Part 2 Chapter 23 Hostages Summary and Analysis

In June of 1940, France submits to the Nazis and signs an armistice rather than suffer more blitzkrieg attacks. This leaves the Paris office, called Morgan et Compagnie in a precarious position. What happened to the Paris company during the years of Nazi occupation is reconstructed after the war. The Bank of France moves some of its gold to New York and hides the remainder at fifty one sites around the country. French banks do pretty much the same thing. Morgan et Compagnie buys a hotel in Norot and ships their securities to the site. By the time the Nazis reach Paris, they have vacated occupied France leaving the Paris office with a skeletal staff. Morgan's Leonard Rist of the Paris office is arrested by the Nazis in June 1940 and sent to a prison camp. The House of...