Editing Walther Funk (section)

===Economics minister===
On 5 February 1938, Funk became General Plenipotentiary for Economics (''Generalbevollmächtigter für die Wirtschaft''), as well as [[List of German economics ministers|''Reichsminister'' for the Economy]] to permanently replace [[Hjalmar Schacht]] who had resigned on 26 November 1937. Funk also succeeded Schacht as Minister of Economics and Labor of [[Prussia]] (''Preußischer Minister für Wirtschaft und Arbeit'') and as an ''[[ex officio]]'' member of the [[Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany)|Prussian State Council]]. He would hold all these posts until the fall of the Nazi regime.<ref>{{cite web | title = Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume VI, pp. 216–217, Document 3533-PS| publisher = Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality | date = 1946 | url = https://www.loc.gov/item/2011525363_NT_Nazi_Vol-VI/ | access-date = 5 May 2023}}</ref> Schacht had been engaged in a power struggle with ''[[Reichsmarschall]]'' [[Hermann Göring]], who wanted to tie the economics ministry more closely to his [[Four Year Plan]] Office. Göring briefly served as Schacht's immediate successor between November 1937 and January 1938 until Funk's appointment.<ref>''My First Seventy-Six Years'', by Hjalmar Schacht, London 1955, p. 377. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.526915/mode/2up Online]</ref> Schacht, who knew Funk well, said he was "extraordinarily musical" being "a first-rate connoisseur of music whose personal preferences in life were decidedly for the artistic and literary." At a dinner when he sat next to Funk, the orchestra played a melody by [[Franz Lehár]]. Funk remarked "Ah! Lehár – the Fuhrer is particularly fond of his music." Schacht replied, jokingly, "It's a pity that Lehár is married to a Jewess", to which Funk immediately responded, "That's something the Fuhrer must not know on any account!"<ref>Schacht, 1955, pp. 340–41, 456.</ref> Speer relates how Hitler played for him a record of [[Franz Liszt]]'s ''[[Les préludes|Les Préludes]]'' and said "This is going to be our victory fanfare for the Russian campaign. Funk chose it!"<ref>Speer, 1970, p. 180.</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J30376, Franz Hayler und Walther Funk.jpg|thumb|Funk (right) in August 1944 when his State Secretary, [[Franz Hayler]], was awarded the Knight's Cross for the [[War Merit Cross]].]]

Between April 1938 and March 1939, Funk was also a Director of the [[Switzerland]]-based multi-national [[Bank of International Settlements]].<ref>Bank of International Settlements, [http://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/archive/ar1939_en.pdf "Ninth Annual Report: 1 April 1938 – 31 March 1939"] pp. 135–37</ref> In January 1939, [[Adolf Hitler]] appointed Funk as President of the ''[[Reichsbank]]''. Funk recorded that by 1938 the German state had confiscated [[Jews|Jewish]] property worth two million [[Reichsmark|Reichsmarks]], using decrees from Hitler and other top Nazis to force [[History of the Jews in Germany|German Jews]] to leave their property and assets to the state if they emigrated, such as the [[Reich Flight Tax]].

On 30 August 1939, immediately prior to the outbreak of the [[Second World War]], Funk was appointed by Hitler to the six-person [[Council of Ministers for Defense of the Reich]] which was set up to operate as a "[[war cabinet]]".<ref>{{cite book |first= Martin |last= Broszat| title= The Hitler State | publisher= Longman Group Ltd| year= 1981| pages= 308–309 |isbn= 0-582-49200-9}}</ref> Throughout the war years, Funk was present at a great many important meetings, including one about the Four Year Plan held in the Great Hall of the [[Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus|Air Ministry Building]] on 13 February 1942. The meeting included 30 crucial people in the Nazi government and was chaired by Field-Marshal [[Erhard Milch]]. Funk sat to the right of Milch, at his request. After much debate, [[Albert Vogler]] said "there must be one man able to make decisions. Industry did not care who it was." After further discussion, Funk stood up and nominated Milch as that man, though Speer whispered to Milch this was not a good idea. Milch declined the position, and five days later Hitler conferred the role on Speer. As he and Funk walked Hitler back to his apartment in the Chancery, Funk promised Speer that he would place everything at his disposal and do all in his power to help him. Speer relates that Funk "kept the promise, with minor exceptions."<ref>Speer, 1970, pp. 200–02.</ref> In September 1943, Funk was appointed as a fourth member of the [[Central Planning Board]], which was charged with managing the [[raw material]]s and manpower for Germany's entire [[war economy]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Wistrich |first=  Robert| title= Who's Who in Nazi Germany |publisher= Macmillan Publishing Co. |year= 1982 |page= 87 |isbn=  0-02-630600-X}}</ref> He subsequently joined [[Robert Ley]], Speer and Goebbels in the struggle against the influence on Hitler by [[Martin Bormann]].<ref>Speer, 1970, p. 263.</ref> Funk and Milch were again together for Göring's birthday party on 12 January 1944 when Funk, as he did every year, delivered the birthday speech at the banquet.<ref>Speer, 1970, p. 322.</ref>

Funk stayed in office until nearly the end of the Nazi regime, and was named by Hitler in his [[Last will and testament of Adolf Hitler|last will and testament]] to continue as ''Reichsminister'' for the Economy in the cabinet of Goebbels after his [[suicide]] on 30 April 1945. However, after Goebbels' own suicide the next day, Funk was not named to the [[Flensburg Government]] formed by [[Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk]], effectively ending his tenure as economics minister on 5 May.<ref>{{cite web | title = After the Battle: The Flensburg Government | publisher = Battle of Britain International Ltd.| date = 2005| url = https://www.39-45.org/files3945c/8843_Flensburg2.pdf | page= 8 | access-date = 3 May 2021}}</ref> Schwerin von Krosigk, the [[Federal Ministry of Finance (Germany)|Minister of Finance]], did not include an economics minister in his new cabinet. On 11 May, Funk was arrested by [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces and sent to [[Camp Ashcan]] in [[Luxembourg]] to await trial.