The records reproduced in this microfilm publication consist primarily of investigative and interrogation reports, and related records compiled and produced by the External Assets Investigation Section of the Property Division. The records are organized in the following five series:

General Records Pertaining to External Assets Investigations, 1945–1949, is arranged alphabetically by subject. This series consists primarily of affidavits, cables, correspondence, financial documents, interrogations, military government forms, memorandums, and reports regarding investigations of German external assets. The investigations pertain to leading German industrial firms such as Robert Bosch GmbH; I.G. Farben; Siemens-Halske AG; Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG; and Otto Wolff Co. Also included are investigations of German banks regarding external assets and investigations of prominent individuals such as members of the Thyssen family and the Wuerttemberg royal family. The records include numerous investigative reports concerning repatriations; Suez Canal stock transactions; Spanish Civil War debts; German claims for assets in Japan; and the Safehaven program, including Swedish and Spanish Safehaven Accords. Also included is a list of securities and assets of German banks deposited in the United States as of November 1939; a report prepared by the Finance Division in 1946 regarding German external assets located in the colonies, mandates, and territories of the French republic and British Empire; and reports and memorandums concerning the Section’s dealings with the Soviets through 1948.

Reports and Exhibits Relating to Investigations, 1945–1947, is arranged alphabetically by subject. This series consists primarily of financial documents, memorandums, cables, correspondence, reports, and other records pertaining to investigative reports contained in the series General Records Pertaining to External Assets Investigations, 1945–1949, described above. Most of the German financial documents, many dating back to the 1920s, were exhibits to reports prepared during the course of the investigations. These reports generally contain statements of the significance of the documents, occasionally providing English translations, and suggestions as to their applicability. Also included are reports on the external assets of Hermann Göring, Safehaven reports concerning Nazi channels for foreign investment, and Safehaven reports concerning German-owned or controlled firms in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Egypt, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Interrogations and Reports Pertaining to German Financial Matters, 1945–1946, is arranged alphabetically by subject. Each interrogation folder contains a listing of the individuals questioned. The series includes correspondence, reports, and copies of interrogations primarily pertaining to the financial status of certain Nazi leaders, including Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Göring, and Walter Funk. Among the people interrogated were Hermann Göring, his wife, his brother, his sister-in-law, his niece, his private secretary, his nurse, certain subordinates in the Air Ministry, several art-looting associates, and members of his staff. Also interrogated were Joachim von Ribbentrop and several other members of the Foreign Office; Walter Funk, Paul Koerner, and other financial leaders of the Reich; SS (Schutzstaffel) members Walter Schellengerg and Karl Wolff; Christa Schroder, Hitler’s secretary; Julius Schaub; Margarete Himmler, wife of Heinrich Himmler; and Max Amann, director of Eher Publishing Company, publishers of Mein Kampf. Evaluation reports accompany the interrogations in several instances.

Informational Reports Prepared by the Ministerial Record Section, 1945–1946, is arranged alphanumerically by report number. This series includes reports with correspondence and copies of financial documents generally pertaining to the identification of external assets by German individuals and companies before and during World War II. These reports were based on original documents of various German financial agencies, including the Foreign Exchange (Devisenstellen), the Ministry of Finance (Reichsfinanzministerium), and the Ministry of Economics (Reichswirtschaftministerium). The reports consist generally of photostats of German financial documents, with significant portions occasionally translated into English, and an accompanying synopsis and evaluation of the documents by the Ministerial Records Section. Included at the beginning of the series is a card index arranged alphabetically by name of individual or company investigated, which gives the report number, and in many instances some data concerning the company or individual to which the report refers.

General Intelligence and Investigation Records Pertaining to German External Assets, 1945–1950, is arranged alphabetically by subject and thereunder chronologically. This series consists primarily of cables, correspondence, German financial documents, laws, lists, legal opinions, memorandums, newspaper clippings, reports, and other records pertaining primarily to intelligence about and investigation of the cloaking of German external assets by German individuals and companies. Included are intelligence and investigative records relating to gold looted by the Nazis, censorship intercepts, and other records relating to violations of declarations as required by Military Government Law 53 and Allied Kommandatura BK/O (46) 337. Also included are records relating to Safehaven activities, including negotiations, agreements, and accords with approximately 30 countries, primarily Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland.

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