I recall a story my grandfather told me of how they came across an abandoned train. It had some sleeper cars, freight cars and flak flatbeds. The interesting part is the freight cars. They had furniture, flat crates, boxes and four Luftwaffe staff cars. Curiousity got to them and they started to look through the crates and found some unmarked gold bars, jewels, currency (foreign) some statues and documents. Being on the run, they helped themselves to whatever they could take and loaded into their AFV. To make a long story short, does anybody know if all of the loot taken by the Germans was ever accounted for? Has anybody heard of stories similar to this? My grandfather showed me 6 of the gold bars that he still had with him after all these years. I have not known him to tell tall tales when it comes to the war. ------------------ "They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet or fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason."
There was a program on the TV station called "The History Channel" which showed films of where most of the stuff apparently ended up. It was stored in a salt mine in Germany (Damned if I can recall the name of the thing) They had everything from the gold reserves of the Reichsbank to 100s of stolen art treasures to the purloined crown jewels of conquered countries to personal valuables taken from conentration camp victims stacked up in miles of tunnels within the mine. Abandoned trains in the vicinity were found to contain everything from expensive carpetting and fabric to carloads of clothing and the yanked-out gold teeth of the death-camp victims Truly an amazing cache of booty! ------------------ Novus Ordo Seclorum
Wished I would have seen that show. From what my grandfather said, he took the smaller stuff. There were felt lined trays filled with loose stones. He took alot of those along with some of the gold bars his crew unloaded. He put the stones inside the empty shell casings of his StuG. They buried the stash close to a distance marker outside of a small village. After the war, he went back to see if it was still there. It was. He moved it to a new place and used it to immigrate to the U.S. once he found out that Spain would not let him return. ------------------ "They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet or fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason."
Very interesting! History Channel DOES have a web site. Also, I know they offer tapes of their material for sale... Aw, Heck! Now ya made me go look it up outta sheer curiosity!! Show called: "Treasure! In Search of Nazi Plunder" HistoryChannel.com Item# AAE-13042 Price $19.95 Am I thorough or what?
Yes you are and for all of your trouble, I will order it! Thanks. Tschuss ------------------ "They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet or fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason."
That was an amazing story. The history channel also had a few other documentaries on the treasures that were pilfered. One was called "Nazi Gold" I forget the other titles but over the last 2-3 yrs, they have had several specials on the stolen wealth. From what I understand, many of Switzerland's banks have German loot in their vaults. There has been much controversy over they yrs, and many susviving Jewish concentration camp survivors are trying to get whats theirs, and I think the Swiss are paying some of them off so who knows.
At the time, there was disgruntlement amongst the Waffen SS in light of the ludicrus orders they were receiving and looking at the "loot" owned by luftwaffe generals made him and his crew angry enough to help themselves. They were also thinking about the end, they did not fool themselves, and that small amount they took would ensure some kind of post war nest egg. ------------------ "They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet or fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason."
This reminds me of an item I read which stated that, in spite of severely limited fuel supplies for the Winter '44 offensive in the West, Herman Goering had trucks at his disposal to retrieve any "goodies" which happened to fall (back?) into German hands as their forces pushed ahead.... Anyone know if there's any truth to this? It sounds so typically "Goering-esque" that its almost too corny to seem genuine... ------------------ Novus Ordo Seclorum
Can't confirm but wouldn't doubt it. As late as April 45, he was still moving stuff throughout Germany so it could be true. If he was in Berlin on the day Hitler committed suicide, there would not have been a cremation because 'Muellar' Goring would have pilfered the petro!!!! ------------------ "They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet or fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason."