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John Weitz

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Hitler's Banker: Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht Hardcover – January 1, 1997

by John Weitz (Author)

4.5 22 ratings

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Examines the life of the president of the Reichsbank and his relationship with Hitler

Print length

361 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Little Brown & Co
Publication date

January 1, 1997
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.25 x 9.75 inches
ISBN-10

0316929166
ISBN-13

978-0316929165
See all details

Kai Bird
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Schacht, as the Weimar Republic's finance minister, saved Germany from hyperinflation. He later gave his support to Hitler, and his financial manipulations hastened Germany's rearmament. Nevertheless, Schacht did not approve of war and spent the last years of the Third Reich in concentration camps. His ambivalence toward National Socialism is interesting, although his anti-Semitism was not remarkable for the time. Weitz (Hitler's Diplomat, LJ 7/92) is not a historian but a fashion designer, and it shows. He relies heavily on secondary sources, including a bizarre summation of Schacht's postwar years with newspaper headlines. Weitz also makes silly mistakes, like attributing a quotation by Stalin to Hitler. He does enlighten the reader with an intimate knowledge of the Third Reich as a refugee and OSS intelligence officer. Though flawed, his work is the only available English-language biography in print about a fascinating man.?Randall L. Schroeder, Wartburg Coll. Lib., Waverly, Iowa
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Weitz has written half a dozen successful books, most recently Hitler's Diplomat (1992), a popular biography of Joachim von Ribbentrop. Weitz's family had to flee the Nazis in 1938, and Weitz seems fascinated by the much-asked question of why "ordinary" people cooperated or collaborated with the Nazis. He pursues that issue again with this biography. Schacht was appointed president of the Reichsbank in 1923 and is acknowledged as one of the two most responsible for bringing Germany's hyperinflation under control. He resigned in a dispute over the plan for German reparations that had been crafted at the Hague in 1930. Hitler reappointed Schacht president of the Reichsbank in 1933 and also made him his minister of economics. Schacht is credited with again turning around the German economy, this time relying on armaments buildup. When he realized Hitler planned on using his new weapons to carry out a policy of aggression, Schacht protested, was arrested, and put into a concentration camp until 1944. Until now no popularly accessible material had been written about him. David Rouse

From Kirkus Reviews

This biography of a major figure of the Nazi regime raises tough ethical questions about the nature of collaboration and patriotism. Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht was born in 1877 into a prominent family from Schleswig-Holstein. By the turn of the century he had already acquired a reputation as an economist. But his real fame came in 1923, when, four days after Hitler's failed putsch, he became currency commissioner for the Weimar Republic; he controlled the disastrous inflationary spiral that had already destroyed Germany's economy and the middle class. By the end of 1923, he was also named president of the Reichsbank. Schacht was such a hero that in the cabarets of Berlin they literally sang his praises. After a period of prosperity in the mid-1920s, Germany again faced economic ruin, brought on by the Depression. Hitler's political success, according to Schacht, was based on ``poverty and unemployment.'' Such a simplistic evaluation suggests that Schacht misunderstood the true nature of the Nazi regime. Seeing himself as first and foremost an economist, and a patriot obliged to work with whatever regime was in power, no matter how odious, he had no qualms about collaborating with Hitler. Although never a fanatical Nazi, Schacht faithfully served the new regime (he was named minister of economics in 1934), yet managed to maintain his contacts with the anti-Nazi movement. Although dismissed by Hitler in 1943, Schacht was among those tried for war crimes at Nuremberg. He was acquitted, as he knew he would be; but that does nothing to resolve the question of his moral culpability in working with the Nazis. Weitz (Hitler's Diplomat, 1992) weaves an interesting and useful story, and although not the work of a professional historian, it sheds light on those Germans who, while not Nazis, elected to work with the regime, convincing themselves that it was the right and patriotic thing to do. (9 b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

Hjalmar Schacht was the economic brain behind Nazism, and John Weitz' perceptive biography draws a telling portrait of this most consummate of artful dodgers. -- Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little Brown & Co; 1st edition (January 1, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 361 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316929166
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316929165
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.25 x 9.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,345,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,012 in Banks & Banking (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 22 ratings

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Read Economics All the Time

Schacht is a favorite character of mine. Brilliant money man.

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2019

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I couldn't put the book down. It tells the story about Schacht from beginning to end. Very detailed and a very good read. It is well written and stays on topic. Hitler is discussed only when he interacted with Schacht which makes the book interesting. Schacht was only one of a couple of people who weren't executed at the Nuremberg trails. I won't spoil it for you.

One person found this helpful

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Dixie Maria Carlton

One man's struggle with the changes around him and how carefully he had to balance his personal views and position of great impo

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2016

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A totally different perspective on Hitler's Germany from the regular history books on the subject. One man's struggle with the changes around him and how carefully he had to balance his personal views and position of great importance.

2 people found this helpful

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George

Even handed

Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2007

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A surprisingly even handed treatment of the controversial banker who helped ease Hitler's rise to power and then fell out of favor and landed up in a concentration camp. It's too easy to demonize everyone associated with Hitler and tougher to show how someone like Schacht could see how Hitler could help a devastated Germany after Versailles and the great inflation but not recognize his inherent evil. Those who like a world of stark black and white may not like the book because it shows humanity at a portrait in gray.

