Civilian Agency Records RG 56
Department of the Treasury Records
Records of the Department of the Treasury (RG 56)
The Department of Treasury was chiefly responsible during World War II, as before the war, for managing the financial affairs of the United States Government. All of its operations were greatly expanded during the war, and several special functions were assigned to the Department in connection with the war, such as the control of American assets owned by designated foreign governments and nationals.
The Department's war-related activities were handled for the most part by its regular organizational units, although special units were established, such as for the wartime control of foreign funds.
Henry Morgenthau, Jr., who served as the Secretary of the Treasury throughout the war, took a relatively active role in efforts to accomplish the return Axis looted assets. (Note 1) On February 22, 1945, he issued the following declaration:
On January 5, 1943, the United States and certain others of the United Nations issued a warning to all concerned, and in particular to persons in neutral countries, that they intend to do their utmost to defeat the methods of dispossession practiced by the government with which they are at war against the countries and peoples who have been so wantonly assaulted and despoiled. (Note 2) Furthermore, it has been announced many times that one of the purposes of the financial and property controls of the United States Government is to prevent the liquidation in the United States of assets looted by the Axis through duress and conquest.
One of the particular methods of dispossession practiced by the Axis powers had been the illegal seizure of large amounts of gold belonging to the nations they have occupied and plundered. The Axis powers have purported to sell such looted gold to various countries which continue to maintain diplomatic and commercial relations with the Axis, such gold thereby providing an important source of foreign exchange to the Axis and enabling the Axis to obtain much-needed imports from these countries.
The United States Treasury has already taken measures designed to protect the assets of the invaded countries and to prevent the Axis from disposing of looted currencies, and other looted assets on the world market. Similarly, the United States Government cannot in any way condone the policy of systematic plundering adopted by the Axis or participate in any way directly or indirectly in the unlawful disposition of looted gold.
In view of the foregoing facts and considerations, the United States Government formally declares that it does not and will not recognize the transference of title to the looted gold which the Axis at any time holds or has disposed of in world markets. It further declares that it will be the olicy of the United States Treasury not to buy any gold presently located outside of the territorial limits of the United States from any country which after the date of this announcement acquires gold from any country which has not broken relations with the Axis, unless and until the United States Treasury is fully satisfied that such gold is not gold which was acquired directly or indirectly from the Axis powers or is not gold which any such country has been or is enabled to release as a result of the acquisition of gold directly or indirectly from the Axis powers. (3) the United States Government formally declares that it does not and will not recognize the transference of title to the looted gold which the Axis at any time holds or has disposed of in world markets. It further declares that it will be the olicy of the United States Treasury not to buy any gold presently located outside of the territorial limits of the United States from any country which after the date of this announcement acquires gold from any country which has not broken relations with the Axis, unless and until the United States Treasury is fully satisfied that such gold is not gold which was acquired directly or indirectly from the Axis powers or is not gold which any such country has been or is enabled to release as a result of the acquisition of gold directly or indirectly from the Axis powers. (Note 3)
Correspondence of the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury
The Office of the Secretary of the Treasury included the immediate office of the Secretary, the office of the Under Secretary, the offices of the several Assistant Secretaries or other officials who exercised for the Secretary general supervision over particular bureaus or comparable units of the Department, and the offices of special consultants or advisers to the Secretary on various subjects. The Secretary, besides his other duties, served as an adviser to the President on fiscal and other aspects of the war. He was also a member of several Federal boards and committees, among them the Board of Economic Warfare and the War Refugee Board.
Transcripts of conferences, memoranda, personal correspondence, and copies of papers coming to the desk of the Secretary during the war are among the Morgenthau Papers in the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library at Hyde Park, New York.
Central Files of the Office of the Secretary and Assistant Secretaries
Name and Subject Index to the Central Files [Entry 193] 1933-1956 (Entry 192)
Boxes 1-36
Central Files of the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury 1933-1956 (Entry 193)
Boxes 1-246 (includes a box 206A)
Central Files of the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury 1957-1966 (Entry 193A)
Boxes 1-129
Office Files of Secretaries, Under Secretaries, and Assistant Secretaries 1932-1965
Records of Assistant Secretary John L. Sullivan
Box 191 contains folder entitled "General Counsel's War History." Included is a copy of a typewritten 78-page-history that was prepared early in 1947, and related records.
