Dresdner Bank

Dresdner Bank 

Dresdner Bank was established on 12 November 1872. By 1900, Dresdner bank had the largest German branch network. After the banking crisis in 1931 the German Reich owned 66% of Dresdner Bank shares. Its deputy director was Dr Schacht, Minister of Economy under Nazism. The Bank was reprivatised in 1937. During World War II, Dresdner Bank controlled various banks in countries under German Occupation. It took over the Bohemian Discount Bank in Prague, the Societa Bancara Romana in Bucharest, the Handels- und Kreditbank in Riga, the Kontinentale Bank in Brussels, and Banque d'Athenes. It maintained majority control of the Croatian Landerbank and the Kommerzialbank in Kraków and the Deutsche Handels- und Kreditbank in Bratislava. It took over the French interests in the Hungarian General Bank and the Greek Credit Bank, and it founded the Handelstrust West N. V. in Amsterdam. It also controlled Banque Bulgare de Commerce in Sofia and the Deutsche Orient-Bank in Turkey. The bank took part early on in the Third Reich's policy of confiscating Jewish property and wealth. The bank helped to finance concentration camps, including Auschwitz.