Latvia Under German Occupation in 1943Latvian Legation, 1944

Repayment of Savings Deposits Disguised Robbery

In connection with the question of the restoration of property rights, a few words must be said about the credit system of the present occupation authorities, particularly in regard to their attitude toward bank deposits in general. Concerning this question one can speak only of small deposits, for in regard to deposits in trust companies, state. and other banks the same principle has remained in force that the Germans announced in 1941 immediately after they marched into the Baltic, viz., that the government of the German Reich considers itself to be the heir of all property nationalized by the Bolsheviks, and as is well known, all banks and larger credit institutions without exception had been nationalized by the Bolsheviks.

In view of the fact that the mass of small depositors come from the most varied classes of the population, so to say from the depths of the nation, the occupation authorities considered it advisable to display their “goodwill” to this mass, and in the end of May 1943 they loudly announced that the small depositors would be refunded their deposits if they would apply for them between June 1 and November 1, 1943. In accordance with the announced decree, to be sure, deposits were to be repaid only to “Aryans” and only to “politically not compromised” persons. According to the estimates of the occupation authorities themselves, the total sum of such deposits amounted to approximately 29 million lats.

At the first glance this sum would appear quite considerable, and in order to soften the hearts of the small depositors the occupation authorities particularly emphasized the “many millions” that would now, so to say, be tossed into the lap of the Latvian people by their “liberators” and “saviours.”

Upon giving this matter second thought, however, one sees that actually very little remains for the small depositors of their “millions.” One must not forget that at the time of promulgation of the Bolshevik decree regarding the nationalization of banks, deposits in savings banks amounted to some 156 million lats. True, according to the assertion of the authorities, the depositors have already received 20 million lats of this sum. That took place in 1942, when it was announced that those depositors whose deposits did not exceed one thousand lats could receive their deposits back if they applied for them between June 15 and November 1. According to the stipulations of the Bolshevik decree, these deposits were not subject to nationalization.

Even if this were the case, after November 1, 1942, there still remained at the disposal of the occupation authorities in the banks savings deposits to the amount of 136 million lats. If the authorities were now to repay 29 million lats of this sum, 107 million lats would still remain in their hands—a very pretty sum amounting to twice the total of the deposits already repaid and those destined to be repaid. Obviously it consists of deposits which belong to “non-Aryans and politically untrustworthy persons.”

However, that is not all. As is known, the Bolsheviks placed the lat at the level of the ruble. The Germans, on their part, have placed the value of the ruble at ten pfennigs, so that at present one lat is valued at ten pfennigs. Thereby the Germans with one stroke of the pen converted 49 million gold lats, which were to be returned to the depositors, into 4.9 million almost worthless German marks. In other words, the German occupation authorities have torn the last shirt from the backs of the small depositors. And at the same time they are brazen enough to preen themselves before the Latvian people as “generous saviours” and “benefactors.”

The refugees relate, however, that the small depositors see clearly through this German “generosity,” and it is being said in Latvia that “the Bolsheviks robbed us openly, whereas the Germans also rob, but in doing so treat the Latvians as fools who can be persuaded that the occupation authorities honestly intended to help them retrieve their deposits.”