Records of Assistant to the Secretary John W. Pehle
Various series, including chronological and subject files. circa 1940-1945
Boxes 206-224
Miscellaneous Records of the Secretary and Assistant Secretaries
History of Treasury Participation in Formulation of German Occupation Program, ca. 1944-1946 (Entry 199C)
Activity Reports 1933-1961
Monthly Reports of the Secretary of the Treasury 1945-1961
Boxes 25-33
Records of the Legal Division
By section 512 of the Revenue Act of 1934, there was created the office of the General Counsel for the Department of the Treasury. The law provided that the General Counsel should be the chief law officer of the Department and perform such duties in respect to its legal activities as were prescribed by the Secretary or required by law. By order dated June 20, 1934, the Secretary prescribed the duties of the General Counsel and established the Legal Division, which was placed under the direct supervision and control of the General Counsel.
The General Counsel was responsible for and in charge of all legal activities of the Treasury Department, including all legislation pertaining to the affairs of the Department; rendered formal legal opinions for the information and guidance of administrative officers of the Department; prepared or reviewed material for publication, official regulations, Treasury Decisions, and other rulings and orders concerning laws administered by the Department, and cooperated with the Department of Justice with respect to litigation in which the Treasury Department had an interest.
Records of the Office of the General Counsel
Correspondence and Subject Files ca 1927-1963 (Accession 56-74-0001)
Boxes 1-17
Subject Files ca. 1940-1957 (Accession 56-58A845)
Boxes 1-6
Chronological Files ca. 1940-1957 (Accession 56-58A845)
Boxes 7-12
Subject Files ca 1940-1957 (Accession 56-58A845)
Boxes 13-31
General Correspondence 1934-1947 (Entry 352M)
Arranged in several alphabetically arrangements by subject.
Boxes 1-69
Records of the Assistant General Counsel (for the Office of the Fiscal Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Accounts, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the Bureau of the Mint) 1903-1956
Subject Files ca. 1903-1956 (Accession 56-67A752)
Boxes 1-11
Records of the Assistant General Counsel (for Customs, Coast Guard, and Foreign Funds Control)
Subject Files 1941-1943 (Accession 56-61A331)
These records pertain almost exclusively to ship movements and seizures, and other customs matters. Boxes 1-3
Records of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for International Affairs
The Office of the Assistant Secretary for International Affairs (OASIA) was, during the World War II period, named the Office of the Assistant Secretary in Charge of Monetary Research and Foreign Funds Control. The Assistant to the Secretary in Charge of Monetary Research supervised both the Division of Monetary Research and all matters relating to the management and operation of the United States Stabilization Fund. He also had general supervision of all foreign relations of the Department. In December 1944 the Assistant to the Secretary was replaced by the Assistant in Charge of Monetary Research and Foreign Funds Control. Both of these positions were held by Harry D. White. Records of the Division of Monetary Research
The Division of Monetary Research, established on March 25, 1938, supplied information and analyses and made recommendations to assist the Secretary of the Treasury and other Treasury officials in formulating and executing the international financial policies of the Department. The Division was headed by the Director of Monetary Research, a position held by Harry D. White until 1945, when Frank Coe became Director. Although the Division was essentially a research and not an operating unit, it was authorized to act for the Treasury Department in exchange stabilization and other international financial negotiations and to implement stabilization agreements through use of the United States Stabilization Fund. During the war the division had representatives stationed in various foreign countries to deal directly with the governments of those countries on financial matters, and emergency field officers to assist military authority on financial and currency problems related to invasion and occupation. The Division also represented the Treasury Department in interdepartmental groups concerned with international affairs.
At the outbreak of the war in Europe the Division was directed to prepare analyses of the international aspects of the fiscal policies of the United States and of foreign countries, and throughout the war it continued to make studies of the financial positions of foreign countries. When the Treasury Department's Foreign Funds Control was established in April 1940, the Monetary Research Division was assigned to do research for it.