3 people found this helpful

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P. Christie

Smart fellow, but his success was due more than ...

Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2015

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Horace Greeley Schacht...the man.
Smart fellow, but his success was due more than anything to his demeanor and will.
He didn't back down when he thought he was right and he didn't give up.

One person found this helpful

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scott johnson

book

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2018

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I did look it

One person found this helpful

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ecoelt@vaxc.hofstra.edu

A thorough explanation of Schacht's thinking.

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 1997

Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht first attracted the attention of the world when he was given credit for ending the German hyperinflation of 1923, after which the economy of the Weimar Republic performed remarkably well until the 1929 recession which eventually developed into the Great Depression plaguing the advanced capitalist system in the 1930s.When the World War I reparations payments were subject to a general moratorium in 1931, Schacht played a major role in the creation of the Bank for International Settlements that was responsible for the servicing of the loans made under the Dawes and Young Plans.to Germany. These loans were finally paid off by the Federal Republic od Germany in 1980.. Schacht had certain fundamental beliefs: he opposed the paying of reparations required by the terms of the Versailles Treaty in 1919; he had the typical banker's fear of inflation and the role of governmental expenditures in the creation of rising prices; he advocated the rearmament of Germany and sincerely believed that this would contribute to world peace. By 1936, he had begun to oppose Hitler's 4-Year Plan which, under the leadership of Goering, called for a drive towards autarky and additional military spending in an economy that was already back to full employment as a result of deficit spending..
Schacht was opposed to devaluating the mark, which was increasingly seen as a solution based on Britain's devaluation of the pound in 1931 and their comparatively successful subsequent coping with the Great Depression in Great Britain. Instead, Schacht and his cohorts came up with .the Mefo bonds which were used to deficit finance the construction of the famous Autobahns. Schacht went along with the 4-Year plan only after being assured that the Mefo bonds, which he regarded as a stop-gap measure, would be paid off or retired in 1938. Presumably the inflationary impact of rising military expenditures would be offset by the deflationary retirement of the bonds.
The increasing reluctance of Schacht to go along with the Military Keynesianism of his successor, Walther Funk, who, like Schacht , was an economic journalist, showed up in Schacht's increasing criticism of Hitler and personally in his souring relationship with his first wife, Luise, who was a convinced Nazi. By the time of the serious attempt to assassinate Hitler in July 1944, Schacht was a candidate for involvement in this conspiracy and was subsequently imprisoned.by the Nazis.
Thus, it becomes more understandable why Funk received a long sentence while Schacht was acquitted following the Nuremberg Trials. Schacht's opposition to the autarky and additional military spending to support Hitler's aggressive plans saved his neck , although he was harrassed by the West German courts long after his Nuremberg acquittal.
Schacht never joined the Nazi Party and was clearly used by Hitler since his intellectual talents were too great to ignore. After the war his services were in high demand
in the Third World, particularly in Indonesia, India, Egypt, and Iran. He organized his own export company and regained some of his earlier wealth before dying in his nineties..

Lynn Turgeon
Professor Emeritus of Economics.

22 people found this helpful

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John Powers

Many Shades of Weitz

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2003

As a biographical note:
John Weitz the author of this book, is the same John Weitz that was a popular US clothing desinger in the second half of the 20th century. He was also an intelligence agent for the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA during and immediately after WWII. Ian Fleming mentioned Weitz as the prototype of his character, James Bond.
Weitz is also the father of Paul and Chris Weitz, the directors of "American Pie", and "About A Boy", and admirably not "American Pie II".

8 people found this helpful

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Kevin M Quigg

Hitler's Central Banker and financier

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2015

Hjalmar Schacht was a Frisian German who stopped the German hyper-inflation of the 1920s and became a prominent financier of the 1930s. His actions resulted in funding the rise of the Third Reich and the armaments industry. The author is from a German Jewish background and tries to review Schacht's actions both as a banker and politician. Schacht was instrumental in helping fund the Nazi political machine even though he didn't belong to the party and broke with Hitler prior to the war. The Federal Republic sought to imprison him for what he did when he was Finance Minister and head of the German Bank. However he was acquitted by the Allies at Nuremburg and lived a quiet existence after the war.

After reading this book, one can detect how arrogant Schacht was. He was probably not a pleasant person to be around. He was one of those people who think they know everything, and seek to tell you how intelligent they are. Hitler probably rolled his eyes when this guy talked to him. I don't think it was unjustified to prosecute him after the war, because he was responsible for funding the Third Reich. His actions didn't immediately cause the deaths of millions, but his policies led to the Third Reich being financially solvent during rearmament.

I thought this was a better than average book about a little known figure of World War Two.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Maximilian

great read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2020

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This is an interesting insight into the Banker of the Reich. I like this because I have never considered about the Financial figures in WW2.

Stan Ford

Inflation? No problem.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2010

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This work was slammed for being a collection of quotes. So what. They were highly relevant. Schacht had the guts to do what was necessary to get an economy out of a hole but was sad that his dictator was bent.

2 people found this helpful

Torsten W. Störmer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 31, 2017

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alles ok, netter Kontakt, immer wieder

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2018

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