Fake millions of euros from Poland were supposed to go to Ukraine. But they won’t hit

During World War II, the Germans carried out a secret operation codenamed Operation Bernhard, which is considered the largest financial fraud in history. The main center for the production of fake pounds sterling was the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where a group of prisoners were forced to commit counterfeiting in 1940. By dropping millions of counterfeit notes over Great Britain, the Germans wanted to cause hyperinflation and bring about the collapse of the British economy. They produced between 134 million fake pounds, i.e 10 percent value of pound banknotes then in circulation.

It is possible that the four Poles detained by the Internal Security Agency had a similar idea. They prepared more than thoroughly – even comprehensively – to produce fake EUR 360 million.

Internal Security Agency agents stopped the production of millions of euros

At the end of April, the Internal Security Agency announced the investigation and arrest of members of an organized criminal group. These are Poles aged 44 to 71. The agents entered specially prepared rooms containing a professional production line for producing banknotes, three tons of specialized paper, holographic foil, safetyline and magnetic strips, and watermarks.

The agents also obtained ready-made samples of banknotes, using which the perpetrators tested the quality of the produced “banknotes” in order to verify the security features used in cash deposit machines. Some of the counterfeits were supposed to be put into circulation in Ukraine.

At the places where the group members and people associated with them were detained, the Internal Security Agency also seized Polish and foreign banknotes, collector coins, as well as firearms and ammunition. It turned out that the counterfeiters improved their qualifications by taking part in training courses conducted by professionals, where they acquired detailed knowledge about the security measures used in the production of original money.

How did the Germans want to kill the English with fake money?

During World War II, the Germans forced a group of about 140 prisoners of Jewish origin who were specialists in printing, engraving, drawing and banking to engage in forgery. The quality of the fakes they produced was so high that they were almost indistinguishable from the originals – according to some opinions, the watermarks on the fakes were even of better quality than the authentic ones.

At the end of the war, the machines used in the camp and unburned banknotes were hidden in an Austrian lake Toplitzseewhere some of them were recovered years later.

The counterfeit notes were indeed used to finance intelligence operations (e.g. paying agents) and for black market purchases. They were introduced into the world money circulation mainly through neutral countries – Spain and Portugal. They were also found in Egypt, but in June 1944 they appeared in Great Britain.

In a move to restore confidence in the currency, the Bank of England stopped issuing notes above £5 and withdrew higher denomination notes for inspection. He also introduced additional protection against counterfeiting in the form of a metal strip.

This story became the inspiration for the Oscar-winning Austrian-German film “The Counterfeiters” from 2007.