In 1943 the Division began sending representatives to work directly with military headquarters in the various theaters and to establish Treasury representation in United States embassies and legations in a number of capitals. At the same time, it undertook work in the field of postwar planning. Its members performed research, prepared memoranda, and rendered technical assistance in connection with the numerous conferences of technical experts that culminated in the International Monetary Conference at Bretton Woods in June 1944.
With the end of hostilities it furnished economic analyses and provided most of the Treasury advisers for the United States representatives in the many postwar international economic conferences and organizations.
Records of the Deputy to the Assistant Secretary and Secretary of the International Monetary Group
Records of the Bretton Woods Agreements 1938-1946 (Entry 360O)
The Bretton Woods Conference, also known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, was held during 1944. Economic and financial experts of 44 members of the United Nations met to discuss balanced economic relationships between nations. The American delegation was led by Henry Morgenthau, Jr. In August 1944 the United Nations represented at the Conference adopted Resolution VI, calling upon the neutral governments to take all necessary steps within their respective jurisdictions to (1) immobilize looted assets; (2) uncover and control enemy property; and (3) hold German assets for the disposition of the post-hostilities authorities in Germany. Boxes 1-59
Records of the Assistant Secretary relating to Monetary and International Affairs, 1934-1946
Chronological File of Harry Dexter White, 1934-1946 (Entry 360P)
There is a listing at the beginning of each folder of the subject content of Mr. White's correspondence. Boxes 1-13
Staff Memoranda of Harry Dexter White, 1941-1946 (Entry 360Q)
Boxes 14-15
Intra-Treasury Memoranda of Harry Dexter White, 1934-1945 (Entry 360R)
Boxes 16-20
Memoranda of Conferences held in the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury, 1938-1945 Entry 360S)
Box 20
Memoranda of Conferences held in Harry Dexter White's Office, 1940-1945 (Entry 360T)
Boxes 20-21
RECORDS RECENTLY ACCESSIONED (November 1996)
Newly accessioned Department of Treasury records, mainly from the predecessor offices of the Office of International Affairs have recently been declassified and moved to an unclassified stack area. The most heavily used and pertinent records have then been moved to the Textual Research Room (Room 2000) hold area to make them more accessible. Thus the location for these newly declassified records is the "Research Room Hold Area." The Compartment of the Hold Area is given, followed, In brackets [ ], by the eventual location. Because the records are not being thoroughly processed (e.g., reboxed into archives boxes), the records are being identified under the accession number under which the Treasury Department retired the records to the Federal Records Center. The records are presently contained in Federal Record Center boxes which hold a cubic foot of records, or the equivalent of three archives boxes. Researchers should note that at some point these records will be reboxed, renumbered, and relocated.
Access to the records temporarily stored in the Textual Research Room are governed by the following procedures issued on December 11, 1996, by Clarence F. Lyons, Jr., then Chief of the Archives II Textual Reference Branch. These procedures are still valid. Specifically:
- Many of the most frequently requested records will be placed in a location near the research room for easy retrieval by research room staff.....
- Researchers may request these records at any time during the day. These pulls are not limited to the normal record pull schedule.
- A researcher may charge out ONE box of these records at a time. When the box is returned to the research room attendant, a researcher may request and charge out another box.
- A researcher may charge out a box for ONE day only. All boxes must be returned by the end of the day.
- Requests for these records must be made in person. Records may not be reserved in advance.
- These procedures apply only to those records moved to the proximity of the Textual Research Room. Other records in their stack location will be pulled according to the usual pull schedule and remain subject to established research room procedures.
Mr. Lyons, in issuing these instructions, indicated that "these procedures are designed to meet the heavy demand for these records from many parties and ensure all interested researchers [receive] equal access to the materials."
