Hjalmar Schacht (1877-1970) — Reichsbank president, MEFO author, acquitted at Nuremberg
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The banker who built Nazi Germany's secret rearmament financing walked free at Nuremberg.
Who they are
Hjalmar Schacht, president of the Reichsbank (the central bank) and Economics Minister.
What they do
Devised the MEFO-bill device that hid rearmament spending from the public books; dismissed from the central bank in January 1939; tried at the Nuremberg trials, where the Allies tried Nazi leaders after the war, and acquitted.
How it works
The mechanism, in the prosecution's own words, is quoted on the MEFO bills page here — including Schacht's admission that it let the bank lend 'by a subterfuge' what the law forbade.
Why it matters
He is the technician of hidden state finance — the record places him at the money layer, and his acquittal is part of the record, not a verdict this site adds to.
The engine's record — word for word
[Report #201 — person layer] President of the Reichsbank and Minister of Economics; author of the Mefo-bill device that financed secret rearmament off the public books (the mechanism, from the Nuremberg record, at mefo_bills_schacht). Dismissed as Reichsbank president in January 1939. Tried at the IMT and acquitted. ENGINE READING: the technician of hidden state finance — a non-ideologue the record places at the money layer, whose acquittal is part of the record, not a canon verdict on the layer he built. Held; name no holder.
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