Il conto svizzero

by Paul Emil Erdman

Spionaggio: conti correnti svizzeri con l’ombra del denaro del Terzo Reich.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, English Literature

380 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Paul Emil Erdman was one of the leading business and financial writers in the United States who became known for writing novels based on monetary trends and historical facts concerning complex matters of international finance.

Erdman was born in Ontario, Canada, to American parents. He graduated from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He received his PhD from the University of Basel (in Switzerland). In 1958 he worked as a financial analyst for the European Coal and Steel Community. Between 1959 and 1961, he worked as an economist at the Stanford Research Institute at Menlo Park.

Erdman returned to Switzerland where in 1965, he founded and was the president of a Swiss bank - the Salik Bank. In 1969, the United California Bank in California bought a majority stake and renamed it the United California Bank in Basel. The bank collapsed after taking large losses speculating in the cocoa market. Erdman and other board members were accused of fraud and Erdman spent time in jail awaiting trial.

While in jail, he wrote his first novel - The Billion Dollar Sure Thing (1973). It received a 1974 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel and was published in the UK as The Billion Dollar Killing. He was released on bail and fled from Switzerland. He was subsequently convicted in absentia. His second novel, the The Silver Bears (1974) was turned into a 1978 movie of the same name, starring Michael Caine. His books were well researched and contain convincing details. Despite the underlying complexity of his novels, his lucid writing style had enabled readers to learn complex concepts such as interest rate swaps, and his novels had often been bestsellers. The information in The Swiss Account is credited with providing a basis for helping track down the assets of Jewish victims of the holocaust.

Reviews

[5 o’clock bookclub (Cristina) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deși cartea a fost scrisă în 1992, este extrem de bine documentată și regăsim informații fascinante despre sfârșitul celui de-Al Doilea Război Mondial. Este o carte de ficțiune, având la bază fapte reale, fiind încărcată cu note de subsol care întrerup puțin cursul poveștii, dar care sunt irezistibile pentru un pasionat de istorie. Erdman are un fel unic de a scrie. El scrie simplu, dar poveste a fost asa de încurcată la început, încercând să țin pasul cu cine spiona pe cine, dintre elvețieni, americani, ruși, germani și francezi. Asta, în sine, a arătat încurcătura în care se afla Europa.

Am găsit cartea, din întâmplare, în timp ce ieșeam dintr-un anticariat. M-a atras titlul și descrierea, eu neștiind foarte multe despre Elveția teoretic neurtă întimpul celui de-Al Doilea Război Mondial. Știu că elvețienii sunt foarte mândri de rolul lor ca națiune neutră în timpul războiului și de succesul lor de a rămâne neutri și independenți în timpul războiului, în ciuda faptului că erau înconjurați de Europa ocupată de naziști. Ei au atribuit supraviețuirea pe seama vigilenței puternice apărării lor militare și a neutralității lor ferme.

Întotdeauna am fost sceptică în privința asta și am presupus că trebuie să fi existat un fel de înțelegere între Elveția și Germania lui Hitler care a împiedicat o posibilă invazie, Elveția fiind singura țară rămasă necucerită. M-am gândit că trebuie să existe un fel de colaborare cu naziștii ca preț pentru independența lor. Îmi pare rău că trebuie să scriu asta, dar Germania ar fi zdrobit Elveția dacă ar fi vrut cu adevărat, în ciuda tuturor elvețienilor care se lăudau cu puterea lor armată.

Această carte mi-a confirmat suspiciunile.

Au fost niște acțiuni eroice ale unor elvețieni pentru a-i ține departe pe spionii și agenții naziști, dar am aflat și că Elveția permitea transportul de echipamente și provizii militare și nemilitare, prin Elveția, până în Italia, echipamente si provizii folosite de nemți pe frontul de Est împotriva Aliaților. Așadar, Elveția a ajutat - mai mult decât indirect - Germania și Italia să reziste avansării puteriolor aliante prin Italia.

O altă dezvăluire necunoscută mie a fost că Germania elaborase, de fapt, planuri extinse de invadare a Elveție, dar Hitler a decis să atace Rusia, un plan care a consumat atât de multe resurse încât planul de a ataca Elveția a fost abandonat. Totuși, ceea ce mi-a schimbat complet percepția a fost momentul în care am citit despre cantitatea enormă de aur jefuită de naziști din țările ocupate și ascunsă în conturile bancare elvețiene, în conturi bancare fără nume la care aveau acces doar câteva persoane, tocmai pentru a proteja banii și identitatea celui care deținea contul.

Elvețienii au refuzat mulți ani să returneze banii proprietarilor de drept.