TREASURY DEPARTMENT RECORDS IN THE RESEARCH ROOM HOLD AREA AND OTHER NEWLY ACCESSIONED AND DECLASSIFIED TREASURY DEPARTMENT RECORDS NOT MOVED TO THE HOLD AREA
Accession 56-66A-155
Correspondence with other Government Agencies, including the Alien Property Custodian, State Department, and Treasury representatives abroad ca. 1930s-1950s
Boxes 1-3
Incoming Correspondence
Country Files
Division of Monetary Research
Monthly Reports to the Secretary Box 67
Office of International Finance
Monthly Reports to the Secretary Box 68
Office of International Finances
International Conference Files Boxes 69-70
Accession 56-66A-816
Special Subject Files
Boxes 1-2 "Looted Gold" location: Compartment 3
Boxes 3-4 Miscellaneous statistical reports received from De Nederlandsche Bank location: Compartment 3 [450/80/19/01]
Box 3 also contains the Reichsbank Precious Metals Department Records. (Note 4)
In mid-June 1948 Harry E. Hesse of the Treasury Department went to Frankfurt, Germany, to investigate at the Foreign Exchange Depository (FED), the original records of the Deutsche Reichsbank regarding the administration of the gold in its possession before and during World War II. He concluded that the records of the Precious Metal Department were fairly complete, but that the records of the Devisen Abteilung were in the Reichsbank Building in Berlin in the Russian sector of the city. In view of the imminent dissolution of the Foreign Exchange Depository, with the concurrence of the chief economic advisor, Jack Bennet, Hesse requested Colonel William G. Brey, Chief of the Foreign Exchange Depository, to turn the Precious Metals Department records over to the Bank Deutscher Laender as permanent custodian. Prior to that happening, he had the records microfilmed so that there would be a set available in Washington, DC. (Note 5)
On July 2, 1948, Mr. Freeman, of the Finance Advisor's Office, called Colonel Brey and instructed him to release the books and records of the Precious Metals Department to custody of the Bank Deutscher Laender as requested by Mr. Hesse and to release the FED microfilm records to Hesse to take back to Washington DC. (Note 6) On July 3, 1948, Hesse departed Frankfurt and took with him the microfilmed records. (Note 7) On July 7, 1948, the original Precious Metals Department records were turned over to the Bank Deutscher Laender and Colonel Brey sent a message to the Office of the Finance Advisor advising of the action he had taken. (Note 8) On July 8, 1948, Brey wrote Mr. Hesse, enclosing a complete index of the microfilm and stating that the actual records (both those microfilmed and those note microfilmed) had been turned over to the Bank Deutscher Laender. (Note 9) Frank J. Roberts, the Acting Chief of the Foreign Exchange Depository, in September 1949, reported that the records had "been released to bank Deutscher Laender but are at out disposal as required. From time to time the Tripartite Gold Commission requests examinations of these records to verify statements in claims submitted by foreign governments." (Note 10)
Reichsbank Precious Metals Department Records
The microfilm is located in the Microfilm Reading Room 4050
Subject Files
Miscellaneous Subject Files
Box 30 "Safe Haven, 1951" These records pertain to Latin American activities
Boxes 33-35 United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation
Foreign Funds Control Activities ca. 1940-1950
Special Subject Files
Boxes 45-54 location: Compartments 3-4
Freezing Program
Box 55 Special Subject Files Relating to the Freezing Program
File Title
- Agenda
- American Property Abroad
- Analysis of Trade Applications
- Chemie, I.G.
- Chronology (1940-1942)
- Johnson Act
- Joint Committee (State and Treasury)
- Minutes of Meetings with Foreign Funds Control
- Policy
- Representatives Abroad
- Status of Cases
Country and Area Files Relating to the Freezing Program
Boxes 56-57
Legal Records
Special Subject Files
Miscellaneous Records Relating to the Defrosting Program and Legislation, including information on the Bretton Woods Agreement Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act. Contains specific files on Austria, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Box 61
Miscellaneous Records Relating to Looted Securities, including "General-Volumes I through IV (1944-1947); "Netherlands," and "Restitution of Looted Securities Located in Austria and Germany" Box 62
Miscellaneous Records
Box 63 contains a miscellaneous case file labeled "Dwork, Dr. Irving, C (Note 14)." containing information on heirless assets in the United States, and especially in New York, along with draft legislation dealing with heirless assets in America. 1946. Also contained in the box are a files on banks, the vesting program, and three files dealing with securities, particularly French securities.
Box 73 containes files on foreign accounts in the Federal Reserve Board and insured banks, 1941; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1940-1941; the Federal Reserve Board; the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; foreign accounts in New York banks 1940-1941; and, foreign banks-New York agencies, 1941.
