New Investigation Finds 890 Previously Unknown Credit Suisse Accounts Used to Finance Hitler’s Regime

An internal investigation has uncovered 890 accounts at Credit Suisse, major Swiss bank that collapsed, linked to Adolf Hitler’s regime, including accounts used to support Nazi war efforts and postwar escape networks, according to findings set to be presented Tuesday to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

Lawmakers say the discoveries suggest the Swiss bank concealed the true scope of its financial ties to Hitler and the Nazi SS, raising renewed questions about whether Holocaust survivors and their families were fully compensated under a 1998 settlement intended to resolve Nazi-era banking claims.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said the accounts were used by people and organizations that directly supported Nazi operations during World War II. These included accounts linked to the German Foreign Office, a German arms manufacturer, and the German Red Cross. Investigators also found that the Nazi SS’s economic arm held accounts at Credit Suisse, a relationship Grassley said was “more extensive than we knew before.”

He said records show profits tied to SS activity that were not fully disclosed during earlier investigations in the 1990s, omissions that Jewish leaders say may have obscured assets that should have gone to Holocaust victims. “These accounts were once used by individuals or entities who participated in or assisted Nazi war efforts,” Grassley said.

The findings will take center stage at a Senate hearing titled “The Truth Revealed: Hidden Facts Regarding Nazis and Swiss Banks,” where lawmakers are expected to question how earlier probes failed to uncover the full scope of Nazi-linked banking activity. Grassley said the current investigation aims to correct past failures. “The current investigation is supposed to ensure that no more evidence is swept under the rug,” he said.

Jewish organizations say the newly uncovered records could mean that Holocaust survivors and their families were never fully compensated. World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said negotiators did not have access to complete banking records when they reached a 1998 settlement requiring Swiss banks to pay $1.25 billion to Holocaust victims. As a result, Lauder said, billions in Nazi-linked assets may never have been identified or returned. “We probably left $5 to $10 billion on the table,” he said.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center says the findings also shed light on how Nazi officials escaped justice after the war. The organization has documented thousands of Nazis who fled to Argentina, many of whom were linked to accounts at Credit Suisse or its predecessor banks. Investigators say some of the newly identified accounts were connected to postwar escape networks that helped Nazi officials resettle abroad.

Senior executives from UBS, which acquired Credit Suisse in an emergency takeover in 2023, are expected to testify at the hearing. UBS has said it supports completing the investigation and addressing Credit Suisse’s historical conduct. In prepared remarks, UBS Americas President Robert Karofsky said, “We approach today’s topic with solemn respect.”

The investigation is expected to conclude later this year with a final report. Grassley has said the records uncovered could be made publicly available as a long-term archive, allowing historians and researchers to examine the financial networks that supported Hitler’s regime and assess whether justice for Jewish victims remains incomplete.