The revelation that Hitler amassed a secret fortune has led to a search for the missing money. Historians have discovered that he took the funds he saved by refusing to pay taxes and deposited his fortune into numerous Swiss accounts. He was hiding this wealth throughout the Second World War, but at war’s end it seemed to have disappeared. Now, historians have new leads regarding the missing money that Hitler kept secret.
It was already known how these funds were acquired. Hitler charged for the use of his image, his appearances at rallies and other such locations, and the sales of his book, Mein Kampf. He did not pay taxes on this income and therefore wound up with millions of pounds. Once these millions vanished, however, historians were uncertain as to where the missing money went. They decided to try to follow it using official documents, which include bank statements, tax forms, and anything else where the movement of Hitler’s funds could be traced. One such document was his last will and testament.
Hitler’s will appeared to have been a lie, written for the sake of convincing Germans that he was something of an impoverished martyr. He claimed that he hardly had anything to leave behind, and that what he had belonged to the Nazis. The missing money was not mentioned at all, although it is believed that he gave his deputies verbal commands regarding how these funds were to be dealt with upon his death.
It is believed that this will was meant to perpetuate the idea that Hitler was a man who lived and worked for the betterment of the Third Reich. He wanted his citizenry to truly believe that the glory of Germany was all he cared about. The missing money from his Swiss accounts indicates, however, that he must have confided in someone that he had more than he claimed. It is just not entirely certain who this someone was, or what they did with his fortune, the Mail Online reports.
Hitler’s secret money has become the new subject of a documentary entitled The Hunt for Hitler’s Missing Millions. Since the will which is now believed to have been something of a ruse makes mention of his family, it is difficult to say whether or not they would have been knowledgeable of his true circumstances. They may have been the heirs of his missing money, though it is just as likely that he gave it all to the Nazi party.
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