Records of the Office of the Technical Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury
Stabilization Records
Subject File 1936-1942
Accession 56-66A1039
Miscellaneous Committee Records
Accession 56-67A245
Country Files
Miscellaneous World War II Records and Studies
Accession 56-67A1804
Country and Area Records 1934-1952
Special Subject Files
Gold Records 1931-1959
Subject Files
Boxes 49-55
External Debt Settlements by West Germany 1950-1957
Boxes 58-62 (part) Box 61 contains file GER/1/436 Claims of BIS
Tripartite Commission on German Debts 1951-1953
Boxes 62 (part)-63
Accession 56-68A2809
Area Records
World (WOR), 1946-1959
International Statistics Division
Working Group Records
- Box 36 contains file "Gold and Dollar Assets in the U.S. of ERP Countries" WDR Records
- Box 37 contains forms (WDR-22 and WDR-18) relating to reports of gold and statements of government finances for various countries, including Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey. Foreign Funds Control Activities Records relating to the Census of American-Owned Assets in Foreign Countries (TFR-500)
- Box 38 contains a subject file relating to the census
- Box 39-contains country files
- Boxes 39 (part)-42 (part) contain details regarding certain American property in various countries
- Boxes 42 (part) contains miscellaneous records relating to the TFR-500 Census
- Box 43 contains files on the Census of Foreign Owned Assets in the United States (TFR-300)
- Box 44 contains various completed FFC forms, 1945-1946
Accession 56-69A7584
Legal Staff Records
Country Files ca. 1940-1950
Boxes 1-3
Special Subject Files
Boxes 4-7 contain information on Gold 1933-1959.
General Office Records of the Undersecretary for Monetary Affairs
Budget and Fiscal Records
Accession 56-70A6232
Legal Records
- Box 22 Contains information on looted gold; the gold Commission; negotiations with Switzerland, Portugal, and Sweden forrecovery of looted gold; the Swedish Gold Conference, the Bank for International Settlements. circa 1946-1954
- Box 24 Swiss Bank Investigations circa 1950s.
Country and Area Records
- Box 48 - Folder "GER/3/15 Gold General 1949-58 vol.1" deals with looted and other gold matters relating to Germany. Included is a printed copyof Treaties and Other International Acts Series 2252 "Restitution of Monetary Gold: Submission to an Arbitrator of Certain Claims with respect to Gold looted by the Germans from Rome in 1943; Agreement between the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and France, signed April 25, 1951, entered into force April 25, 1951."
- Box 53 - Germany - Safehaven Agreements and German External Assets 1951-1959
- Box 54 - Germany - Looted Gold 1950-1959; contains information on German Assets in the United States, 1940-59 and U.S. Germany discussions relating to German External Assets/Safehaven 1954-1959.
- Box 75-76 - Switzerland 1947-1959; contain information about Swiss banking financial/economic situation 1946-1959.
Accession 56-75-101
Foreign Exchange Reporting Section Records
Reports
Miscellaneous Subject Files
Report Files
Subject File
Bank For International Settlements (BIS)
Legal Staff Records
General Subject Files
War and War Related (World War II) Activities
Accession 56-77-52
Assistant General Counsel
Legal Subject Files 1952-1972
- Box 5 contains information on Swiss bank secrecy laws. Included is a fileon a 1942 Swiss Bank investigation, including a "Final Report: Swiss Bank Investigation" and a July 3, 1942 memorandum by Bernard Bernstein pertaining to the Swiss investigation.
- Box 6 contains a file of legal memoranda between 1943 and 1957. Includedis one, a 16-page memorandum dated April 21, 1945, regarding the Allied Control Commission and vesting German Property situated outside of Germany.
Records Declassified but not relocated to an unclassified stack area. Please consult with the staff in the consultation area in Room 2600 about the location of these records.
Accession 56-69A4707 processing
International Statistics Division General Records 1944-1959
Alphabetical Subject File
Boxes 43-48
Country Files
Germany 1931-1952
Boxes 73-86
Records of the Under Secretary
Country Records
Box 107 - Switzerland
Gold Records Box 108
Monetary and Stabilization Fund Records, General 1934-1952 Boxes 122-123