This article is based upon the books, "Richtstellungen zur
Zeitgeschichte" (Corrections to History of our Time) Volume 2, page 304
published by Grabert Verlag, D-72066 Tübingen, Postfach 1629, Germany
Written by Dr Rolf Kosiek
The US. General Harry Collins, chief
of the 42 US division and commandant of the US troops in Salzburg and Upper
Austria, took possession of a rare and complete dinner service for 45 people
together with other treasures. Collins was also known as Hollywood Harry
because of his past as an actor in Hollywood in 1948. When he returned to
the US in 1948 it was unknown how much he had enriched himself of the
treasures on the Gold train – he was never charged for his plunder in this
matter. Henry Collins died 1963 as a honourable and unscrupulous soldier
with dignity. God bless him! The content of the Gold Train has
been estimated of having had a value of 200 million dollars, today about two
billion dollars. Although Hungarian Jews made their claim as righteous
owners, they were repulsed by the Allies powers, including General Mark
Clark, US High Commissioner of Austria. Deceived, the Jewish rightful owners
were told their treasures could not be traced or be identified. Years later,
some of the treasures were auctioned in New York for at least 2 million
dollars. But the rest had disappeared altogether. God bless America! The commissioned American
investigator Eve Tucker in a written statement declared on January 6, 1949
to the Ministry of External, concerning the whereabouts of the art treasure
of Austria, said: “The Salzburger gold coin
collection was plundered while under the control of the military authority
in Hallein. General Clark transferred the collections in many trucks from
the palace of Klessheim, where they have been stored to Clarks quarter in
Vienna. Amongst the art collections were seven paintings stolen from the
mains of Lauffen: one Rubens, one van Dyck. Seven valuable prints, four of
them from Durrer were stolen from the salt main of Alt-Aussee, while under
supervision of US personal. The theft was committed with the full knowledge
of the superior authority, which did not prevent the crime. When some one
tried to reveal details of the theft, their superiors cautioned those
individuals that they would have to deal with more trouble than they would
bargain for. Here is more, please read
The Gold Train Legend 2.) The family treasure of the
duchy House of Hessen: During the Second World War, family
treasures of the duchy of Hessen were stored in the Bank faults of
Frankfurt. However, as the bomb terror increased towards the end of the war,
the treasures were shifted to the more saver palace of Kronberg in the
Taunus Mountain, where it was concreted into large hidden walls. But in 1945
the US army confiscated the palace and it accommodated the Officer's Club
with a US female officer in charge. Due to a coincident, an officer
discovered the hidden treasure in the walls. What did not find its way to
America was sold to Switzerland. When the theft finally became known in
1946, and in a spectacular court case, the three accused officers faced
imprisonment between three and fifteen years. Large parts of the treasures
remained lost for good, while the rest was returned to the duchy. 3.) The Gold of the Reichsbank: US units discovered the gold of the
Reichsbank in Thuringa, where it had been taken from Berlin for safety. The
US army high command was unable to establish the whereabouts of the gold and
how it got lost. Please also read the story of
The Gold Teeth 4.) Robbery of the Quedingburger
cathedral treasure: The extra-ordinary and valuable
medieval Quedingburger cathedral treasure with irreplaceable art treasures
had been stored in a cave where they were safe from bombing. US troops
responsible for the safe guards were under the command of Joe T. Meador, an
art student, who recognized the value of the collection. He had no scruples
and send parts of the treasures to his home in Texas, using the items as
collateral for a bank loan to finance his business. When he died in 1980,
his sister inherited what was still left of the treasure. The sister offered
it to an art dealer. The rest of the treasure found its way back to Germany
in 1990, when the German culture trust offered a 3 million dollar reward for
the recovery of the losses. A Texas court honoured the sister
with the reward for her assistance in revealing the whereabouts of the
items. But many items never returned to Germany. Many of the robbers and
accomplices of the thefts were not punished, and at sometimes even rewarded.
(3)
5.) Robbery of other art
treasures: Jochen Arp revealed in the “Plunder
of the Century” and in the “Junge Freiheit” (4) how US army personnel stole
German treasures on many occasions: In February 1996, three original
writings from Martin Luther were returned to the Kulturhistorische Museum
(cultural museum) in Magdeburg from the US. The manuscript of Robert Schumann’s
2nd Sinfonie in C-dur Opus 61 was auctioned by Sotheby’s in London on
December 1, 1994. It had been missing for the last 50 years. Two Durrer portraits were taken by
plundering US soldiers in 1945 from the castle Schwarzburg, which were
returned to museum director Scheidig in Weimar after court proceedings.
