Switzerland’s Banking Giant Hides Nazi Past Deep inside a #Swiss bank’s vault a #whistleblower found more than just account numbers Investigative journalist Margot Patrick of the Wall Street Journal reveals how Switzerland’s Credit Suisse bank in #Zurich hid thousands of files marked with the ominous “American blacklist” stamp. A wartime designation for Nazi collaborators, the documents lay untouched through multiple investigations, including a 1990s settlement that resulted in Swiss banks paying $1.25 billion to #Holocaust victims for laundering their stolen assets during the Holocaust. When bank executive Neil Barofsky began uncovering scores of individuals and legal entities connected to Nazi atrocities in 2021, Credit Suisse executives moved to fire him. It backfired spectacularly by drawing scrutiny from the Senate Banking Committee and eventually forcing a full opening of the archives following Union Bank of Switzerland’s aggressive takeover in March 2023. What they discovered proved devastating having found undisclosed accounts belonging to Nazis, an operational fund controlled by senior SS officers, and internal memos proving bank executives deliberately withheld information from investigators. Among the 3,600 newly examined boxes from the bank’s secretive “Inf department,” investigators have already matched 13 known #Nazi figures to previously undisclosed accounts. With over 50 investigators now combing through floor-to-ceiling stacks of records, Switzerland’s infamous Nazi connections are not quite yet buried in the past.

Dutch king says his nation failed Jewish community during football fan attacks – like during Second World War Speaking to Isaac #Herzog, Israel’s president, King Willem-Alexander expressed “deep horror and shock”. Mr Herzog quoted him as saying: “We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during the Second World War” – a reference to Nazi occupation – “and last night we failed again.” King Willem-Alexander also said: "We cannot turn a blind eye to #antisemitic behavior in our streets" — adding that history "has taught us how intimidation goes from bad to worse, with horrific consequences".

Russian forces eliminated 147 French mercenaries in Ukraine, Defense Ministry says The Russian armed forces eliminated 147 out of 256 #French #mercenaries that arrived in Ukraine during the special military operation, the Russian Defense Ministry said on its Telegram channel. Overall, the Russian forces eliminated 5,962 foreign mercenaries, most of them from Poland: out of 2,960, 1,497 were eliminated, the Defense Ministry reported. According to the provided statistics, Georgia occupies the second place in terms of eliminated mercenaries (561 militants eliminated out of 1,042). Out of the 1,113 mercenaries from the US, 491 were eliminated, as well as 422 out of the 1,005 Canadian mercenaries and 360 out of the 822 mercenaries that arrived from the UK. In January, Russian Ambassador to Paris Alexey Meshkov relayed the Russian State Duma’s address to the National Assembly of France regarding the French mercenaries in Ukraine. The Russian lawmakers pointed out that, despite Paris’ claims, the objective information regarding the membership of Ukrainian neo-Nazi forces reliably indicates that French mercenaries take part in the conflict. Previously, the Russian Defense Ministry said that, on January 16, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a precision strike on the temporary deployment location of foreign mercenaries in Kharkov, with the French comprising the majority of the mercenaries. The strike resulted in over 60 militants eliminated and over 20 injured. After that, French Ambassador to Moscow Pierre Levy was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry; he was told that the death of the French lies entirely with the official Paris.

Philippe de Gaulle, only son of former French leader Charles de Gaulle, dies at age 102 Rest in Heaven Admiral! Fair Winds and Following Seas! We 've the Watch! French navy admiral and senator Philippe de Gaulle, who was the eldest child and only son of former French President Charles de Gaulle, has died at the age of 102, Agence France-Presse reports. According to the AFP, Philippe de Gaulle "died in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday at the [old soldiers’ home at Paris’ iconic] Hotel des Invalides, where he had resided for the past two years." General Charles de Gaulle and his wife Yvonne had three children, with the couple’s two daughters, Elisabeth and Anne, both dying earlier than their only son, Philippe. Charles de Gaulle’s younger daughter, Anne, died in 1948 at age 20. Philippe de Gaulle was born on December 28, 1921. During World War II, he was close to his famous father, who led the Free French Forces and later served as president of France (1959-1969). As an officer in the Free French Naval Forces, Philippe de Gaulle was injured six times in battles for the liberation of France from Nazi Germany. In 1966, Philippe accompanied his father on an official visit to Moscow, during which a number of agreements reinforcing the bilateral cooperation between France and the Soviet Union were signed.