Operation Bernhard - forged bank notes

Nazi leaders decided to forge British bank notes in early 1940 and dubbed this project Operation Bernhard. At first the goal was to drop the forged money over Britain in order to destroy the British economy by flooding it with fake money. By late 1942, the Nazis were using the fake money to fund German intelligence operations. Prisoners from concentration camps were forced to forge the money. While most of the money was thrown into the Toplitz and Grundlsee Lakes at the end of the war, some ended up in circulation in Great Britain. This forced the Bank of England to issue a new design for notes after the war.