Hungarian Gold Train
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Gold_Train.jpg/220px-Gold_Train.jpg)
The Hungarian Gold Train was the German-operated train during World War II that carried stolen valuables, mostly Hungarian Jews' property, from Hungary towards Berlin in 1945. After American forces seized and looted the train in Austria, almost none of the valuables were returned to Hungary, their rightful owners, or their surviving family members.[1][2]
History
Background
With the Soviet Army about 160 kilometres (100 mi) away from Hungary, on March 7, 1944,
The "Gold Train"
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f7/German_WWII_Frieght_Train.jpg/250px-German_WWII_Frieght_Train.jpg)
In late 1944, the Soviet Army was advancing on the Hungarian capital of Budapest. A government official appointed by the Schutzstaffel (SS), Árpád Toldi, concocted a plan to evacuate much of the Jewish loot out of Hungary. Toldi ordered large amounts of the valuables onto a 46-car freight train with 213 people on board that was to head for Nazi Germany via Austria:
- 24 cars to carry the confiscated and looted items
- 15 cars to carry Hungarian and Nazi Germany troops guarding the train, plus their supplies of ammunition, food & drink
- 7 cars to carry a designated group of coal miners, who were there to bury the items should need arise
According to various reports about the train, the contents included gold, gold jewelry, gems, diamonds, pearls, watches, about 200 paintings, Persian and Oriental rugs, silverware, chinaware, furniture, fine clothing, linens, porcelains, cameras, stamp-collections and currency (mostly US dollars and
In Spring 1945, the train started its journey west again. Toldi and his family left the train with a large amount of gold on 30 March 1945, as the train crossed into Austria - the Russian Army was only 16 km (10 mi) behind. Toldi's convoy tried to enter neutral Switzerland 10 days later, but were refused entry. Toldi then turned to SS officer Wilhelm Höttl, to whom he handed over 10% of his convoy's goods (4 cases of gold) in return for both German passports and Swiss visas for all of his family. Toldi and his family then successfully entered Switzerland, but he was detained in Austria later that year. After interrogation by Allied authorities, he was released and no trace of him has been found in official records thereafter.
After passing from Hungary directly into Austria, the train stopped occasionally to transfer amounts of the gold to trucks. The fate of the gold on those trucks remains unknown. The train eventually came to a halt in the town of Werfen, best known for the medieval Hohenwerfen Castle, on 16 May 1945, nine days after the surrender of Nazi Germany. It was seized by Allied troops, first by the French Army and then by the United States Army.
Fate of valuables
The official United States asset
The US Army transferred the majority of the assets to a Military Government Warehouse in
Developments since 1998
![]() | This section needs to be updated.(March 2018) |
The United States government kept most of the details of the Hungarian Gold Train secret from the public until 1998 when US President Bill Clinton created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States. A report prepared by the committee, published in October 1999, detailed the handling of the train's assets by the United States and cited a multitude of "shortcomings" of the US restitution efforts in Austria that eventually led to the property from the Hungarian Gold Train being so readily dispersed by United States officials. It concluded that the application of several policies regarding many assets on the train ensured that they were never returned to their rightful owners.[6]
In 2001, Hungarian
Funds from the settlement are still being distributed. On June 3, 2014, a report was filed with the federal court detailing that between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013, $464,553.56 had been distributed to 12 Jewish social service organizations in Australia, Canada, Hungary, Israel, Sweden and the United States.[13]
Gallery
See also
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Art Research Staff (October 14, 1999). "The Mystery of the Hungarian "Gold Train"". Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States.
- ^ a b Dunn, Adam (October 30, 2002). "Nazis and the mysterious 'Gold Train". CNN.
- ^ a b c "Bureau of Labor Statistics". United States Department of Labor.
- ^ Kaplan, Jonathan E. (November 12, 2003). "Lawmakers Angry Over Slow Track of 'Gold Train' Case". The Hill. Archived from the original on May 1, 2007.
- ^ Jewish virtual Library
- ^ "U.S. settles 'Gold Train' Holocaust claims". Associated Press / USA Today. December 20, 2004.
- ^ "Hungarian Gold Train | Hagens Berman". www.hbsslaw.com. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
- ^ "Settlement in WWII 'Gold Train' Theft". Associated Press / The Washington Post. March 12, 2005. Archived from the original on October 30, 2018.
- ^ "U.S. settles 'Gold Train' Holocaust claims". Associated Press / Jewish Virtual Library. December 20, 2004 – September 26, 2005.
- ^ ONeill, Ann. "Letter Leads to Gold Train Claims: Missive Written by Late Florida Historian Becomes 'Smoking Gun' in Lawsuit on the Missing Treasures". Deerfield Beach, Florida: Sun Sentinel, November 29, 2003.
- ^ "Hungarian Gold Train" (synopsis of case no. 01-1859-CIV with mention of Evelyn Tucker's "whistleblower" letter). New York, New York, Washington, D.C., etc.: Hagens Berman, retrieved online October 1, 2018.
- ^ "The Mystery of the Hungarian 'Gold Train'". Chevy Chase, Maryland: Jewish Virtual Library, October 7, 1999.
- ^ "Programmatic Report on the 2012-2013 Special Fund Allocation of the Hungarian Gold Train Settlement". United States Courts Archive. Retrieved August 22, 2015.[permanent dead link]
References
- Kadar, Gabor; Vagi, Zoltan (2004). Self-Financing Genocide: The Gold Train, the Becher Case and the Wealth of Hungarian Jews. Central European University Press. ISBN 9639241539.
- Zweig, Ronald W. (2002). The Gold Train: The Destruction of the Jews and the Looting of Hungary. ISBN 978-0-06-620956-2.
Further reading
- Zweig, Ronald (April 13, 2015). The Gold Train: The Destruction of the Jews and the Second World War's Most Terrible Robbery. Endeavour Press. ASIN B00W41GWQO.
External links
- Rosner et al v. United States[permanent dead link] U.S. federal court docket of the Hungarian Gold Train case
- The Hungarian Gold Train Settlement
- Shields, Jeff Shields (December 12, 2003). "Push continues to rectify Nazi-era looting of a 'Gold Train'". Jewish World Review.