Hitler Paid Portugal in Stolen Gold America Let It Keep It

In 1939, Portugal held 63.4 tons of gold. By 1945, it held 356.5 tons. A poor, neutral country that never fired a shot in World War II ended the war with almost six times more gold than it started with. Where did it come from? The answer is tungsten. Hitler needed it to make armor piercing shells, and Portugal had it. Salazar sold it to Nazi Germany and demanded payment in gold. That gold had been looted from the central banks of occupied Europe, then melted down in Berlin, stamped with fake prewar dates, and moved through Switzerland to Lisbon. After the war, the Allies demanded 44 tons back. Portugal offered 3. Then the Allies kept lowering their demand: 38, 21, 7. In the end, Portugal returned just 4 tons. The reason: America wanted its air base in the Azores. Every famous decision in history had a price. We show you the bill. Sources include the U.S. State Department's Eizenstat report on Nazi gold, Antonio Louca's research for Yad Vashem, and the National Bank of Belgium. Subscribe, and tell us which bill we should open next. #ww2 #NaziGold #History