All family fortunes begin somewhere. Some get lucky and win the lottery. Others start small “Mom and Pop” ventures and, with hard work and determination, turn them into the Wal-Marts of the world.

But have you ever wondered how the Bush family came to be so rich and powerful?

The Bush fortune began with Prescott Bush, the grandfather of President George W. Bush. After Prescott’s graduation from Yale (and sworn allegiance to Skull & Bones) he married Dorothy Walker who was the daughter of George Herbert Walker; wealthy Wall Street Profiteer who’s business partners included John D. Rockefeller (founder of Standard Oil), E.H. Harriman (railroad owner), and William Rockefeller. Together they formed many businesses and forged partnerships with the rich and powerful of their day…amongst those the Nazis.

Information uncovered in government documents housed in The National Archives and Library of Congress reveal that Prescott, along with six others, served as a principal in the Union Banking Corporation in Manhattan which was owned by leading Nazi industrialist, Fritz Thyssen, who helped bankroll Adolf Hitler’s rise to power. Even after the United States declared war on Germany, and when there was already significant information about the Nazis’ plans and policies, Prescott worked for and profited from companies closely involved with the very German businesses that financed Hitler.

In an article published in The Zanesville (OH) Signal on July 31, 1941, it was revealed that money was moved into Union Bank through a second bank in Holland.

“Money for its $400,000 capital stock came from Thyssen’s bank, Voor Handel En Scheepvaart in Rotterdam.”
The article went on to state, “Among members of its board of directors are H.R. Harriman, Ray Morris, Prescott S. Bush, part-owners in the firm of Brown Brothers Harriman and Company, of which Averell Harriman is now American Minister Plenipotentiary to England”.

Despite the story and the disclosure of Union Bank’s activities, the bank continued on…business as usual…until it was seized in 1951 by J. Edgar Hoover under the Trading With The Enemy Act. When the U.S. refused to prosecute, Prescott received $1.5 million from the bank as part of the dissolution. It is clear that “Prescott & Friends” primarily saw Nazi Germany as an excellent investment opportunity and had not the least hesitation about either doing business (directly or indirectly) with Hitler, nor did they seem to consider the consequences of doing so very grave. If anything, they were advantageous to their worldview.

“The (Nazi) Bush family got rich stealing the gold fillings out of murdered victims teeth.” - (quote from unknown source)

His position with Union Banking never was a political issue for Prescott, who was elected to the Senate in 1952. To Be Contunued…