Only Walther Funk, a German financial journalist, raised any objections. According to Malkin, there was little debate among the Nazis present regarding the plan. Originally launched as Operation Andreas, the plan was fully supported by the Nazi hierarchy.
The story starts on September 18, 1939, when Nazi espionage agents and high-ranking officials hatched a plan to destabilize the British economy by air-dropping forged Bank of England notes. In the end he lays out a story of intrigue that illustrates the clear difference between a totalitarian government led by a tight group of insiders, and the democratic Allied governments that favored vigorous debate before moving forward with war plans. Malkin interviewed surviving counterfeiters and poured over numerous secret documents in his effort to provide a clear picture of the events surrounding Operation Bernhard. Lawrence Malkin’s meticulously researched Krueger’s Men is perhaps the best work on the subject. Until recently, little has been written about the fantastic Nazi plan. In an ironic twist, the Allies too considered launching a similar plan against the Nazis, but both American and English authorities ultimately decided against their own counterfeit program. Luckily for the British, the anticipated outcome never came to fruition, and Britain was spared potential economic ruin. Krueger’s counterfeiters produced some of the finest forgeries ever.
Called Operation Bernhard, the production of counterfeit money was the work of expert printers and engravers rounded up by SS units and supervised by an SS officer named Bernhard Krueger.
This is just what the Nazis had in mind on the eve of World War II. Article audio sponsored by The John Birch Society
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