Nationalsozialismus und in der Nachkeriegszeit, which was originally published in German by C. H. Beck in 2006. Austrian Banks in the Period of National Socialism focuses on the activities of two major financial institutions, the Creditanstalt-Wiener Bankverein and the Länderbank Wien. It details the ways the two banks served the Nazi regime and how they used the opportunities presented by Nazi rule to expand their business activities. Particular attention is given to the role that the Creditanstalt and Länderbank played in the 'Aryanization' of Jewish-owned businesses. The book also examines the two banks' relations with their industrial clients and considers the question of whether bank officials had any knowledge of their client firms' use of concentration camp prisoners and other forced laborers during World War II.

Preface Hartmut Berghoff
Introduction Peter Hayes
Part I. The Creditanstalt-Wiener Bankverein: 1. Ownership, organization, and personnel of the Creditanstalt-Wiener Bankverein, 1938–45
2. The Creditanstalt, its Jewish customers, and Aryanization
3. An expanding Creditanstalt in an expanding German empire
Part II. The Länderbank Wien AG in the National Socialist Period: 4. The Mercurbank, the Länderbank Wien, and the Anschluss, 1933–9: the role of the Dresdner Bank
5. The Länderbank in the Second World War.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW]