Evening star., 1951-02-09
Thyssen, Who Backed
| Hitler With Millions,
Dies in Buenos Aires
By fhe Associafed Press

VICS Ill UUVeEV9 All %
By fhe Associafed Press
BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 9.-Fritz
Thyssen, once one of Germanys
richest tycoons and the financial
hacker of Adolf Hitler's rise to
power, died here yesterday "a man
without country
The 77-year- ex-industrialist,
his health broken and his fortune
gone, died at the home of his
daughter after a heart attack.
The man whose money helped
sweep Hitler into Office and whom
Hitler later consigned to a con-
centration camp. came to Argen-
tina year ago to visit his daugh-
ter. Countess zichy. He had plan
ned to stay only briefly, then go
on to Belgium, but illness and an
operation forced him to remain.
Burial Near Buenos Aires.
Thyssen will be buried in this
country where once he had vast
industrial holdings. Funeral serv-
ices will be held this afternoon in
the German cemetery at Chaca-
rita, Buenos Aires suburb. On
his arrival here last year he called
himself a man without country,
since Hitler had taken away his
German citizenship after the two
broke.
Born to riches and power, he
was the son of August Thyssen.
The latter was regarded as the
creator of Germany's iron indus
try.
Thyssen was a financial genius
in his own right, however, and
shrewdly augmented he family
fortune until he became one Of
the richest men in Germany.
A strong Nationalist, he saw
in Adolf Hitler a means Of re-
storing Germany to her former
greatness. He raised $1.2 mil
lion for the Nazis in the 1888
election which swept Hitler into
power. AS a reward, he was
named a state counselor and
given a seat on the governments
economic board. Later he be-
came supreme economic author
ity for Western Germany.
Exiled by 1910.
Not long afterward relations
between Thyssen and Hitler
cooled. BY 1910 the tycoon was
living in exile in Locarno. Ger
man sources said he bought his
way out of the former Reich by
! turning most of his fortune over
to the Nazis.
/ Later Thyssen moved to Brus-
sells, Paris and then to the French
Riviera. When the Nazis swept
across France, Thyssen and his
wife were picked up by French
secret police and turned over to
the Gestapo.
For the next four years the
couple was moved from one con-
centration camp to another. but
received relatively mild treatment.
Air Marshal Hermann Goering
later claimed credit for saving
the tycoon from a firing squad,
but Thyssen himself credited
Heinrich Himmler with protect
ing him for political reasons.
Found by u. S. Troops.
Thyssen bitterly remarked to
reporters once that he had paid
dearly" for his friendship with
the Nazis, which cost him his
fortune and finally his freedom.
American troops found Thyssen
early in 1945 at a detention camp
in the Italian Tyrol. The one time
millionaire was enfeebled and
lWearing shabby clothing.
E Since he had been closely
associated with Hitler's' rise to
power. Thyssen was arrested by
the Allies. The evidence against
him was not considered strong,
however, and a United States
court in Germany released him
lin october, 1947.
He then was turned over to Ger
man authorities, was given a de-
notification trial a year later and
was found guilty as minor Of
fender. Although he told the court
he was broke and living off friends.
he was ordered to surrender 20 per
cent of his property as a penalty.
Holdings Were Far-Flung.
At the height of his industrial
career Thyssen had far-flung
holdings, including affiliated COM
panies in Argentina. His German
properties, which we're conf1scated
by Hitler, have been administered
by Americans and Britons. The
Argentine holdings were taken over
by the Peron government during
the war and are now under the
control of the National Industrial
Board.
After World War I, Thyssen was
one of the early influences in Ger
many in opposition to the Ver-
sailles treaty and payment of rep
arations. This was one of the rea-
sons he backed Hitler.
Like many others who set out to
dominate affairs through the
Fuehrer, he found himself finally