Chapter 2

The next morning, it was apparent to me that what Elsa had shared with me about her history with Hans had been very hard on her emotionally. Her reaction to what she had told me seemed excessive. I suppose our talk had stirred up the bad memories she had mentioned. She indicated what she told me was just an overview and she would go into more detail later. Parts of what she told me disturbed me deeply. I decided that I would wait until she was ready to talk with me further regarding her life with Hans before I judged her and Hans’ past.

I was busy preparing for final exams. Elsa told me that she would go over things with me once the semester ended. She told me that I should not enroll for the next semester because she needed me to travel with her, so I could meet the key people in the companies that I would be inheriting. She also told me I needed to understand these businesses in order to keep the investments profitable, and that meant she would have to school me in the specifics of how to manage each business. She estimated that we would be very busy traveling in the US for the next six months, and then we would need to go to Europe. At that time, I was not in a position to know that my hiatus would be the end of my college career. Although, I later took a few additional classes for very specific subjects. Once my semester exams were complete, Elsa sat me down and started explaining how Hans had built their financial empire in the US.

“Paul, I was planning on telling you about my life with Hans in a chronological sequence. However, we need to make this tour of my US holdings, so I am going to skip ahead to just before Hans and I settled in Pueblo.”

“That’s fine with me, Elsa. I have the feeling that our last conversation stirred up those feeling that you would prefer to not remember.”

“Yes, it did, but those times popup in my mind all the time, Paul. I will go a couple of months without thinking about them, and then something happens that triggers the memories. They are painful, but it is something that I have learned to live with.

“When Hans and I decided to immigrate to the US, one of the many things we did before leaving Switzerland was to obtain a certified check from our Swiss bank for the equivalent of about seven hundred thousand US dollars. That may not seem like much today, but in 1950, it was a fortune.

When we arrived in New York in May of 1950, we were processed through Ellis Island. One of the first things we did was open a checking account in New York and deposit our check. We spent almost a month in New York doing the tourist things before we left for Pueblo.”

“When and why did you decide on Pueblo? Why not Denver?”

“We did some research before we left Switzerland. We wanted a large town, but not the type of town that might attract the types of people we wanted to avoid. Denver was very attractive to us, so it would probably be attractive to the people we wanted to avoid. It was a tossup for us between Colorado Springs and Pueblo. Pueblo won, because at the time, it did not have anything that would attract the people we were trying to avoid.

“We decided we would look for a place far enough outside the town limits that we would not be bothered by noisy neighbors. We found a nice little ranch about fifteen miles northwest of Pueblo’s city limits. Once we were settled in, Hans and I took a trip back to Switzerland. The American economy was doing very well, and we decided to invest a portion of our assets here in America. In order to do that, we needed to move some of our assets to the US. One of the things we did on that trip was to transfer the equivalent of seventy million dollars from our Swiss bank accounts to our Pueblo bank account.”

I didn’t know enough at the time to recognize the importance of their using their European assets to bankroll their US investments. I was focused on their activities in the US. It never occurred to me at the time to question the extent of their European assets, nor why they had to make a trip to Switzerland to make the transfer.

“That must have been a shock to your local bank, Elisa.”

“Oh, it was! I suspect our account had the largest balance of any held by that bank. We received the Royal Treatment from the bank manager and employees every time we had business to attend to in the bank.

“Anyway, back in 1951, the computer industry was in its infancy. Hans was a very good electrical engineer, Paul. He believed that computers were the thing of the future, so he decided to put a third of our investment capital in the computer industry. Almost a half of our investment capital was used to buy stock in IBM and other hardware companies that Hans thought would make breakthroughs in the field of computers.

“Hans and I had a plan, which I will explain to you later. However, this plan required that we purchase a small, coastal shipping company and a small trucking company. The shipping company was the hardest to find because we needed a ship captain and crew who were basically honest and loyal, but willing to do a few things that were not quite legal.

“I still own the shipping and trucking companies. Hans and I used them for our purposes, and you may find them useful in taking care of the tasks I hope you will do for me.”

“Ah, Elsa, I’m not sure I want to do something that will get me in trouble with the law.”

“Don’t worry, Paul. If you decide to not do things the way we did them, you will find your own way to do my tasks.”

“Elisa, you mentioned wanting me to do a few tasks earlier, but you haven’t told me what you want me to do.”

“I know, Paul, be patient. I’ll explain the tasks as I go. I need to tell you the rest of my history first, so you will understand what will be required of you in completing the tasks.

“Anyway, Hans and I lived here in Pueblo from 1950 until his death in 1967. Throughout the fifty’s and early sixty’s we made trips back to Switzerland to as we put it, visit with family. What we actually did was something very different. We were basically finalizing what happened to us during the thirty’s and forty’s. I’ll tell you more about later.”

Elsa gave me a list of the companies that Hans had invested monies in and from the list, it was apparent that Hans had to have been a techie before the term had even been coined.

Elsa said, “Hans studied engineering in Germany before the war, and he had become fascinated with computers when they were first being introduced. He researched the key hardware companies that would be the foundation of the computer industry, and he invested heavily in their stock.

“While Hans focused on the hardware, he failed to recognize the importance of the computer operating system and application software. He did not invest in Microsoft when its stock went public; however, he did invest heavily in IBM and the chip companies that made the computer processors and integrated circuits.

“I think it was in the mid-60’s, Paul, when Hans realized his oversight regarding software, and he began shifting a large portion of his investments from hardware companies to software companies. He also realized that the computer peripheral companies would also become very important, and invested in those also. In addition to the electronics industry, Han made significant investments in the transportation and oil industries.”

The list of companies that Hans invested in was very extensive. What the list failed to show, was the percentage of the stock that Elsa owned in each of the companies. When I asked her about that, she told me that she would introduce me to her accountant tomorrow, and he would be able to explain it to me better than she could. Elsa called her accountant and made a morning appointment with him to brief me on the financial side of her investments.

We arrived at the accountant’s office at nine, and we were immediately ushered into a plush conference room. The receptionist and secretaries were falling over each other to ensure we had everything we needed. They had laid on pastries, fresh fruit, and other goodies just for our meeting. I looked over to Elsa and she was acting as if this was the normal treatment she received.

The owner of the accounting firm, a Mister Samuel Henning, made his appearance and talked with Elsa about what she needed. I had expected him to hand off the briefing to a subordinate, but it was evident that he would handle the briefing himself. When Elsa introduced me to the owner, he had acknowledged my presence, and he told me to call him Sam. He then returned his attention to Elsa and what she needed. Elsa explained that the reason she wanted a briefing on her holdings was her health had begun to fail, and that after her death, I would inherit her entire estate. The look on Sam’s face told me that my importance had risen in his assessment to just slightly less than Elsa’s level.

Sam handed Elsa and me printouts of Elsa’s US holdings. The printouts listed the companies she owned and those in which she held stock, to include: the number of shares of stock, the percentage of the total stock the shares represented, and the value of the stock. Sam started off by briefing us on the stock that Elsa owned. He also included his recommendations regarding keeping or selling the stock, or buying additional stock; to include, why he felt the way he did. Elsa acknowledged his recommendations and made notes in her notebook.

When he went over the companies she owned, he provided her with each Company’s profit and loss statement for the last fiscal year, and for the most recent quarterly update of the current year. Once again, he made recommendations, and Elsa made more notes in her notebook.

I just sat there like a bump on a log and tried to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. I had never seen this side of Elsa; she was a financial calculating machine capable of making major business decisions. She told Sam that she would take his recommendations under advisement, and she would get back to him with instructions on what she wanted him to do.

By the time Sam was finished, I learned that Elsa’s US holdings amounted to around one and a quarter billion dollars. I was still blocking out that she also had a major financial holding in Europe. I could only sit in shock, as I thought of my having lived for three years with this woman and never realized how much wealth she controlled. Prior to this meeting, I knew that she was not poor for she always had money for travel and other needs, but I would never have guessed that she was worth over a billion dollars.

After our meeting with Sam, Elsa and I went down the street to Denny’s for lunch. Elsa asked, “Paul, what did you think of Sam and the briefing?”

I looked at her and truthfully said, “Elsa, there is no way that I will ever be able to look at you again and see you as a poor, old woman.”

We both laughed at the thought of her being a poor old woman, and when we finished laughing, I answered her question, “I liked Sam as a person, and I felt he had provided us with a very professional presentation of your current financial status.

“Unfortunately, I have no way to judge the quality of his advice. However, he seemed to know what he was talking about, and the rationale he provided for his recommendations seemed valid.”

Elsa smiled and said, “Hans and I have been dealing with Sam and his father Everett for many years. We trusted Sam and Everett’s advice explicitly; but, Hans and I did not always do what they suggested.”

“Why would you go against the advice of someone you pay and trust to give you advice?”

“Paul, Hans and I swore an oath to see that, the people of Germany and Europe, who suffered as a result of the war were taken care of to the best of our ability.”

