present, both in the organisations’ camps and in their preference of converts

threatened by racial persecution.

The last part of the book shifts the focus on to Hungary. Laura Palosuo presents

some fresh results from her recently completed PhD thesis, introducing the concept

of intersectionality into the field of Holocaust Studies. Her theoretical approach

is promising, although the briefness of her article does not allow her to elaborate on

its benefits more thoroughly. Here, she merely restricts herself to a macro level

analysis of anti-Jewish legislation in Hungary and its differing consequences for

women and men. Paul A. Levine focuses on Raoul Wallenberg’s rescue efforts in

Hungary. Although � or maybe because � Wallenberg has become one of the most

central figures within memorial culture, little is known about his actual diplomatic

mission in Budapest. Levine aims to place Wallenberg’s outstanding achievement

back in its actual historical context by pointing out the most un-sensational

character of his official instructions, ordering him to act as a neutral observer and

reporter to the Swedish government. The book concludes with a personal essay by

Ilona Treitel, recounting her own family’s sufferings on their way from Budapest to

Sweden in 1938.

The anthology renders an inspiring up-to-date snapshot of a most active field

of research within contemporary Swedish historiography. Each article provides

important contributions to our understanding of Swedish politics before and during

the Second World War. Taking the book’s character as a presentation of ongoing

theoretical and methodical discussions, I would finally like to join in the editors’ wish

for a more systematic integration of the Swedish example into a broader framework

of international research. Considering the shared fears and attitudes of European

bureaucrats, as well as the cross-border character of the subject itself, refugee politics

opens up a most promising field for comparative and transnational approaches. In

view of the liveliness of Swedish research that this book stands for, I have no doubt

that these issues will be taken up soon.

Christoph Leiska

Technische Universitat, Berlin

Email: christoph.h.leiska@campus.tu-berlin.de

# 2011, Christoph Leiska

Herman van der Wee and Monique Verbreyt, A Small Nation in the Turmoil of the

Second World War. Money, Finance and Occupation. Belgium, its Enemies, its Friends,

1939�1945, Studies in Social and Economic History, Leuven, Leuven University

Press, 2009, ISBN 978-90-5867-759-4.

This book seems to be the first part in a series of publications on the history of the

National Bank of Belgium. It has obviously been a challenge to the authors to

describe and understand the problematic development of the Belgian National Bank

during the dramatic period 1939�45. The book was published in Dutch in 2005, and

it is now available in English.

Belgium stuck formally to its neutrality policy even after the outbreak of the

Second World War. At the same time, she prepared for the case that the country

Scandinavian Economic History Review 207

would be drawn into the conflict. During the first months of 1940, the ‘scorched

earth’ policy was very influential and it was planned for the National Bank (as for

other trading companies) to transfer their registered office and administrationabroad. Private bankers objected and argued that they had, even in the case of

occupation, a responsibility towards the Belgian economy and they would be unable

to fulfil this task if the National Bank suspended its activities. This discussion can be

seen as a prelude to the dilemma of the coming years. Should the National Bank

withdraw and refuse all kind of contacts with the occupier, or should it stay and

make the best of the situation in order to facilitate the conditions for the Belgian

people? In either case, the National Bank risked being held responsible, either for

collaborating with the enemy or for running away from the people.

After the first chaotic months of the occupation, arrangements that affected the

tasks of the National Bank were necessary in order to allow for the financial

transactions that the Belgian economy and population needed. As a consequence, the

National Bank chose to stay and adapt to German demands, but only to the extent

that was regarded as unavoidable. After difficult negotiations, an agreement was

reached on creating a new institution � Banque’d’Emissions de Bruxelles. This made

it possible for the National Bank to stay out of German interference, and even theBanque d’Emissions argued that it had a certain degree of independence. Its main

task was to administer the foreign transactions, of which the clearing operations

came to be very problematic. The National Bank took care of both public and

private credit operations.

One important theme of the book is how the division of responsibility between

the Belgian government, the Belgian National Bank and the Banque d’Emissions

worked out. It was regarded as necessary to uphold a common front against the

occupier but this was not always possible. The war expenditures were enormous.

During the final years of occupation, 38.5% of the Belgian war expenditures went to

Belgium and the rest to the occupier. The occupier could get costs covered through

the occupation costs, which were the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance. It

could also get the costs covered through manipulations with the clearing system,

which was covered by the Banque d’Emissions. There were continuous discussions

where costs were shuffled between the two institutions. The German transactions

gradually became more dubious and the occupation costs increased to the extent

that, in 1942, it came to a break in the attempt of the Belgian side to uphold acommon front. There was an understandable unwillingness to represent an

institution responsible for far-reaching and dubious concessions to the Germans.

This was expressed very bluntly by one of the National Bank’s representatives � ‘For

us it’s a good deal � the shit bin has been moved’.

Another important theme concerns the relations to France, since this country

played an important role for the transfer of Belgian gold assets. Before the war, gold

was transferred from Belgium mainly to Great Britain and United States, but also to

France. The gold that was entrusted to the Banque de France was, after a long series

of dramatic events, transferred to Germany. This was regarded as a betrayal and a

law suit started in the US during the war, aimed at making sure that the Belgian

National Bank was acknowledged as the owner of the gold. The Banque de France

regarded itself as responsible for the Belgian gold even if it, for the moment, had

been entrusted to the Reichsbank; the gold would be restored to Belgium as soon as

possible. The dispute worsened the relations between the central banks of France and

208 Book Reviews

Belgium and the question was not settled until after the war when the Banque de

France did what it had formally agreed to do even before the process, namely torefund the gold.

Many other problems are also touched upon by the authors of this book: the

importance of legal advisers, the relations to the occupier, the German plundering of

Belgium, and the situation of Belgian workers in Germany. Many new facts are

presented and discussed in a judicious way. An impressive amount of source material

has been employed. It is obvious that the reputation of the authors has allowed for

access to many qualified sources.

For a publication of this kind, a case can be made for the translation to English.However, turning to an international audience increases the demands on the text in

terms of context, international debate and comparison. The analyses would have

gained greatly in depth and perspective if the authors had related their findings to the

existing research. This is especially clear in the sections dealing with the conditions of

an occupied country and the legal space for decision making, and also with the

possibility of resistance, which differed between countries and in time. Also, during

the last decades, government inquiries and research have been conducted on the Nazi

looting and the handling of the Nazi gold. Unfortunately, the authors refrain fromrelating the Belgian case to this literature, or to the conditions in other European

countries and their banking systems.

It is obvious that the authors have restricted themselves to the story of the

National Bank. But failing to connect the results to general research questions

renders the book less useful.

In addition, the authors’ neither discuss the moral dilemma of choosing between

collaboration or running out, nor are the authors’ own values discussed. The latter

should have been taken into consideration since it is obvious that the authors havepersonal opinions on the actors, who are characterized as ‘courageous’, ‘patriotic’, or

‘lacking a firm personality’, judgements that mainly refer to the actors’ ability to

stand up against the Germans. An explicit discussion on the authors’ values would

have been much more pleasing than to allow the personal values to show up

implicitly.

Birgit Karlsson

University of Gothenburg

Email: Birgit.Karlsson@econhist.gu.se

# 2011, Birgit Karlsson

Scandinavian Economic History Review 209