The Bank of England played a vital role in one of the darkest episodes in central banking history, facilitating the sale of gold looted by the Nazis after their invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939.

英格兰银行(Bank of England)曾在央行业务史上最不光彩的一章扮演关键角色，为纳粹德国出售其1939年侵略捷克斯洛伐克后掠夺的黄金提供方便。

According to a hitherto unpublished history of the BoE’s activities in and around the second world war, the UK’s central bank sold gold on behalf of the Reichsbank – which Germany’s central bank had seized from its Czech counterpart – after the UK government had frozen all Czech assets held in Britain following the Nazi invasion. In March 1939, gold valued at the time at ￡5.6m was transferred from the National Bank of Czechoslovakia’s account at the Bank for International Settlements, the so-called central bankers’ bank, to an account managed on behalf of the Reichsbank.

根据此前未曾发表的有关英格兰银行在二战期间及前后活动的史料，这家英国央行曾代表当时的德国央行——德意志帝国银行(Reichsbank)出售黄金，而这些黄金是德意志帝国银行从捷克央行收缴来的。在那之前，英国政府在纳粹德国侵略捷克后已冻结了英国境内的所有捷克资产。1939年3月，当时价值560万英镑的黄金，从捷克斯洛伐克国家银行(National Bank of Czechoslovakia)在所谓“央行的银行”——国际清算银行(BIS)的账户被过户至一个代表德意志帝国银行管理的账户。

The episode has long weighed on the reputation of the BIS. However, what has received less attention is the role of the BoE in the affair. What emerges from the history, which appeared on the BoE’s website yesterday, is that the UK’s central bank prioritised the appeasement of the BIS over the British government’s wishes to freeze the sale of Czech assets.

这段历史给国际清算银行的声誉造成了长期的影响。不过，此前世人对英格兰银行在这件事上扮演的角色关注较少。从英格兰银行网站昨日发表的史料看，这家英国央行当时将迎合国际清算银行置于英国政府冻结捷克资产出售交易的意愿之上。

The BoE, which then held the chair of the Basel-based institution through Otto Niemeyer, the director in charge of its overseas and foreign department, stored much of the BIS’s gold in its vaults at Threadneedle Street. That the BoE held the gold caused controversy after the story broke in the British media in May 1939.

当时，英格兰银行在其位于伦敦针线街(Threadneedle Street)的金库为国际清算银行代为储存大量黄金。这一安排在1939年5月被英国媒体曝光后，引发了争议。那时，英格兰银行的海外及外事部主任奥托·尼迈耶(Otto Niemeyer)担任总部位于巴塞尔的国际清算银行的董事会主席。

The history, written by BoE officials and completed in 1950 but never published, also records that the UK central bank sold gold after this date on behalf of the Nazis – and without waiting for the consent of the British government – on the back of pressure from the BIS.

这段史料是由英格兰银行官员撰写、并在1950年就定稿的，但昨日之前从未发布。这段史料还披露，在国际清算银行的压力下，英格兰银行在上述日期之后代表纳粹出售了黄金，而且没有等待英国政府的同意。

“There was a further gold transaction on the 1st June [1939] when there were sales of gold (￡440,000) and gold shipments to New York (￡420,000) from the No.19 account of the BIS. This represented gold which had been shipped to London by the Reichsbank,” the history said. “This time, before acting, the Bank of England referred the matter to the chancellor, who said that he would like the opinion of the law officers of the Crown. On the BIS enquiring, however, what was causing delay and saying that inconvenience would be caused because of payments the next day, the Bank of England acted on the instructions referring to the Law Officers, who, however, subsequently upheld their action.”

“在（1939年）6月1日还有一笔黄金交易，包括从国际清算银行的19号账户出售黄金（44万英镑）以及向纽约发运黄金（42万英镑）。这代表着由德意志帝国银行发运至伦敦的黄金。”史料记载道，“这一次，在采取行动之前，英格兰银行向财相报告了此事，财相表示，他想要听听王室法务官员(Law Officers of the Crown)的意见。然而，在国际清算银行询问是什么原因导致拖延、并称次日付款将引起不便后，英格兰银行执行了被提交给王室法务官员审议的指示，不过，王室法务官员事后支持他们的行动。”

The documents also show that Montagu Norman, then governor of the BoE, was opaque in his communications with John Simon, the chancellor at the time, when pressed on whether the central bank still held the Czech gold.

新披露的文件还显示，时任英格兰银行行长的蒙塔古·诺曼(Montagu Norman，见上图)在与时任英国财相的约翰·西蒙(John Simon)的通信中措辞晦涩，后者曾追问英国央行是否仍持有捷克黄金。