I said, “I’m not sure what you mean, Elsa.”

“I don’t want to dredge up the horrors of the Nazi war era today, Paul. However, I will explain that part of my life before we travel to Europe. You will need to understand that part of my life to properly address the European portion of my business empire.”

When I gave her a you mean there is more look of astonishment, she said, “Yes, Paul, my US holding are just a small part of what makes up my estate. I don’t want to shock you, but my observable American and European holdings are not all of the assets that I have. I also have access to certain assets here in the US and in Europe that you might think of as less than legal.”

“Elsa, are you trying to tell me you are engaged in criminal activities?”

“Well, not exactly, Paul. My US and European holdings are mostly based on our family finances that we recovered before the end of the war. However, there are certain assets that we have control of that we acquired by stealing them from the Nazi Party. Hans and I were in the process of seeing that those assets were returned to their legal owners when Hans died. My health was not the greatest when he died, so I haven’t been able to complete the return of those assets to the proper owners. That is one of the tasks I hope you will do for me.

“One of the things I want you to promise me, Paul, is, you will take over where Hans and I left off in returning these assets to the proper people. This will be a very difficult task as most of the owners have died during or since the war. That was one of the problems that slowed Hans and I down in completing this task.”

“All right, Elsa, I think I can take that task on with no qualms concerning my being engaged in illegal activity.”

“Paul, let’s just say your motives will be honorable, but a few of your actions may border on illegal.”

“I think I can live with that, Elsa. However, can you give me some idea of the assets you are talking about, and their approximate value?”

“I would estimate my total US and European assets that I consider as mine to be between three and five billion dollars, Paul. I also have several lists of hidden assets, which I will show you later. I hold the hidden assets in trust, and I have no idea of their current value. I think their value is greater than my publically known holdings.”

I was shocked by the magnitude of Elsa’s holdings. What shocked me the most was her telling me that she held an immense amount of foreign wealth in trust, and had absolutely no idea of its value.

I asked Elsa for a dollar estimate of the value of her hidden assets, and she said, “I really have no idea, Paul. I suspect it may be over ten billion dollars.”

“Elsa, I’m having a hard time understanding why you don’t know the value of these assets.”

“As far as most people are concerned, I own and hold stock in a number of companies in the US and Europe. These are my publicly visible assets and it is easy to compute the value of these holdings. I also control but don’t have physical possession of certain assets that Hans stole from the Nazis.”

“Are we talking about war loot, Elsa?”

“Yes. That is one of the terms used for these assets. That is one of the reasons why Hans and I didn’t feel that we owned those assets. It is also why it has been so difficult for us to return the assets to their proper owners. Hans and I didn’t want to be linked to these assets for our real backgrounds may become known.

“What we did for many years was, recover the assets that were easily converted to cash, and used the cash to buy a number of businesses in Europe. We also used a large amount of the monies from our numbered accounts for these investments. The profits we received from our European investments were donated to organizations that help the people harmed by the Nazis.

“Hans and I commingled the money we felt was ours with the monies we felt belonged to the Nazis’ victims. There is no way to provide an accurate accounting for how these funds were commingled. After Hans death, I decided our US investments were mine and our European investments were for the people the Nazi’s harmed. It seemed like a fair distribution to me. The main problem is, there is no suitable organization to manage what I call my European empire. I would like you to take over management of these businesses until you can find some way to transfer ownership of my European empire to the organizations that help refugees and others harmed by the war.”

“I’ll try, Elsa. But what about the loot you haven’t converted to cash?”

“The European loot is still hidden in the places where the Nazis hid it. I suppose a few of the treasure troves have been found, but most are still sitting there waiting for someone to locate them.

“I think I have overwhelmed you enough for today, Paul. Let’s just go home and relax. I’ll explain the rest of my life later.”

During the next three months, we traveled around the US so she could introduce me to the people who managed the companies she owned outright, and to the contacts she dealt with for the companies in which she held a significant portion of the company’s stock. We usually spent at least five days at each of the companies she owned, so I could obtain a basic understanding of the business conducted by the company and form a working relationship with the business’s managers. During our travels, Elisa and I managed to have some private time for her to tell me about her early years in Austria and Germany, and how she and Hans ended up emigrating to the US.

In Texas, I was introduced to the manager of the trucking company she owned, and I was thoroughly briefed on the way the company conducted its business. After dinner that first night, I joined Elisa in her room so she could tell me about her meeting and marrying Hans.