“This ruling goes far beyond all pertinent rulings hitherto made with the political economies of neighboring countries, including the Protectorate, and actually represents the first step towards a currency union. In consideration of the significance of the agreement, which already affects the independence of the Dutch State, it is of special weight that the President of the Bank, Trip, who is very well-known in western banking and financial circles, signed this agreement of his own free will in the above sense.”
As you will see from the explanations which I shall have the honor of submitting to you, it was chiefly in the Netherlands that the Germans used all their ingenuity in extorting the means of payment. This spoliation will form the subject of the first chapter.
We shall then examine the use made by the occupiers of these means of payment. In a second chapter we shall discuss the black market; in a third, we shall consider the acquisition made in a manner only outwardly regular; a fourth chapter will be devoted to various kinds of spoliation. Finally, we shall touch upon the chief consequences to the Netherlands of this economic pillage.
Chapter 1, German seizure of means of payment.
A.) Indemnity for occupation costs.
I have already had the privilege, Gentlemen, of explaining under what conditions and within what limit, by virtue of the Hague Convention, the occupying power may raise contributions in money for the maintenance of its army of occupation.
I shall confine myself to reminding the Tribunal that these costs which are charged to the occupied countries can include only the costs of billeting, feeding, and possibly of paying those soldiers strictly necessary for the occupation of territories.
The Germans knowingly ignored these principles by imposing upon the Netherlands the payment of an indemnity for the maintenance of their troops which was far out of proportion to the needs of the latter.
According to information furnished by the Netherlands Government, which is contained in three reports (the reports of Trip, Hirschfeld, and the Minister of Finance) which I submit as Document Number RF-123, the following sums were exacted on the pretext of being indemnity for the maintenance of occupation troops: 1940 (7 months), 477 million guilders; 1941, 1,124 million guilders; 1942, 1,181 million guilders; 1943, 1,328 million guilders; 1944, 1,757 million guilders; 1945 (4 months only), 489 million guilders. That makes a total of 6,356 million guilders.
A sum as considerable as this constitutes a veritable war tribute raised on the pretext of the maintenance of an army of occupation. Germany thus fraudulently circumvented the regulations of the Hague Convention to seize a considerable amount of means of payment.