John Strausbaugh
Award-winning history writer John Strausbaugh tells fascinating stories about the past, bringing fresh perspectives to events and characters great and small.
John Strausbaugh
How Wall Street Banked on Hitler
•
John Strausbaugh
•
Season 1
•
Episode 21
Throughout World War II, Wall Street banks and giant American corporations traded with the Nazis and Japanese and played both sides in the war. They included Chase National Bank, Standard Oil, DuPont, and General Motors, among others. The impulse to prosecute them as traitors for their financial dealings with the Nazis and Japanese was countered by a simple, inescapable reality: the U.S. needed their backing as well.