Operation Bernhard -
A quiet rebellion like no other!
Creating an economic and financial terrorist attack on the WWII British and allied forces was the mission and purpose of Operation Bernhard (1942-1945). Though primarily a secret German attack on the British Pound, the US $100 bill was also included in this viscous plot.
To date, Operation Bernhard produced the most dangerous
assault on a financial empire in recorded history.
The Operation Bernhard plot was conceived during Germany’s early WWII secret
Nazi efforts to destroy Briton’s economic base as well as its financial future.
The goal was to mass produce counterfeit Bank of England (BOE) British pounds –
£5, £10, £20, £50 denominations – and then flood the UK with the worthless
notes causing wide-spread economic inflation and collapse. Named after the
plan’s director and operations manager, SS Major Bernhard Kruger, Operation
Bernhard (he named the plot after
himself) is considered history’s largest counterfeiting campaign.
Kruger
gathered up an initial expert counterfeit team of 142 Jewish prison camp
inmates. He found his victims in Sachsenhausen, Auschwitz, and other
concentration camps. (Sachsenhausen was the primary location of this
operation.) This counterfeit team of prisoners was forced to engrave the ornate
and complicated printing press plates. They also had to develop methods for
producing the special rag-based paper and watermarks. Most importantly, these
Jewish inmates developed techniques for breaking the BOE code needed in order to
generate authentic serial numbers. Thus, these notes are considered some of the
most perfect counterfeit notes ever made.
Fortunately, it was the tenacity and heroism of the people of England
that ultimately saved their country from economic ruin. The original plan was
to take plane loads of these counterfeit notes and drop them onto the UK
countryside. Fortunately, the German Air Force did not have enough planes to
effectively complete the mission – their air force was occupied with bombing
Great Britain and fighting off the Royal British Air Force pilots and crew.
Simultaneously, Operation Bernhard was transferred to the SS foreign
intelligence.
At its peak, about 1 million BOE notes were printed each and every month.
As an aside, though $100 bills of US currency were created by Operation
Bernhard’s expert counterfeit team, full production was halted on February 22,
1945 and the US $100 printing press destroyed.
Most, but not all of these counterfeit BOE notes were discovered by
divers in 1959, at the bottom of Lake Toplitz. (this Austrian lake was near the
final location of the counterfeit team). Tons of notes were dumped there in
1945 by the Nazis, just before surrender. Evidence suggests that some notes “escaped”
and were used by the Jewish underground to purchase needed equipment and
supplies and to finance Jewish immigration to Israel. Additionally, German SS
officers laundered counterfeit notes in Northern Italy and then used them as
payment for imported goods, espionage services, and rescue operations.
Operation Bernhard Bank of England (BOE) notes are increasingly rare, in
high demand, and highly collectible. Those from the bottom of Lake Toplitz show
significant water damage, caused by over a decade of under-water existence.
Others, which entered circulation during and after WWII are occasionally seen
in currency auctions and war museums.
If these Operation Bernhard notes
could talk, what would they say of the starvation, hardship, torture, and
overwhelming fear endured by their creators? What would they say of the failed
German scheme to hit the UK at its financial core?
Finally, what would these Operation Bernhard counterfeit
notes tell us about the real power of our human spirit?
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For a look at some highly valued, rare, and collectible currency, visit us at
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collecting coins and currency of all types.
We are here to assist you! Please give
us a call at 870-670-4255 or email us at jeff@treasuredstocks.com
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