When a counterfeit banknote appears in front of you, how will you tell if it is real or fake?
Not a single soldier is seen, not a drop of blood is shed on the battlefield. I am afraid that many warring countries expect that the use of economic means to balance opponents not only appears "clever", but also in the investment of manpower and material resources, which is "more affordable" than real knives and guns. In the past, there was a storm of counterfeit money in Britain and Germany, and the counterfeit money genius Borg helped the Nazis print hundreds of millions of counterfeit money, and the British economy was almost destroyed.
What kind of story is this? What are the unknown things behind it?
Adolf Borg, 91, is a Jew from Slovakia. What is the difference between an old man with a broken candle? It turned out that the Borg and his companions, who were imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps, had created near-perfect counterfeit pound money. A few days ago, Mr. Borg was invited by the Bank of England to help identify counterfeit banknotes. With the help of the lights, without too many detection methods, Mr. Borg quickly identified a counterfeit £5 bill that he had made by himself.
Afterwards, Mr. Borg briefed the media on his experience of counterfeiting banknotes, saying: "The British people and bank staff have a habit of folding large denomination banknotes and pinning them together with pins, so there is usually a pinhole in the banknotes. At that time, we had a special group in the Nazi concentration camps doing coin eye-catching work to make the banknotes look more realistic. ”
Borg added: "At that time, my co-workers and I did not like this work, although we made counterfeit banknotes by ourselves, but we still hoped that the British people could find out the problems." To this end, my co-workers and I secretly marked the coins. In particular, the pinholes on the four words "Great Britain", and the pinholes on these four words every time, the purpose is so that someone can find out that they are counterfeit money, which is what they are very much looking forward to. ”
The daily life of the workers is very monotonous and boring, and there is no freedom to speak of except that the daily diet is not limited. A co-worker was once allowed to write a letter to his fiancée, but the letter was unopened and read by countless people. It was originally a sweet voice between the two of them, but it was observed as if they were naked, and it was clearly presented in front of hundreds of people. Workers had no dignity to talk about in the devil's cave, and were not only often ridiculed and ridiculed by Nazi officers, but also often reminded of their identity and work.
When Mr. Borg recalls this experience, he always seems a little excited, even tearful. Looking back at the "glory" of that year, Borg and his co-workers made a total of 135 million counterfeit coins, which is about 3 billion pounds worth at present. There are four types of counterfeit currency denominations: 5 yuan, 10 yuan, 20 yuan and 50 yuan respectively. The Nazis set up a special institution whose job was to circulate these counterfeit banknotes, thereby greatly destroying the British economy.
The Nazis tried to use the counterfeit money they made not only to buy gold and food in large quantities on the black market, but also to exchange some for the currencies of other countries. Therefore, at that time, not only british banks emerged counterfeit money, but even british embassies in other countries also appeared a lot of counterfeit pound money. Later, with the awakening of the Allies, they realized the ambitions of the Nazis, and the Nazis used economic problems as an excuse to open many bank accounts with counterfeit money and used the money to flee to the South American world.
Later, Mr. Borg wrote this special experience into a memoir, "The Devil's Factory." He told reporters: "At the end of World War II, the Germans had prepared explosives ready to kill these workers who printed counterfeit money. In order to erase these records, they did not hesitate to kill innocents, but due to the rapid advance of the Us army at that time, the Nazis had no choice but to abandon this plan. ”
Mr. Borg also revealed to the media: "Although the current banknote anti-counterfeiting technology is very advanced, there are still many loopholes to follow. However, you don't have to worry too much, because I have washed my hands in the golden basin, and with the age limit, I really have no plans to go out of the mountain again, so I don't have to worry too much about it. ”
Mr. Borg's joke of himself caused laughter from the bankers and the media.
Although Mr. Borg expounded on the past in lighthearted and witty language, it is not difficult to see the unfair treatment he received and the suffering he experienced. All wars are cruel, but the invisible war behind the blood light and the harm brought to the people are difficult to calculate and imagine.
In 2008, based on the personal stories of Mr. Borg and his co-workers, the adaptation of "Counterfeit Money Maker" won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film that year.
Coincidentally, great "artists" emerge one after another, with Antasios Arnabuti imprisoned in 2005 and single-handedly directing Britain's largest counterfeit currency campaign.
At the time, his counterfeit factory could produce nearly £300,000 a day in counterfeit money, printing more than £10 million a day until his arrest.
Born in 1742 in Connecticut, Abel Bull lived his life in counterfeit money, and he tried several times to print counterfeit sterling currency worth 5 yuan. The love of counterfeit money even formed a belief, tattooing the "F" on the forehead, as if advocating fake. It can be said that he has "great ambitions" and is determined to produce a realistic and extraordinary pound sterling.
In addition to this, there is a "wizard", Stephen Jory, who is known as the leader of the "Thugs of the Lavander Hills". At trial in 1998, he admitted that he had made £50 million worth of £20 counterfeit banknotes.
Nowadays, in this era of rapid technological development, it is really a very easy task to make counterfeit banknotes. However, there are countermeasures to everything, and as long as counterfeit money appears, there is a way to deal with it.
For us ordinary people, in daily life, it is better to be more careful about the prevention of counterfeit money, remember: "one look, two touches, three listens, four tests." ”
Resources:
[Nazi Germany,' "Devil's Factory," "Counterfeiters"]