Această carte a atras multă atenție din cauza acestor dezvăluiri. Elvețienii s-au trezit marginalizați și mândria lor a fost spulberată. Un lucuru bun, cred eu, pentru că îtotdeauna am crezut că sunt puțin prea mândri... cam ca și francezii.

Am rămas cu un gust amar după această lectură și nu pentru că nu mi-a plăcut cartea ci din cauza a ceea ce am aflat. Nu-i pot învinovăți total pentru că nu au ajutat restul țărilor să lupte împotriva Germaniei naziste. Nici nu ar fi avut cum, fiind o țară atât de neputincioasî și mică. Totuși, ei au mers mai departe și au păstrat aurul și alte obiecte de valoare ascunse de proprietarii și moștenitorii lor de drept. Secretul conturilor bancare i-a avantajat pe ei și pe cei care voiau să aibă o vestă de salvare, dacă războiul nu ar fi mers conform planului, ceea ce s-a și întâmplat.

Oare câți criminali de război au reușit să scape în America Latină ajutați de banii ascunși în conturile din Elveția?

Pe fundalul acestui război, avem parte și de o poveste de dragoste. Este atât de în plan secund încât aproape nici nu îți dai seama că există. Oricum, este bine încadrată în poveste, o urmare logică a vieții, căci lumea nu se oprește în timpul unui război, oamenii continuă să-și trăiască viețile așa cum pot mai bine și continuă să se îndrăgosteasca.

Povestea se mișcă rapid și este interesantă. Cadrul este neobișnuit în comparație cu celelalte romane de spionaj pe care le-am citit, iar înțelegerea informațiilor, politica, finanțele și strategia militară oferă o altă aromă narațiunii. Am învățat multe și am savurat lectura. Recomand cartea oricui este interesat de o altă parte a istoriei mai puțin cunoscută și nu atât de populară.

[David Lucero · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've owned this book for years and always wanted to read it, so I finally did. Paul Erdman is a very good writer. He adds history with fiction, but the whole story is completely believable. It takes place in neutral Switzerland, where the Swiss live a fine line between peace and war. The Germans are more intimidating to them than the rest of the world knows, and they need the Swiss for help in acquiring war material to keep the Nazi war machine rolling.

American head of intelligence OSS Allen Dulles arrives in Switzerland to put things right between American and Swiss intel, but the ultra-secret SS General Walter Schellenberg has other ideas. With the help of Swiss patriots Dulles sets out on a course that could bring neutral Switzerland into the war, or keep them living this fine line.

If you enjoy WWII thrillers you will not be disappointed with this. The book was written more than 20 years ago, but still holds its with today's thrillers. I highly recommend this book.

David Lucero, author

[Socrate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pe data de 29 aprilie 1944, un prototip al unei versiuni avansate de avion de luptă nazist, un Messerschmitt 110 Cg+EN, care fusese angajat într-o luptă aeriană deasupra sudului Germaniei, a aterizat din greşeală pe aeroportul Dübendorf de lângă Zürich, Elveţia. Era propulsat de motoare complet noi şi echipat cu instrumente extrem de avansate şi ultrasecrete, ce-i confereau o eficacitate unică în cadrul operaţiunilor de noapte. Când pilotul şi-a dat seama unde a aterizat, a încercat să redecoleze, însă a fost oprit de militari elveţieni.
Când Adolf Hitler a fost informat despre incident, i-a convocat de urgenţă pe Walter Schellenberg, şeful contraspionajului din SS, şi pe Rittmeisterul Hans Wilhelm Eggen, mâna dreaptă a lui Schellenberg. Ordinele pe care le-a dat au fost precise: dacă nu s-ar fi putut ajunge la o înţelegere pentru întoarcerea avionului Me 110 în termen de patruzeci şi opt de ore, trebuia ca serviciile de contraspionaj ale SS să localizeze de urgenţă poziţia precisă a avionului şi să-l distrugă, fie printr-un atac cu bombe asupra aeroportului Dübendorf, fie prin paraşutarea unei unităţi germane de elită care să includă în rândurile sale şi o echipă de distrugere.
O oră mai târziu, Schellenberg i-a telefonat colonelului Roger Masson, şeful Secţiei a 5-a a Statului-Major al înaltului Comandament al Armatei Elveţiene din Lucerna, omologul său în contraspionajul elveţian, şi i-a spus:
— Cu siguranţă, ai auzit despre Messerschmittul care a aterizat noaptea trecută la Dübendorf. Herr Oberst, trebuie să-l recuperăm. Acţionăm din ordinul direct al Führerului. El aşteaptă de la noi să rezolvăm problema în două zile. Până atunci, am aranjat deja cu adjunctul meu, Rittmeisterul Eggen, să sosească acolo pentru a stabili detaliile. Va ajunge la Badische Bahnhof din Basel în seara aceasta, la ora nouă.

