Walther Funk

Born in East Prussia, Funk studied economics and law, working as a financial journalist before joining the Nazi Party in 1931. His economic expertise and connections with industrialists helped him become a liaison between the party and business circles, leading to his appointment as press chief of the Reich government in 1933.

Funk's early career was marked by his role in the Nazi seizure of power, where he helped craft economic policies that appealed to conservative elites. He was not an original economic thinker but rather an administrator who implemented directives from Hitler and Hermann Göring, particularly in the Four Year Plan.

Funk succeeded Hjalmar Schacht as Reich Minister of Economics in 1938 and became president of the Reichsbank in 1939. In these roles, he directed the German war economy, managing foreign exchange, raw materials, and the financing of rearmament through the Mefo bills system.

During World War II, Funk's ministry exploited occupied territories, imposing exorbitant occupation costs and manipulating exchange rates to benefit Germany. The Reichsbank under his leadership accepted gold and valuables looted from concentration camp victims, a fact that became central to his later prosecution.

Arrested in 1945, Funk was tried at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. He was found guilty of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, but not of conspiracy. The tribunal noted his role in the economic plunder of occupied countries and his knowledge of the Reichsbank's receipt of stolen property.

Sentenced to life imprisonment, Funk was released in 1957 due to ill health and died in 1960. His case highlighted the complicity of civilian bureaucrats in Nazi crimes, setting a precedent for prosecuting economic officials.

Funk was a close confidant of Hitler and reportedly served as a personal economic advisor, though his influence waned as the war progressed. He was also a member of the SS, reaching the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer, and was involved in the planning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, attending the July 1941 meeting where the 'Final Solution' was discussed.

After the war, Funk's testimony at Nuremberg provided insights into Nazi economic decision-making, including the use of concentration camp labor in armaments production. His personal correspondence, held in archives, reveals his anti-Semitic views and his role in the 'Aryanization' of Jewish businesses.

Mefo bills

Promissory notes used by Nazi Germany to finance rearmament without visible government debt.

Four Year Plan

A series of economic policies initiated by Hitler in 1936 to prepare Germany for war within four years.

Aryanization

The forced transfer of Jewish-owned businesses to non-Jewish Germans under Nazi policy.