Swiss Banks and Jewish Souls (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The revealing inside story of the Swiss banks scandal from the Director of the Senate Committee Banking's "Swiss Bank Inquiry." With the release of hundreds of damaging documents, a dark side of Switzerland's democracy has been unveiled. Switzerland is now seen as a nation of greedy bankers, collaborators with the Nazis, and robbers of the wealth of the victims of the Holocaust. Swiss Banks and Jewish Souls is a powerfully enlightening account of how a small and determined group of people from divergent backgrounds humbled the legendary Swiss financial empire to achieve a measure of justice for Holocaust survivors and their heirs, while shattering the myth of Swiss wartime neutrality.

Rickman tells how a small group of people, none of them professional historians, pieced together a puzzle of unknown proportions and proceeded to dismantle the myth of Swiss innocence and victimization at the hands of the Nazis, and expose a fifty-year cover-up. Untold numbers of European Jews and others placed their funds in Swiss banks because they believed they offered a safe haven for funds which the Nazis were trying to control. What better place to put their money than in Switzerland? Swiss Banks and Jewish Souls discusses how investigative groups proved that Switzerland stole the money of the Jews and helped the Nazis to do the same. No one began with evidence and no one had a source of knowledge upon which to fall back. All they shared was a feeling that something was terribly wrong and that a great injustice had occurred. Propelled by this instinct, a U.S. Senator, the World Jewish Congress, a British Parliamentarian, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and a handful of Holocaust survivors accomplished what the U.S., British, and French governments and a group of feuding Jewish organizations could not or would not do.

As a result of this effort, how the world views Switzerland and how Switzerland views itself has been redefined. Most importantly, those who survived the Nazi horrors, only to be victimized again by the Swiss bankers, have now achieved some measure of justice, or at least financial compensation after more than fifty years.

About the Author

Gregg J. Rickman is the Legislative Director for United States Senator Peter G. Fitzgerald (IL). He was formerly Legislative Director for United States Senator Alfonse D'Amato, and also directed the Senate Banking Committee's "Swiss Bank Inquiry" from its inception in 1995 to its conclusion in 1998.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers (April 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560004266
• ISBN-13: 978-1560004264
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,869,846 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Atrocity and Shakedown, October 5, 2009

By	Norbert J. Potts "N. Joseph Potts" (Miami Beach, Fla., USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The shakedown perpetrated beginning in 1996 by the author, his boss Sen. Alfonse d'Amato, American Jewish organizations, and the US government including then-President Bill Clinton is a greater atrocity than the one it falsely accuses the Swiss banking industry of. The shakedown is highly selective; while it singles out defenseless and innocent Switzerland, it ignores far-more-culpable Israel and the United States itself. A good perspective of the matter is given in The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering, New Edition 2nd Edition, which goes far beyond this book not only in valid assignment of credit and blame, but also, because its more-recent editions post-date this book, in tracing the early effects of the affair's aftermath.

As one might expect from a book by one of the central perpetrators, this report is highly detailed and, if it weren't for a host of seemingly inadvertent inaccuracies, it might constitute a useful, if incomplete, record of the prolonged back-and-forth among the conspirators and their victims. The first thing I did when receiving this book was consult its index for an entry I was sure would be there. It was, but I had inordinate difficulty in finding it, because the index's alphabetization is inaccurate. While reading the book, I began to notice that a person's name might be rendered, say, "Ziegler" on one page, and on the very next page, as "Zeigler."

Observing defects of this kind, one would be foolish to assume that such defects do not pertain also to dollar amounts (there are many), dates, page numbers, and enumerations of all kinds. For what it's worth, this book is extremely topical, having been released less than a year after the latest events reported therein.

But the great haste with which this account was rushed to print should not distract the reader from the protracted lie upon which the entire enterprise it reports is based. Many of the organizations that benefitted from the $1.25 billion ultimately extorted from the Swiss have, with the dwindling number of ex-Nazis still alive, segued their purpose over to the detection, discouragement, and prevention of anti-Semitism. The irony is that schemes such as this understandably aggravate and spread anti-Semitism. But this outcome is at worst mixed for the staff and suppliers to the organizations: it gives them more to pay themselves for doing something about.

12 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST BOOK ON SWISS BANKS/NAZI GOLD!, June 14, 2000

By	Miriam Kleiman (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

Gregg Rickman's masterful work is a true "insider's guide" to the Swiss Banks/Nazi Gold issue. Rickman leads the reader through the past, Swiss wartime collaboration with the Nazi regime in profiting from the Holocaust, through the present -- the ongoing pursuit of justice 50 years later.

Far more than an observer, Rickman was a leading actor in this historically unprecedented research and discovery effort. He deftly guides the reader along his journey as the issue developed and exploded on the international scene beginning in 1996. To present the political, historical, ethical and legal aspects of this issue, Rickman incorporates interviews, testimonies, hearing trancripts,and his personal perspective as THE key policy maker involved in stategizing and coordinating the investigation into a supposedly "neutral" government's past.

This book is a MUST READ for anyone interested in World War II, the Holocaust, and the Swiss Banks/Nazi Gold issue. It is also an incredible case study and moral tale of the triumph of good over evil. Rickman shows how he and others tackled the mighty Swiss banking establishment -- and won. Rickman was instrumental in shattering Switzerland's neutrality myth and exposing the hidden secrets of the "Gnomes of Zurich." He has done a valuable public service in writing and sharing this fascinating story. I highly recommend it.

12 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Inside View, March 1, 2000

By	Dr. Greg Bradsher (Silver Spring, Maryland) - See all my reviews

During the past four years I have read probably every book and government report regarding Jewish bank accounts in Swiss banks. Many of the books are quick, journalistic-types; often containing incorrect or misleading information. Most were written by "outsiders," people who have not been directly involved in the identification of Jewish assets in Swiss banks, nor involved in the efforts to bring about restitution of such assets. This book by Gregg Rickman is one of the exceptions. He was directly involved in the identification and restitution efforts. In fact, he put his heart and soul into the efforts to bring justice to victims of the Holocaust and to their heirs. Thus, it is not surprising that the book is written with a real passion. The "bad guys" are identified and taken to task. The "good guys" are also identified and their roles are clarified in the various political, diplomatic, and legal contextes. Rickmann weaves a story containing information about past misdeeds and present injustices and recent efforts to turn history into justice. His book should be mandatory reading for anybody interested in the subject and for anybody interested in how old archival records can be used to right the wrongs of the past.