On 1 May 1933 Werner Küchenthal joined the Nazi Party less than two months after the Enabling Act of 1933 which enshrined in statute the transformation of Germany into a one-party state. After had been persuaded to resign the position, Küchenthal took over as president of the board at the . (Stübben was not Jewish and he was certainly not a communist, but he was not a Nazi either.) Küchenthal remained in charge at the bank until relieved of his duties there on 13 August 1945 in the aftermath of another national military defeat.