Hitler’s Debt

How post-war finance remade Europe. In this episode, host Carmen Hofmann speaks with historian Tobias Straumann about his book Hitler’s Debt and the financial decisions that shaped Europe’s post-war recovery. We explore how settling Hitler’s unresolved debts , the 1953 London Debt Agreement , and bold U.S. policy choices helped turn a devastated continent into the “economic miracle” of the 1950s. Straumann explains why debt relief strengthened democracy, how leaders like Adenauer, Acheson, Schuman, Ben-Gurion and Sharett navigated moral and political dilemmas, and what the German case can teach us about today’s global debt crises. A concise look at how financial strategy, diplomacy, and compromise built the foundations of modern Europe — and why those foundations matter now more than ever.

You can listen to Hitler’s Debt online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Hitler’s Debt is an episode from Finance & History by Carmen Hofmann.

This episode is 00:41:27 long.

This episode was published on Nov 18, 2025.

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