The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy

by Adam Tooze

As of April 1934, armaments contractors were to be paid in IOUs issued in the name of the Mefo GmbH. This shadowy company was formed with a capital of 1 million Reichsmarks, provided by the Vereinigte Stahlwerke, Krupp, Siemens, Deutsche Industrie Werke and Gute-hoffnungshuette (GHH).51 Krupp and Deutsche Industrie Werke were major armaments producers. The Deutsche Industrie Werke were Reich-owned. Siemens and the Vereinigte Stahlwerke, though they too would benefit on a grand scale from military spending, were most probably included because of their premium credit rating. Secured by these big names, the rearmament bills became acceptable collateral for the Reichsbank. For a small discount, contractors to the rearmament drive could cash in their Mefo bills at the central bank. In the