Spanish Gold

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
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Regarding the ‘Spanish Gold’ thread, Ralph F., posted…

“The Spaniards bought it. Today the treasury of Spain is safe in the hands of the Russians. I cannot prove this but I believe it. --Ralph F., Washington, D.C.”

Cecil’s reply was

"Dear Ralph:

There are lots of apocryphal stories like this floating around."
According to ‘The Spanish Civil War’ by Antony Beevor, a respected military historian who has been granted extensive access to the Soviet archives, about 70% of the Spanish gold reserve was shipped from Cartegena to Odessa in September 1936. A substantial portion of the remaining 30% was apparently sent to France.

In the event, not only did Stalin not return the gold but he also stiffed the Republican government to the tune of $80,000 for transporting it, $70,000 for re-packing & storing it and $174,000 a year for guarding it in his Treasury. With friends like that…

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Sorry! Forgot to add the link…

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_437.html

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Bob G, howdy! Welcome to the SDMB. Stick around a while, kick the tires, see if you like it … :slight_smile:

I suspect that Cecil didn’t mean to say that the Russians didn’t rip off the Spanish, but rather that what the Spanish had in the way of a treasury in 1936 probably had little if any of the “original” Spanish gold left in it. At least, that’s the way I read it. I could be wrong.

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Thanks for the welcome. I’m a long time listener, first time caller!

You’re right, of course, that this doesn’t give any indication of how much of the original takings were left by the time the gold was was shipped out of Spain.