About the project

The aim of the project is to investigate restitution of monetary gold after World War II. During the war, Axis states looted monetary gold held by central banks or other financial institutions in Europe on an unprecedented scale. A key role in restitution (return) played The Tripartite Commission for the Restitution of Monetary Gold (TGC), established by Great Britain, France and the United States. These states disposed the gold which had been found in Germany. A total of ten European countries, including Poland, declared their claims to the gold. The Commission operated between 1946 and 1998.

TGC was to efficiently perform the task presented to it and finish its activities. However, its work lasted for over fifty years. Why did some countries receive gold in the early 1950s and some had to wait more than thirty years for their claims to be settled? Why were some countries’ claims almost entirely rejected? To find answers for such questions it is necessary to do research on all factors influencing Commission’s activity: internal and external ones. The first group is related to functioning of TGC: procedures and criteria applied during examination of individual countries’ claims. The second group is related with any external pressure put on the Commission to reject or recognise claims of some countries. Each claimant state was a separate case and problem for TGC. However, it is possible to indicate several similarities and differences in the Commission’s position towards individual countries. What attitude did the Commission have to Western countries and what attitude did it have to Communist countries?

Previous research doesn’t provide complete answers to the above issues. Moreover, there are even misconceptions about the restitution among historians. Any of previous research hasn’t included records of the Commission. Particularly, official decisions of TGC will be confronted with sources created by three governments creating the Commission. A look at new materials on this matter may shed a whole new light on the post-war fate of Nazi gold, which aroused the imagination of not only researchers but also the public. The interest in the subject is evidenced by the fact that in 2019 restitution of momentary gold was the subject of a parliamentary question in the Polish parliament. Therefore, undertaking research into the project’s topic will be important not only from the academic, but also from the social point of view.

The research conducted as part of the project will mainly base on the analysis of historical sources (created by the Commission and governments) held in archives in France, Great Britain, Germany and the USA. The project will result in three research articles that will be published in leading journals in the discipline. The research findings will be relevant to Cold War history, diplomacy and international relations.

This research was funded in whole by National Science Centre, Poland, no. UMO-2023/49/N/HS3/02971