Unfortunately great paintings of Lembach, Lucas Cranach and valuable coin
collection never turned up again. The coffin of Goethe and Schiller
were broken open by US militaries and six of Goethe’s token of order were
stolen. At the end of 1945 members of the 83
US infantry division plundered the treasure depot of the St. Florian
Monastery in Austria. They robbed paintings, antique furniture and Celtic
gold treasure carried away on five trucks. From the University library in
Leipzig US officers took an original writing of Aristotules, being in the
possession of the university since 1431, together with a Gutenberg bible
with other 250 original letters to Erasmus of Rotterdam. British troops plundered in 1945 the
palace Gluckenburg near Flensburg and took the jewelleries of the duke of
Mecklenburg. The Brits broke open the Sarkophage in the Kryptain the palace
removing the mummies while searching for valuables in the coffins. Other
famous palaces like Schleswig Holstein or Buckeburg lost their treasures and
antic furniture, when British troops transported their loots to Britain.
Even US-High Commissioner Lucius D. Clay could not withstand temptation. He
declared to the Pentagon, he intended to dispose the stamp collection of the
Reich Post Museum in the United States. His action found disapproval by
higher courts. Eight of the most valuable stamps of the collection, amongst
them the Blue Mauritius, were later found in the treasure of the American
Costume, see Spiegel Nr. 25, 2001, page 153. Other high-ranking British officers
were involved in thefts: “The chief of the British General Staff Field
Marshall Sir Alan Brook did not hesitated to remove valuable works from the
Potsdam library of Cecilienhof. Lord Portal, Marshall of the Royal Air
Force, together with the duke of Cummingham, fleet admiral of the Royal Navy
helped themselves from the private library from Cecilienhof.” More than 200 famous paintings frim
the Kaiser-Fridrich-Museum in Berlin had to be returned in March 1948 under
pressure of the public and under advise of American senator Fulbright. 6.) Theft of the Hildebrand Lied: The handwriting of the Hildebrand
Lied, the oldest Germanic Hero song in German language was shifted together
with other valuable Willehalm handwritings during the war from the State
library in Kassel to remote Bad Wildungen to avoid destruction of the bomb
terror. In a 2003 published book (5) the
theft and prolonged journey of the mentioned items were revealed. The
publisher was in the position to name the thieves, US officers and their
whereabouts. Many thefts there have been many details exposed, and the
crimes were committed by highest ranks of US personals. (6) References: 1
Second German Television, Category history: Die Sieger und das Nazi-Gold“,
on September 5, 2005 at 0.15 o’clock. 2 Salzburger News, Hans Janitschek “
US-Truppen raubten Judengold ”, in Kronen Zeitung, October 16, 1999.
3.) Beitrag Nr. 316, “US Officer
stole Quedlinbuger Domschatz”. 4.) Jochen Arp, Der Raub des
Jahrhunderts , in Junge Freiheit, Nr. 8, February 14, 1997. 5.) Obritsa D Popa, Bibliophiles and
Bibliothieves. The Search for the Hildebrandlied and the Willehalm Codex, de
Gruyter, Berlin-New York 2003. 6.) Debate about the Popa-book by
Konrad Wiedemann, “ Für ein paar Dollar mehr ”, in Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung Nr. 21, January 26, 2004, page 30. Also read here:
http://www.exulanten.com/plunder.html
and here:
http://www.exulanten.com/plundertwo.html
Translated by Christian Borleis
Martial law, The Den Haag, of 1905/1907. prohibits plunder and the
confiscations of property of the civilian population by any occupying forces.
On September 5, 2005, the ZDF-television (1) revealed events that had taken
place after the war, but the story unfortunately was told in the late hours of
night, 0.15 o’clock.
The Allies did not adhere to the law (Rules ?) of war in 1945. They robbed
German civilians of jewellery, and other valuables of great treasures, and
anything that fell into their hands. Especially, the members of the US Army
enriched themselves during those days of German defeat and despair.
1.) The Hungarian Gold Train:
Fleeing from the Red Army, Hungarian fascists escaped with their load of great
treasures en-route to Austria. (2) This train contained jewellery, carpets,
paintings and art treasures, all registered and labeled to former Jewish
ownership. This so-called Gold train fell during its journey through the
Salzburger land into the hands of the Americans, who could not help themselves
in confiscating the train at once, transferring the load of 24 wagons
temporarily to the Salzburger army barracks. Here the security personnel also
helped themselves to the rich treasures.
Three
US-Officer at the dock: CaptainKathleen Nash, Major David Warson and Colonel
Jack Durant. They stole the Hessian Crone Jewellery valued at 250 million
dollars and sold them in Switzerland in parts. Parts of them were never
recovered.
US-soldiers looting in Germany 1945
Two
parts of the Quedlinburger Cathedral treasure of “Samuhel Evangeliar” from
the 8th century
US-militaries
with war loots (reproduction of insignia of Charlemagne). 
Handwriting
of the Hildebrandliedes, the only ancient Germanic hero lyric in existence
in German language – an extra valuable document, because ancient German
lyrics were verbally transmitted from generation to generation