[Beth G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast-paced WW2-era spy thriller that ticks all the usual boxes. Not super well-written - too dialogue-heavy. However, I really respect the author's attention to historical detail (footnotes throughout on Dulles and the other real people in the story).

[Larry Hostetler · Rating 4 out of 5]

While one more spy novel, especially about World War II seems unnecessary, the scope and subject of this one makes it worth a read. Focusing on the intelligence efforts in Switzerland, the novel (based on numerous facts and copiously referenced) involves a mix of historical and fictional figures.

The story moves quickly and is interesting. The setting is unusual compared to the other spy novels I've read, and the insight into intelligence, politics, Swiss banking and military strategy gives a different flavor to the narrative.

I learned a lot, and enjoyed doing so. I recommend the book for anyone interested in any of the subject "flavors."

Why didn't I give it five stars? I couldn't decide whether the references (which were included as footnotes) were worth reading or not and it became a distraction. I think I would have preferred references in an appendix for the literary citations, with footnotes for explanatory information.

[David & Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on accual events during WWII. Very interesting reading.

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1993. An explosive inside look at Switzerland's financing of the Third Reich.

[Steve Wegman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fictionalized history of Swiss interactions w/ Germans, Americans & Russians in late WW2, focusing on gold transfers and German efforts to create the atom bomb. This is essentially a history book with some fictional characters playing roles in the real stories. If you like historical fiction but often wonder how much of what you're reading actually happened, you'll like this book. He footnotes his story with documentation of the actual events all through the book. And, sorry to say, the Swiss in WW2 were a very mixed bag: quite a bit of trade, even military supplies, with Germany, but at the same time their neutrality offered opportunities for Allied powers to operate as well.

The book was a little confusing with lots of names to where I had trouble keeping track of who was on which side.

[Jack Eagle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an odd book -- rather like a docu-drama. It is mainly like a history textbook with a fictional story narrative tossed in here and there. The latter let's the author connect together various events from that period of WWII history in Basel. Not uninteresting.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as strong as his other books. Still, very good. I did not like the footnotes. They were disturbing.
For years there were three writers that I would buy immediately when they published a book. One was Erdman, the others E.C. Tubb and John Fowles.

[Dryan1066 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but a little predictable

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Erdman's Swiss Account refers to a group of spys who helped the US government sabotage the Nazi's nuclear weapons capabilities in WWII. The book is a good fast read.

Erdman's Swiss Account relates to us the espionage actions that occurred in Switzerland during WWII. In the book, the OSS, NKGB, Nazi SS, Swiss intelligence, and Swiss counter-intelligence were all players with there own agenda. Sometimes their agenda overlapped, in those times they would help each other, at other times their agenda would be conflicted with each other. In general, this seems to be the trend in espionage culture in that even allies have conflicting agendas so a spy cannot have a relationship because he/she has to see every relationship as a source.

In the book, the different players had their differing objective. For example, the OSS wanted the help of Swiss Intelligence to see what the German war time capabilities were. The NKGB wanted to kill the SS leader so the Germans would invade the "double-dealing" Swiss and thus divert the war from the Eastern front with the Soviets. The Nazi SS wanted the international markets open for their war effort and to use Swiss infrastructure to defend against the Allies in Italy. The Swiss intelligence wanted to keep the Nazi from invading them at all cost with tactics that included appeasement, and the Swiss counter-intelligence wanted Swiss to keep neutral at all cost.

The role of the banks of Switzerland in the war effort was more nuanced. In the book, the Swiss banks allowed Nazi looted gold to be shipped directly to Switzerland and thus were able to buy with the gold weapons that allowed their war machine to run and thrive. But, the Swiss thought in hording the gold in Switzerland, they would be able to freeze the Nazi assets when the war was clearly over and keep the gold for themselves. This posses an interesting question especially because Al Quaeda is probably doing the same thing today, is it okay for the Swiss to except blood money that pays for lethal organizations today, in the hopes of once most of the money of the organization/dictator is concentrated in one area or bank, the bank/Swiss government can freeze the account? Or is any collaborations on the banks part, collaboration with the enemy?

For example, should banks except money from a Muslim NGO which is a front for financing Al-Quaeda activities in the hopes that when the money of the NGO is concentrated in the bank, the bank would freeze its assets? What if those assets are currently paying for terrorist activities, does that change the math in accepting the money from these front NGO's?

[Fred D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for a college economics class after I returned from an LDS mission to Switzerland. While in Switzerland, I found the people there very proud of their role as a neutral nation during WWII, and of their success in staying neutral and independent during the war, in spite of being surrounded by Nazi-occupied Europe. They credited their survival to the vigilance of their strong military defenses and to their staunch neutrality. I was always very skeptical of this. I figured there must have been some sort of deal between Switzerland and Hitler that staved off invasion. I figured there had to be some sort of collaboration with the Nazis as a price for their continued independence. I'm sorry, but Germany would have crushed Switzerland if they had really wanted to, despite all the Swiss boasting to the contrary.

This book confirmed my suspicions. There were some heroic actions by some Swiss to keep Nazi spies and agents out. But I also learned that Switzerland allowed the transport of all kinds of military and non-military equipment and supplies through Switzerland to Italy to use against the Allied advance. So Switzerland more than indirectly helped Germany and Italy resist the allied advance up Italy. I wonder how many American soldiers died as a result. Another revelation was that Germany actually had developed extensive plans to invade Switzerland, but decided to attack Russia instead, which used up so much resources that the plan to attack Switzerland was scrapped. And then finally, an enormous amount of gold looted by the Nazis from Jews and others throughout Europe during WWII was stashed in Swiss bank accounts, and the Swiss for many years resisted efforts to return the wealth to the rightful owners.

This book drew a lot of attention because of these revelations. The Swiss found themselves with a lot of egg on their face. Their pride was shattered. Good. I always thought they were a little too prideful.

[Martha Bratton · Rating 4 out of 5]

1992 book but it feels like it's from earlier. It's fascinating information about the end of WWII (of course, the participants wouldn't know that for sure). It's semi-fictional and loaded with footnotes that interrupt the flow of the story, but they're irresistible. Erdman has kind of strident voice--more like a lecturer than a story-teller. He's straightforward, but I was still muddled early in the book trying to keep up with who was spying on whom (ans: everybody) among the Swiss, Americans, Russians, Germans, and French. That in itself conveyed the muddle Europe was in.

I came away with a reinforced negative view of the Swiss role in hiding what the Nazi's stole during WWII. I can't totally blame them for not helping the rest of their neighboring countries fight Germany because they felt so powerless and small. But they went farther than that and kept gold and other valuables hidden from their rightful owners and heirs. The secrecy of their bank accounts benefited themselves and people who wanted to hide things. I don't see any social benefit in the secrecy, so they are not blameless--at all.

The risky adventure at the end of the book of the 3 fictional characters is very suspenseful and conveys the risks many brave people were took on behalf of others. But the rest of the book is a black and white, no music in the background, documentary.

[Nicholas George · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a pale, bloodless account of what is actually a fascinating story -- the true-life events transpiring in Switzerland toward the end of World War II, when the Germans were getting dangerously close to developing a nuclear weapon, the Soviets were anxiously spying on everyone in an attempt to determine if an invasion of Switzerland would divert German troops from the Eastern front, and hoards of gold stolen by the Nazis were being deposited in Swiss banks. Erdman tells all this in the context of a "novel" that combines actual people, like Allen Dulles, and a few fictitious one. The result is neither satisfying as a novel or as a non-fiction account. The characters seem to be carrying out their role in enacting historic events rather than behaving like actual people.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having read several other Paul Erdman books I have to say I was rather disappointed with this one: it's a strange mix of fact and fiction, more or less following a path of true events in world war 2 it just feels cumbersome and slow.

It was business & finance without the intrigue, set in world war 2 without the war for the most part and involved spies with a somewhat disjointed follow through of their activities.

For fiction would recommend Crash of '79, Last Days of America & Panic of '89 over this by far.

For a non-fiction seat of the pants 'story' would recommend Richard Preston's The Hot Zone.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have any connection to Switzerland, or have an interest in how this purportedly neutral country escaped invasion in WWII, this book is a must read. It does not perhaps entirely deserve the "non-fiction" category, falling into the gaps between fiction and non-fiction. Some have complained that the footnotes are distracting, but I found them to be fascinating, backing up what is otherwise (just) a good narrative.

[Bogdan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A novel with obvious cliches and this is a major set back. Disregarding this, the subject of the novel is quite interesting, treating the "neutrality" of Switzerland during World War II.
My copy of this book is in Romanian.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great look into the world of high finance and espionage, with the Swiss playing a large role in keeping the Nazis going towards the end of the war.

[Stefan · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay thriller but nothing special. Much of the dialogue was quite slow and boring and the characters were bland and uninteresting.

[Mjtg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific and exciting expose of the Swiss banking system and how they enabled the Nazi

regime.

[Toesnorth's mom]

boring

[Jerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, interesting historical novel.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

fiction heavily based on fact; lots of footnotes